Holt has strong showing in GAP Mid-Am qualifying

   Will Holt spent a couple of years helping us out in the Daily Times sports department before realizing that working at a newspaper wasn’t helping his golf game.

   Then he spent some time working in the golf business as an assistant pro at a couple of clubs, including Rolling Green. That was another job that wasn’t conducive to lowering your scores.

   He is a reinstated amateur now and last Saturday he fired a 4-over 76 at Downingtown Country Club to finish In a five-way tie for second in qualifying for the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s first major championship of the year, the Middle-Amateur Championship, which will be played May 22-23 at Fieldstone Golf Club.

  Holt plays out of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club and has won two club championships. Followers of my Golf Notebook that appears in the Daily Times print edition in the summer may recall that Holt won the club championship two years ago in a match that was interrupted when Holt realized all the fire engines he heard blaring were headed to his townhouse near the course to put out a small fire.

   When the all clear was issued, Holt returned to the course and finished off the victory.

   The qualifying medal went to Overbrook Golf Club’s Chris Lange Jr., a Newtown Square resident and son of legendary GAP competitor Chris Lange. Lange, a commercial real estate broker at Binswanger, fired a 1-over 73. Lange was coming off a 3-under 67 at Overbrook.

   “I went out confident,” the 28-year-old Lange told the GAP website. “I didn’t try to press the issue because the greens were aerated and the wind was blowing, so I just kind of let it go.”

   Lange couldn’t swing a club for four months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff.

   “It bothered me all last summer and I got an MRI in September,” Lange said of the offending shoulder. “My body feels healthy for the first time in a while. With all of the work I did on my shoulder, I feel more stable. I had four months of physical therapy, so my swing feels different.  My misses aren’t as bad because I’m a little bit stronger than I was.”

   Also earning spots at the GAP  Mid-Am were Robert Good of Merion Golf Club with a 78, Tom Spano of Llanerch Country Club with a 79 and Shawn Lavin of Rolling Green Golf Club with a 79. The cut fell at that 7–over 79 figure.

Walsh will captain Team GAP

   P. Chet Walsh, the Philadelphia Country Club member who, in a former life, coached the Archbishop Carroll boys basketball team, will serve as team captain as the top GAP players take on the best the New Jersey State Golf Association has to offer in  the 52^nd Compher Cup at Galloway National Golf Club Wednesday.

   “it makes you feel good that you’re selected to play on  any of the honorary teams,” the 46-year-old Walsh, a Wayne resident, told the GAP website. “I think it’s a goal that a lot of people set each season – to play well enough to be considered for it.”

   Among the six rookies on the GAP’s Compher Cup roster is Stephen Dressel, a 24-year-old Wayne resident and a former Conestoga standout.

   “It’s certainly an honor to be selected,” Dressel told the GAP website. “I’m definitely looking forward to the event – playing a very tough golf course from my understanding in Galloway. It will be nice to play in a team atmosphere.”

  Llanerch Country Club will be represented by Brian McDermott, of the golfing  McDermott family out of Haverford High and Saint Joseph’s, and Jeff Osberg, who not only qualified for the 2012 U.S. Amateur, but made it to match play and was ousted by the eventual champion, Steven Fox.

Perla is in the swing

  The Philadelphia Section PGA teed off its 2013 tournament campaign with the Callaway Golf TPD Championship at the Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill course Monday.

   Radnor Valley Country Club assistant pro Tony Perla racked up 24 points in the modified Stableford scoring system to take runnerup honors behind Dave McNabb, the Applebrook Golf Club pro who took the title with 28 points.

   Perla had five birdies and 11 pars on his way to his 24-point total.

   Perla’s boss, Radnor Valley head pro George Forster, finished third in the senior division with 18 points.