Semenetz rallies past Olsakovsky to win R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship at Llanerch

   It’s really not a big surprise anymore when a Philadelphia Cricket Club guy shows up at some big event and ends up posing with the tournament’s namesake at the trophy presentation.

   I’m pretty sure Sean Semenetz’s familiarity with Llanerch Country Club, the underrated Havertown layout that played host to the 1958 PGA Championship, is what motivated him to even enter the 16^th R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship, a Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) event presented by LECOM, in the first place.

   But there he is on the PAGA website getting the trophy presented to him by Jay Sigel, probably the greatest amateur golfer not named Bobby Jones this country has ever produced, following a hard-fought 2 and 1 victory over Penn State junior Louis Olsakovsky in Wednesday afternoon’s final.

   “This the biggest event I’ve ever won,” the 32-year-old Philadelphia resident told the PAGA website.  “I’ve played in some USGA events and I’ve won some smaller events, but this is the biggest one.”

   Olsakovsky, who plays out of Hickory Heights Golf Club and was a scholastic standout at Upper St. Clair, won the 11^th hole in the final to build a 2-up advantage with seven holes to play.

   Semenetz briefly worked in the bag room at Llanerch after graduating from Drexel a decade ago. He has played the course many times. He wasn’t done yet. He won four of the next five holes to capture the title.

   Semenetz won the 12^th hole to cut his deficit in half, then got it up-and-down for par on the 14^th hole to even the match.

   He drilled his approach to the par-4 15^th hole to two feet and made the short birdie try to take a 1-up lead.

   Semenetz appeared to have the edge on the par-5 16^th hole when he reached the putting surface in two while Olsakovsky was right of the green in the rough. But Olsakovsky quickly turned the tables by flopping it to eight feet while Semenetz’s first putt came up 10 feet short.

   But match play being match play, Sementz dropped his birdie putt and Olsakovsky’s eight-footer just slid by. Semenetz was 2-up with two to play.

   Semenetz kept the pressure on as his tee shot to the par-3 17^th finished seven feet from the hole. Olsakovsky gave himself a birdie opportunity, but his putt came up short. Semenetz then had the luxury of lagging his birdie putt close for a conceded par that closed out Olsakovsky.

   Earlier Wednesday, Semenetz reached the final by cruising to a 7 and 5 semifinal victory over Eric Williams, one of the Anthracite Golf Association’s top players who plays out of Honesdale Golf Club.

   Olsakovsky claimed a 4 and 3 victory over Merion Golf Club’s Tug Maude in his semifinal match. The 36-year-old Maude, once a scholastic standout at The Haverford School, is just starting to find time in his busy life to play some competitive amateur golf again after giving professional golf a shot more than a decade ago.

   The week began with rain falling during Monday’s 36-hole qualifying and Michael O’Brien, a senior at Saint Joseph’s from West Chester, Ohio, claimed medalist honors with rounds of 67 and 66 for a 9-under 133 total. O’Brien, playing out of Bala Golf Club, gets to practice and play at Llanerch with the Hawks and his local knowledge came in handy.

   Mark Goetz, a junior at West Virginia playing out of Hannastown Golf Club in Greensburg, blitzed Llanerch with a 7-under 64 in Monday morning’s opening round. He cooled off with a 1-under 70 in the afternoon to finish a shot behind O’Brien in second place at 8-under 134.

   Maude and Green Valley Country Club’s Ben Feld, the head coach at Drexel, shared third place at 4-under 138. Maude opened with a 67 and matched par in the afternoon with a 71. Feld carded a pair of 2-under 69s.

   Semenetz comfortably qualified for match play with rounds of 70 and 71 that left him in sixth place at 1-under 141.

   Olsakovsky, meanwhile, had rounds of 74 and 72 for a 4-over 146 total and was able to survive a 5-for-3 playoff to grab the 16^th and final seed in the match-play bracket.

   That set the stage for a pretty remarkable Tuesday for Olsakovsky. First, he ousted O’Brien, the medalist, with a 4 and 2 victory.

   Then Olsakovsky proceeded to take out Pinecrest Country Club’s Nathan Smith, a six-time R. Jay Sigel Match Play winner who was bidding to win the thing for a third year in a row. The 40-year-old Smith is a four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and has played on three U.S. Walker Cup teams. The guy is good at match play. But Olsakovsky reached the semifinals with a 2 and 1 decision over Smith.

   Semenetz opened match play by claiming a 2 and 1 victory over Whitemarsh Valley Country Club’s Will Davenport, winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Middle-Amateur Championship this spring at Rolling Green Golf Club.

   Semenetz reached the semifinals with a 2 and 1 win over Indian Valley Country Club’s Dawson Anders, a junior on Brian Quinn’s Temple golf team and the winner of the 2017 GAP Junior Boys’ Championship.

   Olsakovsky’s stunning upset of Smith wasn’t even the match of the day Tuesday. That honor went to Williams, who outlasted Loch Nairn Golf Club’s Zachary Barbin in an epic 26-hole match.

   Barbin, an Elkton, Md. resident, is a junior on the Liberty golf team. His younger brother Austin Barbin has been on a roll on the junior scene this summer, adding a Christman Cup victory last week to the GAP Junior Boys’ crown he won last month.