2026 Senior Amateur Round 2 Recap

READING, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Golf Association’s (PAGA) 67^th Senior Amateur Championship at Berkshire Country Club had one of the most exciting final couple of holes of the summer, with multiple players shuffling up and down through the top spots of the leaderboard, seemingly by the minute. At the end of it all, though, Connoquenessing Country Club’s Rick Stimmel emerged to win his second-ever PAGA Senior Amateur title, finishing the week at -2 (68-72–140). He also won the event in 2023.

“Today it was a battle between Arnie, Jeff, Neil, and I,” said Stimmel. “We all could have won it, easily. It comes down to one or two putts. Coming off of Oakmont last week where I kind of played pretty good but shot a couple of 77’s, this place looked a lot more favorable for senior golf. I played a good two days this week but had low expectations. When I didn’t make the cut last week I hopped on a flight and went down to Hilton Head and did nothing golf related for an entire week then shot a 68 yesterday, so it kind of surprised me. So I’m very happy with the outcome.”

Stimmel, the leader after Monday’s first round, birdied his first hole of the day but followed it up with a double bogey on No. 2 and a bogey on 3. He would add birdies on 7, 10, and 12 but another pair of bogeys on 14 and 15 would force a very eventful last two holes.

Neil Gordon (Doylestown Country Club) was -4 on the front nine and flirted with the lead all round, but found some struggles on the back nine for the second consecutive day. Regardless, he led Stimmel by a stroke heading into 16– but bogeys on 16 and 17 (two of his four on the back nine) gave Rick an opening. Stimmel sank a 25 foot birdie putt on 17 to go up two strokes with just one hole left to play, which proved to be even more eventful.

“Yesterday on 18 I drove it right on the front of the green but today it was downwind so it was just a stock driver to get me somewhere near the green,” recalled Stimmel. “As soon as I hit it, it made this funny noise and I felt like everything twisted in my hand. And the ball went so far to the right, and I never hit the ball right. So I look down at my driver and the head, the grip, and the shaft are all going in different directions, so I must have broken the glue where the ferrule went in. I still hit it good and it went far but I was 99 yards right of the green, pin high, and you can’t see anything. So I thought that as long as I just get this on the green and two putt, I’m probably going to win.”

Stimmel bogeyed 18 while Gordon parred it to give Rick the victory, his second of the season after also topping the Senior Division at the season-opening George Dressler Memorial Championship. Stimmel was also runner-up at this summer’s PAGA Senior Open.

“Arnie said congrats and I didn’t know I won,” recalled Stimmel. “I thought I was in a playoff with Neil because I made the bogey on 18 but it all ended up working out. Thank goodness I didn’t have to go to extra holes because I would have had to hit my 3-wood out there all day with no driver left.”

Gordon finished as runner-up for the week at -1 (70-71–141) while third place belonged to Arnie Cutrell (Greensburg Country Club) at even par (70-72–142). A three-putt for Cutrell on 18 (after his first attempt hit the edge of the cup) for a double bogey doomed his medalist hopes but he still finished as one of only three players at or under par for the tournament.

Jeff Frazier (Carlisle Country Club) and Robert Bechtold (Fieldstone Golf Club) finished tied for fourth place. Frazier (+1, 69-74–143) was in second place heading into today and was -1 through 13 holes before a double on 15 and a bogey on 18 took him out of contention. Bechtold (+1, 71-72–143) played consistent all week and birdied 7, 8, and 12 on the final day.

The Super Senior Division finish was also a wild one, with Wyoming Valley Country Club’s Joseph Weiscarger shooting a blistering 68 on Tuesday to win. The round (equaling Stimmel’s tally from Monday) was the lowest of the tournament and included birdies on 7, 10, 11, 14, and 16 to finish at +1 (75-68–143).

Chasing him was Brian Rothaus (Five Ponds Golf Club), who put together two solid rounds of +1 (72) to finish as runner-up for the fifth time in the last six years in the Super-Senior Division. Rothaus’ lone birdie of the day was on the first hole, and the only trouble he ran into were bogeys on 9 and 15 in an otherwise excellent round.

The pair of Byron Whitman (Berkshire Country Club) and Oscar Mestre (Overbrook Golf Club) finished tied for third place at +3 (145), while two-time Super-Senior Amateur champ Duke Delcher (Sandy Run CC) and former 2017 Senior Am champ Glenn Smeraglio (LuLu Country Club) finished in fifth place at +4 (146).

Complete results from Monday’s first round can be found here: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11958107316601007903

Next up on the PAGA schedule is the 110^th Open Championship, scheduled for August 10-12 at Laurel Valley Golf Club.

The Pennsylvania Golf Association would like to thank the staff and membership of Berkshire Country Club for the hospitality shown during this week’s Championship. Additional thanks go to DICK’S Sporting Goods for sponsorship of the event as the title sponsor of the PAGA.