One day DuPont Country Club’s Matthew Finger was battling
the best mid-amateur player in the country at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball
Championship and two days later he was sitting atop the leaderboard along with
the best senior amateur player in, well, the world at the 33rd Golf
Association of Philadelphia’s 33rd Middle-Amateur Championship,
presented by Callaway Golf.
Finger carded a 2-under 69 at Waynesborough Country Club
Wednesday to earn a share of the lead with reigning U.S. Senior Amateur
champion Chip Lutz of LedgeRock Golf Club in the first GAP major of 2016.
Finger teamed with Medford Village Country Club’s Michael
Korcuba to qualify for match play at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Winged Foot
Golf Club. The luck of the draw left them with a first-round match Monday against
the defending champions, Nathan Smith, a four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion,
and Todd White. Finger and Korcuba suffered a 6 and 5 setback and Finger
hustled back home for the GAP Mid-Am.
He shares the Mid-Am lead with Lutz, who last fall added the
U.S. Senior Amateur title to his two British Senior Amateur crowns and one
Canadian Senior Amateur title.
Three players are tied for third at 1-under 70, including
Aronimink Golf Club’s Dan Bernard, a former Bucknell standout, Huntingdon
Valley Country Club’s Benjamin Smith and Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Gregor
Orlando.
Another U.S. Four-Ball combatant, Huntingdon Valley’s Jeff
Osberg, the reigning William Hyndman III GAP Player of the Year, heads a group
of six players tied for sixth at 1-under 71.
Osberg teamed with Merion Golf Club’s Michael McDermott at
Winged Foot, but the pairing of the Philadelphia’s top two mid-am players
couldn’t find its footing and failed to qualify for match play.
McDermott, a four-time winner of the GAP Mid-Am, carded a
four-over 76 and is tied for 36th. Low McDermott honors went to
younger brother Brian of Llanerch Country Club, who is tied for 17th
at 1-over 73.
Overbrook Golf Club’s ageless Ray Thompson, another in a
deep stable of GAP senior amateur standouts, leads a group of five players tied
for 12th at even-par 72.
The cut fell at 78. The final 18 holes will be played
Thursday.
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