The Aronimink Golf Club team of Cory Siegfried hitting the
shots and younger brother Max on the bag proved to be good enough to get Cory
Siegfried a spot in the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in a Golf Association of
Philadelphia-administered qualifier Monday in sauna-like conditions at Indian
Valley Country Club in Telford.
Cory Siegfried has had a solid amateur career, highlighted
by a victory in the 2010 Pennsylvania Amateur at Waynesborough Country Club. He
played college golf at the University of Virginia and used a year of
eligibility he left behind in Charlottesville to play a season at Villanova
while doing post-graduate work.
Max Siegfried followed in his brother’s footsteps and is
about to begin his junior season at Virginia. When Aronimink played host to the
Pennsylvania Amateur last month, Max Siegfried represented his home course with
a seventh-place finish after capturing the club championship the Sunday before the
state amateur started. The Siegfried brothers were scholastic standouts at The Haverford School
Cory Siegfried, who is in technology sales, is 29 and can
feel the real world closing in on him with a new wife and a new home. He’s
worked hard on his game with the full knowledge that his time on the golf
course after this year might be limited.
And that hard work paid off Monday as he fired a 3-under-par
69 over the 6,769-yard, par-72 Indian Valley layout to grab one of the five
tickets available to next month’s U.S. Mid-Am, which tees off Sept. 14 at
Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colo.
Siegfried finished two shots behind the co-medalists,
Whitemarsh Valley Country Club’s Will Davenport, who captured the GAP
Middle-Amateur Championship at Rolling Green Golf Club in May, and Merion Golf
Club’s David Ferreira, each of whom carded a 5-under 67.
Yaroslav Merkulov of Penfield, N.Y. shared third place with
Cory Siegfried, matching Cory Siegfried’s 3-under 69. LuLu Country Club’s P.J.
Acierno, a former La Salle standout, grabbed the final ticket to Colorado Golf
Club when he rolled in a six-footer for birdie on the first hole of a four-man
playoff for that precious last spot.
It will be Cory Siegfried’s second appearance in a USGA
championship, having qualified for the 2012 U.S. Amateur. And he was quick to
give his brother Max some credit for helping him get the job done.
“Having my brother on the bag was the biggest thing in the
world because he helped me be patient and forget about everything when I felt
nervous,” Cory Siegfried told the GAP website. “We had a lot of fun.
“I’ve been hitting the ball great this year, but making zero
putts. It was nice to see some go in today. I’ve been waiting for a good round
to happen. I’m happy with where we ended up.”
Davenport had surged into contention in the Patterson Cup
with a sparkling 5-under 66 at Applebrook Golf Club a couple of weeks ago only
to see the arrival of summer thunderstorms wipe out the round and shorten the
tournament to 18 holes.
But the 26-year-old Yale product put that disappointment
behind him and threw another 5-under round on the board in another important
situation. Playing in the first group off the 10th tee, Davenport
hit 17 greens in regulation and made some putts.
That started right away when he hit an 8-iron from 158 yards
away to 15 feet at the 370-yard, par-4 10th hole and made the birdie
try. A 7-iron at the 158-yard par-3 16th hole finished 22 feet from
the cup and he rolled that putt in.
Davenport got a tough 20-footer to fall after reaching the
447-yard, par-4 second hole with a 6-iron from 180 yards away. He only needed a
7-iron to reach the 478-yard par-5 third hole in two from 165 yards out and
made an easy two-putt birdie.
Davenport got one more long birdie putt to fall at the
204-yard, par-3 sixth hole after his 6-iron off the tee settled 25 feet from
the hole.
The 37-year-old Ferreria, a native of Bermuda who moved to
the Philadelphia area nine years ago, took advantage of a big break to get on a
roll. His drive on the 367-yard, par-4 ninth hole was headed for the trees, but
was spit back out onto the fairway. He knocked a 9-iron from 156 yards away to
12 feet and converted the birdie try.
Ferreria, a partner in a Chadds Ford hedge fund, went
back-to-back at the 377-yard, par-4 14th hole and the 551-yard,
par-5 15th hole, sending a wedge from 135 yards away at the 14th
to 15 feet and making the putt and getting it up and down after nearly reaching
the 15th in two.
He then got it to 5-under by chipping in for birdie at the
387-yard, par-4 finishing hole.
The first alternate is St. Davids Golf Club’s Brian
Gillespie, one of the GAP circuits most consistent mid-am performers.
The second alternate is Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Conrad
Von Borsig, who was a semifinalist in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur earlier this
summer at Stonewall. Von Borsig just missed making match play in the 2017 U.S.
Mid-Am when he made a triple bogey on the ninth hole at Atlanta National Golf
Club, his final hole of the day.
The final member of the foursome tied at 2-under 70 that
played off for the final ticket to the U.S. Mid-Am was Colin Brennan of
Tyngsboro, Mass.
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