Fuhrer event field on the rise
Share with others:
Frank Fuhrer Jr. keeps trying to find ways to improve the select field of 40 players for his 72-hole tournament, even if it means going outside Western Pennsylvania to do so.
Last year, he invited tour professional Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer, to play in his event, which has a purse of $125,000 with a $25,000 first prize. Saunders will be back in the field Monday when the three-day event begins at the Pittsburgh Field Club in Fox Chapel, and so will mini-tour player Eric Cole of Orlando, Fla.
Cole, the son of former PGA Tour player Bobby Cole of South Africa and former LPGA Tour star Laura Baugh, is the only player in the field who does not have some type of immediate connection to Western Pennsylvania. But he was invited on a sponsor's exemption by Fuhrer, who said he might do more of that in the future.
"There are a couple players who are right below the Nationwide Tour that I already have my eye on for next year," Fuhrer said. "I want to make this field quality, from top to bottom. I have players from around the country contacting me, wanting to get in the field. The word is starting to spread."
The field is comprised of 30 club professionals from the Tri-State PGA section, but Fuhrer has been using his eight sponsor's exemptions to beef up the field with mini-tour players. That includes three players from Western Pennsylvania -- Robert Rohanna of Waynesburg, Mike Van Sickle of Gibsonia and Bobby MacWhinnie of Upper St. Clair, who is making his first appearance in the event after playing on the Nationwide Tour in 2010.
Several Tri-State section professionals are not competing because they are in the field at the 44th PGA Professional National Championship in Hershey. Among them are past champions Kevin Shields and Ned Weaver, along with Rob McClellan and Barry Evans. Also not competing is three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champ and 2009 Walker Cup member Nathan Smith, who recently became the first player from Western Pennsylvania to win the Sunnehanna Amateur. Smith was not invited because he skipped the tournament last year.
First Published June 26, 2011 12:00 am
