The partnership of DuPont Country Club’s Mark Wachter and Lu
Lu Country Club’s Michael Brown Jr. was forged entirely on the golf course.
They first met playing in Golf Association of Philadelphia
Winter Series events. The 49-year-old Wachter of Wilmington, Del. even caddied
for the 44-year-old Brown of Maple Shade N.J. during Brown’s run to the
quarterfinals of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Philadelphia Cricket Club
earlier this summer.
So, teaming up for GAP’s Four-Ball Championship at Chester
Valley Golf Club Wednesday seemed like a good idea. A better-ball 8-under-par
62 over the 6,241-yard, par-70 Chester Valley layout that gave them a one-shot
victory made for a winning partnership indeed.
“Mark was in for par on a few holes that really gave me a
chance to go at the hole with my birdie looks,” Brown told the GAP
website. “That’s where the better-ball
component comes into play.”
With the pair starting on Chester Valley’s 10th,
Brown got things rolling when he hit a 5-iron to 15 feet and made the birdie
putt. Wachter hit a sand wedge to eight feet at the 11th and made
that putt for birdie.
Brown’s gap wedge at the 12th finished two feet from the
hole and he knocked that in and Brown made it four straight birdies to open the
round for the team when his 8-iron approach at 13 ended up five feet from the
hole and he drilled the birdie putt.
After a bogey at 16, the team quickly got back to 4-under
when Brown hit his 9-iron approach just two feet away at the 18th
and made the putt.
Brown dropped a 35-foot bomb for birdie at the first. At the par-5 second he drilled a 3-wood onto
the green in two and then rolled in a 30-foot eagle putt. Suddenly Wachter and
Brown were sitting at 7-under.
They only got one more birdie, as Wachter knocked it 15 feet
away at the par-3 seventh and rolled in the putt. It got them to 8-under and
provided them with the margin of victory.
That’s because the Kennett Square Golf & Country Club
duo of Brett Wallace and Michael Sanfrancesco fired a 7-under 63 to take
runnerup honors. Wallace and Sanfrancesco also earned low-net honors with at
11-under 59.
It was another four shots back to four teams tied for third
at 3-under 67. Included in that foursome of teams were: The White Clay Creek
Country Club duo of Jeff Whiteside and Jeff Clark; the Running Deer Golf Club
pair of Stephen Barry and Frank Kohute; Andrew Dietz of Laurel Creek Country
Club and Pat Curiale of Medford Village Country Club; and Drew Panebianco of
Five Ponds Golf Club and Charles Scalzott of Hidden Creek Golf Club.
The Makefield Highlands Golf Club pair of Andew Strock and
Michael Minter and Damon Heller of Bent Creek Country Club and Matthew
Dougherty of Glenmaura National Golf Club shared seventh place, each team
carding a 2-under 68.
Five more teams finished tied for ninth at 1-under 69,
including Gerard Rosato of Plymouth Country Club and Patrick McCusker Jr. of
Sandy Run Country Club; the Whitford Country Club pair of David West and Bruce Cowgill; Chris Meares of Running Deer
and Ryan Cass of Merchantville Country Club; Beau Guarino of Mercer Oaks Golf
Course and Michael O’Keefe of Laurel Creek; and the Applebrook Golf Club tandem
of Andrew Sterge and William Howard V.
Three teams from host Chester Valley were part of a six-team
logjam tied for 14th at even-par 70, including Gavin Grimes and
Andrew Ploszay, Michael Grimes and John
Grove and Matt Schuster and Thomas Schaible.
Defending champions Kevin Scarlo Jr. of Burlington Country
Club and Drew Guarino of Old York Country Club at Chesterfield were also in the
group at even-par 70.
Rounding out the duos tied for 14th were Edward
Erickson of Makefield Highlands and Ray Pyontek of Mercer Oaks and former
Conestoga teammates Robert Olseski III of Sandy Run and Michael Cook of
Applebrook.
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