After knocking off three-time BMW Philadelphia Amateur
champion Michael McDermott in the semifinals of this year’s championship on his
home course, Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, Gregor Orlando
talked about the importance of getting that early lead.
“In match play you always hope you can get off to a good
start,” Orlando said two days before adding his name to McDermott’s on the J.
Wood Platt Trophy with an easy 9 and 8 victory over LedgeRock Golf Club’s Grant
Skylass in the scheduled 36-hole final Saturday at the Cricket Club. “I was
3-up after five and 4-up after nine. It was nice to have that little cushion to
keep your heart rate down.”
Just before I turned in for some shut-eye after completing
an overnight shift in my new “day” job – well, it was daytime when I was
finished – I checked my Twitter feed and saw Orlando dropping in a birdie putt
on the first hole of Saturday’s final to grab a 1-up lead. He never trailed.
By time I woke up in the middle of the afternoon, the
26-year-old Orlando, the 2007 PIAA champion as a junior at Erie Cathedral Prep,
was well on his way to victory over Skylass.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to be on that trophy with
some of the best players in the area,” Orlando, who played collegiately at
Virginia, told the Golf Association of Philadelphia website. “It’s really special. There’s nothing quite
like winning the Amateur.”
Orlando increased his lead to 2-up when he won the second
hole with a bogey. But Skylass, bidding to be the first Berks County golfer to
win the Philadelphia Amateur since the great Chip Lutz did it 40 years ago,
battled back.
He made birdies at three and six, both times whittling
Orlando’s lead to 1-up. But Orlando turned into a par machine over the
6,868-yard, par-70 A.W. Tillinghast gem in Whitemarsh Township.
When you’re ahead in match play, pars are solid gold. Your
opponent starts pressing for birdies and, more importantly, knows that par is
an absolute necessity.
Orlando won the seventh with a par and then the ninth with a
par to make the turn 3-up. Skylass cut it to 2-up by winning the 10th
with a par, but Orlando again built his lead to 3-up with one of his best shots
of the day at the par-4 11th, a gap wedge from 120 yards away that settled
inches from the cup for a tap-in birdie.
Seven pars later, Orlando broke for lunch with that same
3-up advantage.
Skylass again got within a hole by winning the 19th
with a par, but lost the 20th with a bogey. That’s when Orlando started to
pull away, winning the 21st with a par, the 22nd with a
birdie and the 23rd with a par. Suddenly he was 6-up.
He finished off Skylass by winning the 26th with
a bogey, the 27th with a par and the 28th, the
Wissahickon’s sweet little 175-yard, par-3 10th back at the
clubhouse, with a par.
When the Erie native arrived in the Philadelphia area trying
to work his way up the ladder as an agent with Erie Insurance, 2015
Philadelphia Amateur champion Cole Berman advised him to take a look at the
Cricket Club.
Saturday he became the fourth Cricket Club member in the
last 10 years to put his name on the J. Wood Platt Trophy, joining Phil
Bartholomew (2007), his fellow Virginia product Conrad Von Borsig (2009) and
Berman, a senior at Georgetown.
It was a pretty good week for the Cricket Club contingent.
John Brennan opened the tournament with a brilliant 4-under 66 on the
Wissahickon Course in qualifying on his way to earning medalist honors by three
shots. Berman fell in the second round and Von Borsig reached the quarterfinals
before bowing out.
And Orlando, who reached the second round of the U.S.
Mid-Amateur Championship at Stonewall last summer, capped it with Saturday’s
victory.
“Growing up here, I have seen a lot of change and a lot of
growth,” Berman told the GAP website. “The atmosphere and the competitiveness
have changed and it is incredible to believe that four of us have won the
premier golf tournament in the Philadelphia area.
“Everyone knew Gregor would break through. I don’t think
this will be his last GAP major.”
By the way, I mentioned following the BMW Philadelphia
Amateur on Twitter. Marty Emeno and his small army of GAP guys and girls do a
tremendous job keeping you up to date for all of their events. If you follow
nothing else on Twitter, follow GAP @GAofPhilly. Oh yeah, and me @tmacgolf16,
especially now that I’ve finally figured out how to link my latest posts to a
tweet. Who says you can’t teach an old sportswriter new tricks?
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