Siegfried in position to make match play in U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship

   Aronimink Golf Club’s Cory Siegfried, the 2010 Pennsylvania Amateur champion, put himself in good position to make it to the match-play bracket as the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship teed off Saturday in suburban Denver.

   Siegfried, a Wayne resident, carded a 1-under-par 71 at Colorado Golf Club, which is where match play will be contested beginning Monday. Siegfried will play the par-70 CommonGround Golf Course in Sunday’s second round. The top 64 finishers in qualifying will advance to match play.

   Siegfried, a product of The Haverford School who played collegiately at Virginia and Villanova, started on the back nine Saturday and made back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth holes to get it into red figures. He had four birdies to offset three bogeys.

   Siegfried emerged from a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Indian Valley Country Club last month.

   Leading the way after the opening round of qualifying were Robbie Ziegler, a former Oregon standout, and Marc Engellenner of Rocklin, Calif.

   Both came in at 5-under, Ziegler carding a 67 at Colorado Golf Club while Engellenner posted a 65 at CommonGround.

   Also in the group along with Siegfried at 1-under was Brandon Dalinka, a member of Council Rock North’s 2010 PIAA championship team. Dalinka, a New York City resident, carded a 69 at CommonGround.

   Will Davenport, who claimed the GAP Middle-Amateur Championship last spring at Rolling Green Golf Club, carded a 71 at CommonGround that left him in a large group of players tied for 45^th at 1-over. Davenport, who plays out of Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, also punched his ticket to Colorado out of the Indian Valley qualifier.

   Former La Salle standout P.J. Acierno was in the group tied for 65^th after his 72 at CommonGround left him at 2-over. Acierno also came out of the qualifier at Indian Valley.

   A couple of South Jersey guys, Maple Shade’s Michael R. Brown Jr., winner of the Patterson Cup, a GAP major, in 2018 at Gulph Mills Golf Club, and Marlton’s Troy Vannucci, who teamed with Vince Kwon to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship last spring, were in the group tied for 83^rd at 3-over.

   Brown, who plays out of LuLu Country Club, carded a 75 at Colorado Golf Club and Vannucci, who plays out of Little Mill Country Club, posted a 73 at CommonGround.

   Brett Boner, who lost in the U.S. Mid-Am final at Charlotte Country Club in his home town a year ago, was also in the group tied for 14^th at 1-under after signing for a 69 at CommonGround.

   Scott Harvey, winner of the 2014 U.S. Mid-Am at Saucon Valley Country Club and the runnerup in the 2016 U.S. Mid-Am at Stonewall, and 2017 U.S. Mid-Am champion Matt Parziale were among the group tied for 30^th at even-par. Harvey of Greensboro, N.C. and Parziale, the Brockton, Mass. firefighter, each posted a 70 at CommonGround.

   Stewart Hagestad, author of the epic comeback that beat Harvey on the 37^th hole in the final at Stonewall, was tied for 45^th at 1-over after posting a 73 at Colorado Golf Club. Hagestad was only a few days and quite a few time zones removed from helping the United States rally to win the Walker Cup Match over Great Britain & Ireland at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England last weekend.

   Saucon Valley’s Matthew Mattare of Jersey City, N.J. was in the group tied for 104^th at 4-over after posting a 76 at Colorado Golf Club. Mattare reached the round of 16 in last year’s U.S. Mid-Am at Charlotte Country Club.

   Also in that group was Pittsburgh’s Nathan Smith, a four-time U.S. Mid-Am champion. Smith also carded a 76 at Colorado Golf Club.

   Defending champion Kevin O’Connell of Jacksonville, Fla. has some work to do to get into the match-play bracket after a 5-over 77 at Colorado Golf Club left him among the group tied for 139^th.

   The two other players who came out of the Indian Valley qualifier, Yaroslav Merkulou of Penfield, N.Y. and Merion Golf Club’s David Ferreira had respective rounds of 2-over 74 at Colorado Golf Club and 6-over 76 at CommonGround. That left Merkulou in the group tied for 65^th and Ferreira among the group tied for 155^th.

   The U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship also teed off Saturday at Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, Ariz. and a couple of local players put themselves in good position to make match play with solid starts.

   Kelli Pry of Coatesville, who made it to match play a year ago at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, carded a solid even-par 72 that left her among the group tie for 12^th place.

Pry had an up-and-down round that included five birdies and five bogeys, but a birdie on the seventh hole, her 16^th of the day, got her to even for the round.

   Merion Golf Club’s Catherine Elliott-Powell, a Philadelphia resident, was a shot behind Pry among the group tied for 16^th place with a 1-over 73.

   Elliott-Powell, who emerged from a GAP-administered qualifier at Whitford Country Club last month, also started on the back nine at Forest Highlands. She made a birdie at the 12^th hole, a bogey at the 14^th hole, a birdie at the 17^th hole and a bogey on the 18^th hole. Elliott-Powell then settled down on Forest Highlands’ outgoing nine with eight pars and a bogey at the sixth hole.

   Elliott-Powell, who started scholastically at the Academy of Notre Dame and collegiately at Penn, is trying to make the match-play bracket for the first time in her third straight trip to the U.S. Mid-Amateur.

   Caryn Wilson of Rancho Mirage, Calif. and two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Julia Potter-Bobb of Indianapolis shared the lead after the opening day of qualifying each firing a 4-under 68. Courtney McKim of Raleigh, N.C. was alone in third place after posting a 3-under 69.

   Potter-Bobb won the second of her two U.S. Mid-Am crowns in 2016 at The Kahkwa Club in Erie.

Three former champions are among a group of seven players tied for fifth at 1-under 71, including four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Am winner Ellen Port of St. Louis, 2017 winner and the runnerup a year ago at Norwood Hills, Kelsey Chugg of Salt Lake City, Utah, and 2015 winner Lauren Greenlief of Ashburn, Va.

   Defending champion Shannon Johnson of Easton, Mass. carded a 2-over 74 and was among the group tied for 26^th place.

   Also in that group at 2-over was Meghan Stasi, a South Jersey native and a four-time U.S. Mid-Am winner. Stasi of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. has won the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Match Play Championship eight times. She starred scholastically at Eastern High and played college golf at Tulane.

   Three-time Pennsylvania Amateur champion Katie Miller of Jeannette struggled to a 7-over 79 that left  her in the group tied for 68^th.

   Karen Siegel of Maple Glen, who also punched her ticket to Forest Highlands at the GAP-administered qualifier at Whitford, was among the group tied for 77^th with an 8-over 80. Pretty sure Siegel still plays out of Commonwealth National Golf Club.

   Siegel was joined at 8-over by Amy Kennedy, who has been a dominant player in the York area.