Chip Lutz wins Chapman Cup
6/5/2013 | by Golf Association of Philadelphia
see also: View results for Chapman Memorial Cup, Spring Ford Country Club
Nearly 24 hours removed from winning the Senior Better-Ball alongside Robin McCool, Lutz captured the Chapman Memorial Cup
PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. (June 5, 2013) -- Chip Lutz added a second jewel in as many days to his burgeoning treasure chest Thursday. Nearly 24 hours removed from winning the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Senior Better-Ball Championship alongside Robin McCool, the LedgeRock Golf Club member captured the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Frank H. Chapman Memorial Cup (Gross) at RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve (par 71, 6,425 yards) Wednesday. Lutz, the three-time reigning GAP Senior Player of the Year, continues to build upon his staggering success in the division.
“It was a challenging day for me,” Lutz, 58, of Reading, Pa., said. “I’m starting to find my game a little more so. I’m more comfortable. I was looking forward to today. I wasn’t tired or rung out. I really didn’t have any concerns there. I started out really well. I was really excited, thinking I may be able to keep the pedal down. I had a couple of derailments, and the next thing you know, you have to get your head back around this thing and try to finish.”
Birdies on two of his first four holes represented Lutz’s hot start. He reached a pair of par 5s (No. 2, 495 yards and No. 4, 525 yards) in two strokes and totaled four putts. Lutz, the three-time reigning GAP Senior Player of the Year, executed a routine wedge to seven feet on No. 7 (par 4, 412 yards) to move to 3 under. The wheels began to tilt on the difficult par 4, 310-yard No. 9. After his drive barely held onto the green’s collar, Lutz three-putted for 4.
“I make a bogey where I think I have to two-putt for birdie,” he said. “It ended up being a big swing of emotions at that moment. I’m sort of backing up a bit.”
The backpedaling continued on No. 12 (par 4, 377 yards) as Lutz, thinking he gained 20 yards with a dropdown approach from 100 yards, left his L wedge short. His ensuing pitch bolted 12 feet past the jar, and Lutz missed the comebacker. Clutch par saves on Nos. 13 (par 3, 182 yards) and 14 (par 4, 425 yards), however, kept Lutz in the round. On the latter, he lifted a 6-iron from 185 yards out of the rough and onto the green’s front edge. Lutz then guided a chip to eight feet. An uncharacteristic misfire on the par 3, 140-yard 17th hole exemplified the self-diagnosed mental challenges Lutz faced at RiverCrest. He stopped a pitching at three feet but pulled the birdie putt left. Lutz returned to character on No. 18 (par 4, 425 yards) with a fist-pumping finish. He hit a pitching wedge 130 yards to six feet for a sly 3.
“The course played tough,” Lutz, a GAP Executive Committee member, said. “It’s a lot of local knowledge here and a lot of interesting lines off the tee. There’s a lot of local knowledge with these greens, too.”
As a Senior Division rookie in 2010, Lutz defeated fellow newcomer Michael Domenick of Phoenixville Country Club in a sudden-death playoff to win the Chapman (Gross). He’s missed the event since because of the R&A Seniors Open Amateur Championship, an event that heralds Lutz as its two-time defending champion. This year, in an effort to increase participation, the Golf Association of Philadelphia moved the Chapman (Gross) to the first week of June.
Overbrook Golf Club’s Raymond Thompson carded a 1-under-par 70 to finish a shot back. He deposited a four-footer for birdie on No. 12 (par 4, 377 yards) to move to 2 under, but bogeyed the par 4, 425-yard No. 4. Thompson’s performance, however, put him at the top of the Senior Silver Cross Award Standings. The Senior Amateur Championship, set for Sept. 3-4 at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, is the award’s final scoring event.
Frank H. Chapman, a Whitemarsh Valley Country Club member, served as the Association’s secretary-treasurer for 23 years. He died on June 7, 1955 at the age of 88. The Gross tournament, now in its seventh year, is held in his honor.
Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional golf association in the United States and serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. Its 145 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
About the Chapman Memorial Cup
Format: Eighteen hole individual stroke play. Eligibility: Open to Senior male golfers, 55 years of age and older. Players must be members of a GAP Member Club with a USGA Handicap Index of 7.0 or lower. A Super Senior may play in the "Seniors Tourna...
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