Concord Country Club’s Greg Benedetto had played Fieldstone
Golf Club enough times to develop a strategy for the tight 6,373-yard, par-71
layout in Greenville, Del. as he prepared to tee it up in Monday’s Golf
Association of Philadelphia Marston Cup.
The plan was to put the driver away on the front nine, focus
on keeping the ball in play off the tee and avoiding any kind of big number.
Even when he started on the back nine and bogeyed the first two holes, he
didn’t waver from his plan.
And it worked well enough that he birdied his last three
holes, Nos. seven, eight and nine, to fire a 3-under-par 68 to claim the
Marston Cup title by two shots. The event is limited to players ages 40 to 54.
And as Benedetto, a 48-year-old West Chester resident, pointed out, that is a
pretty good bunch of players.
“It is a very above-average field,” Benedetto told the GAP
website after earning his first career individual GAP win. “Looking up at some
of these names like (Michael R. Brown Jr.), P. Chet Walsh and Brian Gillespie
really make it fun to come out here and compete. The exemptions (into GAP
majors) are pretty crazy, too.”
Benedetto was in the early wave of play Monday and his
3-under total held up even with the moon partially blotting out the sun for a
period of time in the afternoon.
After those two opening bogeys, Benedetto got it back to
even par with birdies at the 16th and 18th holes. He hit
a gap wedge to five feet at the 105-yard 16th and made the putt and
knocked his approach at the par-5 18th hole to a foot for a kick-in
birdie.
Despite two early birdies on the front nine, he was still
even-par when he arrived at the par-4 seventh hole. A 5-wood off the tee left
him 104 yards away. He wedged it to 25 feet and then rolled in the birdie putt.
A 6-iron at the 175-yard eighth hole finished six feet from
the hole and he dropped that putt. An 8-iron at the par-4 ninth again left him
six feet for birdie and he rolled it in to finish 3-under.
Robert Bechtold, playing on his home course, and Clark Halle
of Mercer Oaks Golf Course were the only other players to better par as they
finished tied for second, each carding a 1-under 70.
Steve Oh of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, Michael Boden of
Aronimink Golf Club and Jamie Slonis of Tavistock Country Club finished tied
for fourth at even-par 71. Andrew Strock of Makefield Highlands Golf Club
finished alone in seventh with a 1-over 72.
Peter Williamson of Manufacturers Golf & Country Club
and the aforementioned Michael R. Brown Jr. of Lu Lu Country Club shared eighth
place, each coming in at 2-over 73.
Rounding out the top 10 were three players – Patrick
Dougherty of Philadelphia Cricket Club, Michael Minter of Makefield Highlands
and Keith Matt of Talamore Country Club – tied for 10th at 3-over
74.
The Marston Cup is named for the great Philadelphia amateur
Max Marston, who took the golf world by storm in the summer of 1923, winning
everything he played in, capped by a run to the U.S. Amateur title during which
he defeated two of the giants of the game, Bobby Jones in the second round and
Francis Ouimet in the semifinals.
No comments:
Post a Comment