Knapp claims 2nd Westmoreland County senior golf title

Oakmont native and Hannastown Golf Club member Sean Knapp continued his excellent play Wednesday by winning the Westmoreland County Golf Association’s Senior Championship for the second time in four years.

His first title came in 2020 at Latrobe Elks Golf Club.

Knapp, who won the West Penn Amateur last month at Hannastown, used this 27-hole tournament to prepare for the U.S. Senior Amateur on Aug. 26-31 at Martis Camp in Truckee, Calif.

He shot a 3-under-par 69 during the first 18 holes and built a commanding five-shot lead. He finished with a 1-under 107, edging three-time champion Arnie Cutrell, who finished at 1-over 109.

“It was pretty tight in the morning,” Knapp said. “The afternoon I had a few shots to play with because I had a significant lead. It was a little tighter than I wanted with Arnie playing so well. It was just a matter of getting it done on the last nine.”

Dave Higinbotham won the Super Senior Division, and Dave DeNezza, a five-time champion, earned the Legends Division title. DeNezza is the only golfer to win each division.

“When I do play, I want to play well,” Knapp said. “Every little thing builds on itself during the course of the year. Next week, I head to the U.S. Senior Amateur, so this was a little piece of the puzzle.”

While Knapp is unsure if the challenges at Latrobe will help him at the Senior Amateur, it will help him later in the season when the Palmer Cup is played.

“Getting another look is always a good thing,” he said. “I enjoy playing here, and it was always special when Arnold (Palmer) played here. I miss him. It was a fun day.”

Roger Erdely, the 2021 champion, placed third, and 2018 winner Bryan Grejtak finished fourth. Brandon Antus placed fifth, Higinbotham was sixth overall, Jeff Hovanec was seventh, Kevin McCarthy was eighth, DeNezza ninth and Ron Slavonia was 10th.

Moose wins Challenge

Irwin native and Hannastown Golf Club champion Justin Moose captured the Tri-State PGA Hollywood Casino 5 Million Dollar Challenge on Monday at Valley Brook Country Club.

Moose shot 6-under-par 66 and earned a $10,000 check.

Frank Blazewick finished second at 3-under 69, and Kevin Shields was third with a 2-under 70.

Mike Van Sickle was fourth, and John Kokoska and Brett Carmen tied for fifth.

Shipley advances to Round of 32

Neal Shipley advanced to the Round of 32 at the 123rd annual USGA Amateur Championship on Wednesday at Cherry Hills Country Club.

Shipley is a Central Catholic graduate and a senior at Ohio State.

Shipley shot 1-under during the qualifying round and then edged China’s Wenyi Ding, 1-up. Shipley is seeded No. 47. Ding was seeded No. 18.

Gregor Meyer of Fox Chapel also competed in the tournament but did not qualify for match play.

U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur qualifier

Tara Joy-Connelly shot a 1-under 71 to earn medalist honors at the USGA Senior Women’s qualifier at Ligonier Country Club on Wednesday.

Stephanie Urban also qualified for the tournament by placing second, shooting a 2-over 75.

Joy-Connelly and Urban advance to the championship Sept. 30 to Oct. 5 at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Earning alternate status were Courtney Myhrum, who shot a 78, and Amy Gierlak, who had an 81.

Kraft wins Pennsylvania Open

Kevin Kraft of Harrisburg won the 107th Pennsylvania Open on Wednesday at The Country Club of York.

Kraft fired a three-round score of 9-under 201 to edge amateur Calen Sanderson of Jericho National Golf Club, who shot a 7-under 203.

Louis Olsakovsky of Nemacolin Country Club was third at 6-under 204, and Oakmont’s Aiden Oehrle was fifth. Peters Township’s Connor Schmidt was sixth at 4-under, and Easton Renwick was seventh at 3-under. Amani Dambrosio of Green Oaks Country Club tied for ninth at 2-under.

Duquesne hires Meyers

Colleen Meyers was named the first coach of the newly formed women’s team at Duquesne. She spent the past two seasons as an assistant men’s and women’s coach at Carnegie Mellon.

Meyers also has coached at Oakland Catholic since 2015.

She is a successful amateur player and was the women’s club champion at Oakmont Country Club in 2020. She is a three-time women’s senior champion at Oakmont.