Play in the second round of qualifying in the U.S.
Mid-Amateur Championship at the John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Fla. wasn’t
completed Sunday, but it doesn’t look like Merion Golf Club’s Michael McDermott
nor Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Jeff Osberg will make match play.
The 40-year-old McDermott, a former Haverford High and Saint
Joseph’s standout, didn’t miss by much as he added a 4-over 76 at John’s
Island’s West Course Sunday to the 3-over 74 he shot at the North Course
Saturday for a 7-over 150 total.
The projected cut line is 5-over 148, although there are
enough players who must still complete their rounds that it could fall to
6-over, but it doesn’t seem likely.
The 31-year-old Osberg, a former Owen J. Roberts and
Guilford College standout, had opened with a 2-over 74 at the West Course
Saturday, but posted an 8-over 79 at the North Course Monday to finish at
10-over 153.
It looked like John Sawin, a Haverford School All-Delco more
than a decade ago who lives in San Francisco, was going to contend for medalist
honors when he opened with a 2-under 70 at the West Course Saturday. But Sawin
struggled to an 8-over 79 on the North Course, including a triple bogey 8 on
the par-5 14th, and is part of that 6-over group that looks like it
will just miss match play.
Also at the 6-over figure is Nathan Smith, the four-time
U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and the 1994 PIAA champion as a sophomore at
Brookville. Smith’s 1-over 73 at the West Course Sunday might not be good
enough to make up for his opening-round 5-over 76 at the North Course.
McDermott certainly battled Sunday. Starting on the back
nine on the West Course, he made bogeys at 11 and 13, steadied himself with six
straight pars, then made bogeys at the second third holes and stood at 4-over
for the round.
But birdies at four and six got him back to 2-over for the
day and 5-over overall, which would have put him inside the cut line, before he
gave two shots back with bogeys at the seventh and eighth holes.
Osberg lost any hope when he made two double bogeys and two
bogeys in a back-nine 41 at the North Course.
Glenn Smeraglio, a Newtown resident who plays out of Mercer
Oaks Golf Club, finished at the same 7-over 150 total as McDermott did.
Smeraglio had a 4-over 76 at the West Course Sunday along with an opening-round
3-over 74 at the North Course Saturday.
Still, it was two pretty good weeks of USGA competition for
Smeraglio, who qualified for match play at last week’s U.S. Senior Amateur at
Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. and will end up a shot or
two outside of making match play at the Mid-Am.
Overbrook Golf Club’s Brad McFadden struggled at John’s
Island, adding an 86 Sunday at the North Course to his opening-round 87 at the
West Course for a 173 total.
Scott Harvey of Greensboro, N.C. won this title a year ago
at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem and has a chance to capture the
qualifying medal. He has two holes to play on the front nine at the North
Course and is tied for the lead at 4-under with Scott Parziale of Brockton,
Mass.
Parziale carded a 3-under 69 at the West Course Sunday after
an opening-round of 1-under 70 at the North Course Saturday to get into the
clubhouse at 4-under 139.
The U.S. Mid-Amateur comes to the Philadelphia area, well
the scenic northwest corner of Chester County anyway, when it is played at
Stonewall in 2016.
By the way, the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship is
also under way at the Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La. and Meghan
Stasi, an eight-time Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia champion, has
booked her spot in match play.
A four-time winner of this event, Stasi, who lives in
Oakland Park, Fla., but is a South Jersey native, finished sixth in qualifying
with rounds of 78 and 75 for a 9-over 153 total.
Katie Miller, the reigning Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur
champion and a Jeannette resident, finished tied for fourth with a pair 76s and
a 152 total to assure herself a spot in match play. Miller won three PIAA
titles at Hempfield and is the only three-time state champion in the history of
the girls tournament.
No comments:
Post a Comment