David Quinn wins NJPGA/NJSGA Senior Open at Springdale
September 29, 2020 - Powered by a back nine to remember, David Quinn of Laurel Creek collected five birdies in his final seven holes for a six-under-par 65 to win the 32nd NJPGA/NJSGA Senior Open Championship on Tuesday by one stroke at the par-71, 6,370-yard Springdale Golf Club in Princeton.
Quinn, 54, a lifelong resident of Marlton and Director of Instruction at Laurel Creek, edged three-time champion Frank Esposito Jr. of Forsgate, who shot 66. Pete Busch of Galloping Hill captured third place with a 67. Esposito won in 2014, ’17 and ’18.
Low amateur honors at three-under-par 68 were shared Bill Bello of Darlington and Adam Kugler of Alpine, who last week won the NJSGA Senior Amateur Championship.
The event is normally a two-day 36-hole event and was originally scheduled for May, but was it shortened to 18 holes and rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I had a practice round here two weeks ago with head pro Keith Stewart and it proved very valuable today. Keith told me which way the greens were running, always away from the Cleveland Tower. I also received a putting lesson from (pro) Vince Ramagli (of Montclair) just last night and I ended up having a really good day with my putter,” said Quinn, who was runner-up to Brian Komline in the 2005 NJSGA Open Championship at Fairmount. The commanding Cleveland Tower, part of Princeton University’s graduate college, is adjacent to the sixth green.
“The greens were very fast and very smooth,” added Quinn, who had eight one-putt greens and a total of 28 putts. He had zero bogeys in his round.
“I hit my driver very straight except for a couple of swings. I kept everything in front of me and hit a lot of fairways and greens. I played conservatively because I really don’t know the course very well.”
Quinn’s victories include the Philadelphia PGA Section Championship in 2006 and 2013, the Philadelphia Open in 2006, and the Philadelphia Senior Section Championship in 2017. He is a five-time Philadelphia Section Player of the Year.
Quinn played collegiately at Catawba College, and played in the mini-tour ranks from 1992-96. He was good enough to appear in four PGA Tour events, but never made a cut.
He was just one-under-par for the front nine at Springdale, but turned things around when he collected four consecutive birdies on holes 12 through 15. He reached a greenside bunker in two on the par-5, No. 12, and blasted out to a foot for a kick-in birdie. He followed with a birdie on the short par-3, No. 13, landing his gap wedge to five feet.
On the par-4, No. 14, he landed a lob wedge from the fairway to eight feet above the hole and drained the putt for a third straight birdie. At the par-4, No. 15, his pitching wedge into the green ended 12 feet past the cup, but he made that birdie putt as well to go five-under on the day.
His final birdie of the day came on the par-5, No. 17 when his gap wedge into the green landed 10 feet below the hole and he sank the uphill putt.
“I’ve pretty much won everything I could in the Philadelphia PGA Section,” Quinn stated, “So it means a lot to me, as a Jersey guy my whole life, to finally get my name on a NJSGA trophy.”
