Pennsylvania Golf Association

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wheatcroft takes Pennsylvania Open in playoff

ELVERSON, Pa.-Steven Wheatcroft, a mini-tour pro from Washington, Pa., parred the first extra playoff hole to edge Kevin Shields, an assistant pro from Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, to take the Frank B. Fuhrer Pennsylvania Open Championship on Wednesday at Stonewall (par 70, 6,699 yards).

Wheatcroft carded a birdie on No. 18 (par 4, 451 yards) in regulation to force a tie with Shields before earning the victory in the playoff with a par. Both players finished at even-par 210 for the three rounds.

"I knew I had to hit something close the first time," said Wheatcroft, 25, a regular on the Gateway Tour. "I figured if I made a birdie and he made a par I’d force a playoff. Then he made the best up and down I’ve ever seen considering all the pressure and circumstances."

On 18 the first time around, Wheatcroft, playing before Shields, knocked a 7-iron from 174 yards to four feet to put the pressure squarely on his competitor. Shields, who blocked his drive into the right rough, but still with a decent lie, blew his second shot over the brick wall guarding the left of the green. A miraculous up and down by Shields saved par and sent the Open into a playoff for the second consecutive year.

In the playoff, Shields again blocked his drive right, but this time into the thick fescue.

Wheatcroft placed his drive in almost the identical spot as he did in regulation.

Shields could only punch out and Wheatcroft dropped his 7-iron, this time, to about 15 feet left of the flag. Wheatcroft failed to get up and down and Shields netted a par for the win.

"I’ve been fighting [my swing] all year long," said Shields, 31, of Pittsburgh, Pa. "It’s an under plane puff fade. Once I hit it once, it’s a disease."

Shields controlled the Pennsylvania Open for the majority of the day.

He built a five-shot advantage after nine holes, playing the front side in 4-under-par 31. He birdie No. 1 (par 5, 511 yards), No. 2 (par 4, 389 yards), No. 4 (par 4, 370 yards) and the difficult eighth (par 4, 430 yards).

Wheatcroft, who was the second-round leader, a shot clear of the field at 2-under-par entering day three, struggled. He bogeyed No. 2 and No. 3 (par 5, 564 yards). A four-putt on No. 8 (par 4, 430 yards), in which he missed a six-inch bogey effort and finished with a double, seemed to end any chance at the title.

"I lined up and got set and hit it square right," said Wheatcroft of the short bogey miss. "I thought I was out of it after that."

On No. 9 (par 3, 219 yards), momentum started to swing, though. Wheatcroft chipped in from the right greenside bunker, about 60 feet away, for birdie.

On No. 10 (par 4, 395 yards), an errant drive to the right started Shields downfall. He finished with a bogey.

Another over par score on No. 13 (par 4, 455 yards) for Shields, a missed five footer from the left side of the flag, resulted in another bogey.

On No. 16 (par 4, 463 yards), Shields, in effect lost the tournament. He blasted his drive over a wall on the right side of the fairway. He made a bogey with his provisional but with a penalty finished with a triple bogey seven.

"I was thinking good all day," said Shields, "but I was waiting for the [fade] shot to come up."

For the victory, Wheatcroft earned $10,000. Shields netted $6,000 for second place.

Chris Lange of Overbrook GC was the low amateur, finishing in a tie for fourth at 3-over-par 213.

Frank B. Fuhrer Pennsylvania State Open Championship
Stonewall
Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Name	Club	RD 1	Rd2	Rd 3	Total
Steven Wheatcroft**	Unaffiliated	71	67	72	210
Kevin Shields	Nemacolin CC	68	71	71	210
Brian Kelly	Bucknell GC	70	73	68	211
Travis Deibert	Unaffiliated	69	71	73	213
Christopher Lange	Overbrook GC	69	72	72	213
Mark Sheftic	Sunnybrook GC	73	70	70	213
Bob Ford	Oakmont CC	70	76	68	214
Rick Stimmel	Unaffiliated	72	75	67	214
Rob Shuey	GC at Felicita	72	72	71	215
John D. Mazza	Montour Heights CC	75	72	69	216
Paul A. Oglesby	Merion GC	73	71	72	216
Tom Ryan	Plymouth CC	72	72	72	216
Eric Williams	Honesdale GC	73	71	72	216
Jim Cichra	Island Sports Center	73	77	67	217
Adam Decker	Links Driving Range	74	72	71	217
Mark DiGiacomo	Lebanon CC	74	69	74	217
Mark Borkovich	Alcoma GC	74	68	76	218
Lynn Thomas Kilduff	Huntsville GC	75	71	72	218
Chad Perman	Philadelphia Publinks	70	75	73	218
John Samaha	Talamore at Oak Terrace CC	76	70	72	218
Paul Schlachter	The Club at Nevillewood	69	76	73	218
John Sweeney	Conestoga CC	80	69	69	218
Logan Terry	Plymouth CC	72	75	71	218
Mike Moses	Concord CC	77	73	69	219
Dave Roberts	Cedarbrook CC	74	73	72	219
William Smith	Chambersburg GC	72	71	76	219
Graham Dendler	Merion GC	74	74	72	220
Rod James	Gulph Mills GC	75	73	72	220
Jim Buch	Unaffiliated	77	71	73	221
Michael Larkin	Deer Run GC	71	78	72	221
Wayne Phillips	Lehigh CC	76	72	73	221
Ed Blechschmidt	Whitemarsh Valley CC	77	72	73	222
Joshua Lewis	Philadelphia Cricket Club	76	73	74	223
Michael Rinker	Eagles Mere CC	75	73	75	223
Jon Rusk	Unaffiliated	76	72	75	223
Vincent Zachetti	Unaffiliated	76	72	75	223
Gary Hardin	Northampton CC	76	74	74	224
David West	Whitford CC	72	78	74	224
Chris Hoyle	Llanerch CC	74	75	76	225
Michael Moffat	Commonwealth National GC	72	74	79	225
James Bohn	Bucknell GC	76	74	77	227
Gary Daniels	Aronimink GC	74	76	77	227
Scott Edwards	Cool Creek GC	76	73	82	231
Mike Rossi	Golf-In Learning Center	73	77	91	241
Brian Leib	Hanover CC	72	77		WD
Failed to Qualify:
Christian Bartolacci	Jericho National GC	76	75		151
Joe Boros	Treesdale G & CC	78	73		151
George Forster	Radnor Valley CC	77	74		151
Michael Grabosky	Berkshire CC	77	74		151
Drew Panebianco	Talamore at Oak Terrace CC	76	75		151
Blaine Peffley	Lebanon CC	77	74		151
Mark Powell	Du Bois CC	74	77		151
John Spina	Talamore at Oak Terrace CC	74	77		151
Steve Wager	Conestoga CC	76	75		151
Chip Zimmerman	Pittsburgh Field Club	78	73		151
Michael Brown	North Hills CC	71	81		152
Scott Ehrlich	Meadowlands CC	73	79		152
Michael Funk	Rolling Green GC	79	73		152
James Gardas	Honesdale GC	78	74		152
Wesley Hollis	Talamore at Oak Terrace CC	74	78		152
Andy Latowski	Unaffiliated	78	74		152
Gregory Ulp	CC of Harrisburg	77	75		152
Dick von Tacky, Jr.	Wanango CC	76	76		152
Clint Deibert	Doylestown CC	76	77		153
Joe Makowski	Little Mill CC	74	79		153
Marc Mandel	White Manor CC	77	76		153
Jim Smith, Jr.	Talamore at Oak Terrace CC	75	78		153
Jeff Daniels	Unaffiliated	74	80		154
Barry Erenrich	The Club at Nevillewood	79	75		154
Rick Gibney	Colonial CC	79	75		154
Patrick Hardin	Northampton CC	77	77		154
Logan Riester	Diamond Run GC	76	78		154
P. Chet Walsh	Philadelphia CC	78	76		154
John Allen	Sunnybrook GC	77	78		155
Anthony Bonargo	Doylestown CC	77	78		155
Geoff Forcino	Waynesborough CC	75	80		155
Stuart Hanford, Jr.	Fairview GC	75	80		155
Alex Knoll	Bethlehem GC	82	73		155
Anthony Sarko	Brookside CC	80	75		155
Billy Stewart	Llanerch CC	79	76		155
Keith Evans	Talamore at Oak Terrace CC	83	73		156
Doug Kingston	Saucon Valley CC	79	77		156
Paul Kouch,Jr	Torresdale-Frankford CC	81	75		156
Joseph Cordaro	Edgewood CC	79	78		157
Geoffrey Kelowitz	Mahoning Valley CC	78	79		157
John Klinchock	Ligonier CC	78	79		157
Stu Michaels	Clearfield-Curwensville CC	79	78		157
David Richards	Bent Creek CC	76	81		157
Richard Thon	The Springhaven Club	79	78		157
Ron Weaver	Meadia Heights GC	78	79		157
Mark Wiley	Meadia Heights GC	75	82		157
Michael Decapua	Northampton CC	77	81		158
J.R. Delich	White Manor CC	76	82		158
Dave Fields	Silver Creek CC	79	79		158
Brian Gillespie	St. Davids GC	81	77		158
Joe Klinchock	Chartiers CC	81	77		158
Pete Malonoski	The Springhaven Club	76	82		158
Robert Shutte, III	Unaffiliated	81	77		158
Zack Amole	Galen Hall CC	84	75		159
Kevin Cloud	Applebrook GC	83	76		159
Jeremy Graham	Frosty Valley CC	83	76		159
Mark Matricardi	Talamore at Oak Terrace CC	75	84		159
David Smith, Jr.	Yardley CC	84	76		160
Tom Spano	Spring Hollow GC	78	82		160
Bill Kindoll	Heidelberg CC	85	76		161
James Newlon	The Springhaven Club	83	78		161
Robert Ockenfuss, Jr.	Indian Valley CC	84	77		161
Hugh Reilly	Huntingdon Valley CC	84	77		161
Jim Simmons	Stonewall	82	79		161
Peter Carmain	Applebrook GC	81	81		162
Robert Leeman	Conestoga CC	84	78		162
Thomas Dell	Lancaster CC	82	81		163
Russell Harbold	Foxchase CC	84	79		163
Matthew Montgomery	Hannastown GC	80	84		164
Marty Nowicki	Silver Creek CC	83	81		164
Tom Piersanti	Radley Run CC	85	79		164
Greg Bedell	Unaffiliated	82	83		165
Richard Franklin	Stonewall	87	79		166
Richard Nuse	Foxchase GC	88	78		166
Patrick Hennigan	Waynesborough CC	89	78		167
Garrett Stempfer	Wildwood GC	82	85		167
Zach Ichter	Conestoga CC	81	87		168
Bill Wilkinson	Riverside GC	85	83		168
George Forster, Jr.	Radnor Valley CC	82	87		169
John Donnelly	Concord CC	88	83		171
Rick Flesher	Berkleigh CC	81	90		171
Arthur Kania, Jr.	Overbrook GC				WD
Steven Wojnar	Unaffiliated				WD
John Pillar, Sr.	CC at Woodloch Springs				WD
Alex Maguire, Jr.	Brookside CC				WD
Sam McFall	Waynesborough CC				WD
Scott Phillips	Blue Ridge CC				WD
** Won In Sudden Death Play-off

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