McAlarney outlasts Post in Philadelphia Section PGA Match Play Championship final

   Sunnybrook Golf Club pro Corey McAlarney captured the Philadelphia Section PGA’s Match Play Championship Wednesday with a 3 and 1 victory in the final over Brendon Post, an assistant coach for the Delaware women’s golf team, at Merion Golf Club’s West Course in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township.

   The final was the culmination of three days of matches that began Monday with a field of 64 of the top club professionals in the Philadelphia Section.

   Wednesday’s play began with the final four players teeing off in the semifinals.

   McAlarney squared off against Jordan Gibbs, an assistant pro at Gulph Mills Golf Club who was the runaway winner of the Philadelphia Section PGA Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course last month. Gibbs battled McAlarney on even terms through the regulation 18 holes before McAlarney advanced to the final by winning the 19^th hole.

   The other semifinal also went the distance with Post edging Dave Quinn of The Links Golf Club, 1-up on the 18^th hole.

   McAlarney got the jump on Post in the final with a birdie at the second to take a 1-up lead. The finalists halved the next five holes, including the seventh hole, which they both birdied. McAlarney drove the green on the short par-4 eighth hole and his two-putt birdie gave him a 2-up lead heading to the back nine.

   Post battled back, winning the 10^th and 11^th holes to square the match. But McAlarney answered with birdies at the 12^th and 13^th holes to restore his 2-up advantage.

   Post won the par-3 15^th to the cut the deficit in half, but his poor drive on the par-5 16^th led to a win on the hole for McAlarney, making him 2-up with two holes to go. Post missed the green at the par-3 17^th hole and was forced to concede, giving McAlarney the 3 and 1 victory.

   McAlarney’s road to the semifinals included a 6 and 5 victory over Cedarbrook Country Club’s Dave Roberts, a 1-up win over Mike Meisenzhal of Shore Gate Country Club, a 1-up win over Stu Ingraham, the head of instruction at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square and the Section’s senior champion, and a 5 and 4 win over Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Trevor Bensel.

   Post’s road to the semifinals included a 3 and 2 victory over Gregg Gibb of Phoenixville Country Club, a 3 and 2 win over Whitford Country Club assistant pro Andrew Turner, a 5 and 3 win over Eric Figueroa of McCall Golf & Country Club and a win on the 19^th hole over Jakob Gerney of Trump National Philadelphia.