2024 Senior Amateur Recap Day 1
HAVERTOWN, Pa. – The 111th Pennsylvania Senior Amateur Championship got underway on Monday at Llanerch Country Club, with Jeff Frazier (Carlisle Country Club) leading the Senior Division (ages 55-64) and James Gavaghan (Commonwealth National GC) on top of the Super Senior (65+) leaderboard.
Senior Division
Frazier fired a three-under-par 68 and leads the championship by a single stroke. Frazier opened his day with a steady front nine, birdieing holes No. 1 and 6 and was one-under at the turn after a bogey on the par-three fourth hole. He fell back to even-par after another bogey on the 14th, but turned right around and birdied the next three holes to complete his day.
“I kept it in play and hit a lot of fairways,” said Frazier. “I felt like I could have made a couple more birdies. I hit some really good shots that I didn’t make putts from, but I played solid. I hit a couple really close, including the three in a row. One was a two-putt for birdie, then another one I hit to a foot, and the other was to five feet. So I played really well for my first time seeing the course.”
Lancaster Country Club’s John Barry ends the first round solidly in second place with a two-under 69. Barry bogeyed the first hole of the day but avoided any disastrous mistakes after that, adding birdies on 6, 12, and 16.
Behind the top two lurk some decorated competitors, including defending champion Rick Stimmel (Connoquenessing CC) and Chris Fieger Sr. (Heidelberg CC), who, along with Ronan Culligan (Saucon Valley CC), were the only other golfers to shoot under-par and are all tied for third place with a 70 (-1).
Two additional players shot even-par 71 on the day to remain in the hunt: Sunnehanna CC’s John Bearrie and David Brown (Williams Golf & Country Club).
Super-Senior Division
Gavaghan has a two-stroke lead at the top of the Super-Senior division after carding an even-par 71 that included four birdies—on holes no. 2, 5, 6, and 10. He was one-under after the front nine but bogeys on 12 and on the par-four 18th brought him back to square one.
Chasing Gavaghan is a quartet of golfers who all shot two-over 72’s in the first round and includes defending champion Brian Rothaus (Five Ponds GC), Kevin McCarthy (Hannastown GC), Ed Short (Carlisle CC), and Joe Corsi (Ligonier CC).
Brian Sexton (Philadelphia Publinks) is alone in sixth place with a 74 (+3), while another pack tied for seventh place with a score of 75 (+4) is still within reach as well. Those competitors include former champion of the event Duke Delcher (Berkeley Hall Club), Steve Meyer (Rolling Green GC), Don Erickson III (Indiana CC), and Joseph Weiscarger (Wyoming Valley CC).
Play continues tomorrow with tee times beginning at 8:00 a.m.
The Pennsylvania Golf Association would like to thank the staff and membership of Llanerch Country Club for the hospitality shown during today’s rounds. Additional thanks go to DICK’S Sporting Goods for sponsorship of the event.