Vannucci, Brown each win two matches to set up quarterfinal meeting in BMW Philadelphia Amateur

    Two of the region’s top mid-amateur players, Little Mill Country Club’s Troy Vannucci and LuLu Country Club’s Michael R. Brown Jr., will meet in Wednesday’s quarterfinals of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship, both with an eye on the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s record book.

   The 30-year-old Vannucci, the co-medalist in Monday’s 36 holes of qualifying for match play, rolled to a pair of victories in the first two rounds of match play to book a tee time opposite Brown.

   Winner of GAP’s Middle-Amateur Championship at Jericho National Golf Club last month, Vannucci has a chance to join Michael McDermott as the only players to win Middle-Amateur and Philadelphia Amateur crowns in the same season.

   Vannucci’s opening-round match with Connor Sheehan of Tanglewood Manor Golf Club was interrupted when a line of morning showers crossed the region. When play resumed, Vannucci cruised to a 4 and 3 verdict over Sheehan.

   Vannucci also completed his second-round match with Carlisle Country Club’s Campbell Wolf on the 15^th hole of the 6,879-yard, par-71 Philadelphia Country Club layout as he advanced with another 4 and 3 victory.

   Wolf, the runnerup in the PIAA Class AAA Championship in 2016 as a senior at Cumberland Valley, was a senior on the roster of Southern Conference power East Tennessee State in the recently completed college season.

   Brown needs a victory in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur to join Chris Lange and Jeff Osberg as the only players to complete GAP’s career grand slam as he already owns wins in the Middle-Amateur Championship, the Philadelphia Open and the Patterson Cup.

   Brown needed 20 holes to get past Blue Bell Country Club’s Buddy Hansen, a senior at Temple who starred scholastically at La Salle, in the opening round.

   Brown then knocked off Aronimink Golf Club’s Max Siegfried, who starred scholastically at The Haverford School and played college golf at Virginia, with a 3 and 2 victory.

   J.T. Spina, who was Saint Joseph’s best player this spring, knocked off Drexel’s Liam Hart, the 2017 PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep, in a City 6 battle in the second round as Spina advanced to the Philly Am quarterfinals for the second straight year.

   Spina, who finished in a tie for third place in the 2016 PIAA Class AAA Championship during a standout scholastic career at Pope John Paul II, claimed a 4 and 2 victory over Hart after opening match play with a 2-up decision over LuLu Country Club’s Ryan Tall, the former Conestoga standout who represented Lafayette in the NCAA’s New Haven Regional this spring.

   Spina’s win over Hart earned him a quarterfinal matchup with another Drexel standout, Jeffrey Cunningham, a West Palm Beach, Fla. native who is also playing out of LuLu. Spina is the son of John Spina, an instructor in the Philadelphia Cricket Club pro shop.

   Cunningham earned a 3 and 1 decision over David Mecca of Glen Oak Country Club to reach the quarterfinals. Cunningham began his day with a 2-up verdict over Anthony Cordaro of Saucon Valley Country Club in the opening round.

   One of the best matches of the day saw Temple’s Dawson Anders, who plays out of Indian Valley Country Club, edge reigning Pennsylvania Amateur champion John Peters of Carlisle Country Club, 2-up, in a second-round match. Peters, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a standout at Carlisle, is a sophomore at Duke and had shared medalist honors in qualifying with Vannucci.

   Anders, winner of the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship in 2017, reached the second round with a 7 and 5 victory over Jalen Griffin, a former scholastic standout at Wissahickon who plays out of Five Ponds Golf Club.

   That sets up an intriguing quarterfinal match for Anders with Jon Rusk, the general manager at LuLu. A reinstated amateur, Rusk, the PIAA champion 25 years ago while at Council Rock, ended the bid of The 1912 Club’s Josh Ryan on the 19^th hole to reach the quarterfinals.

   Ryan, who took a gap year and will start his college career at Liberty later this summer, had taken a 1-up lead on Rusk by winning the 13^th hole. But Rusk got even by winning the 17^th hole and then finished off Ryan on the first extra hole.

   Ryan, who represented Norristown High when he won the District One Class AAA crown and finished in a tie for third place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship with Carlisle’s Peters in 2019, had won the last two playings of GAP’s Junior Boys’ Championship.

   Rusk reached the second round with a 5 and 4 victory over The Ridge at Back Brook’s Brandon Dalinka, who was coming off a victory in the New Jersey State Golf Association’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Somerset Hills Country Club. Dalinka was a scholastic standout at Council Rock North and played collegiately at North Carolina.

   The final quarterfinal matchup pits a couple of guys who capped strong scholastic careers with appearances at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall.

   Kevin Lydon, playing out of Commonwealth National Golf Club, was a nice player at Central Bucks West and finished in a tie for 28^th place in the state tournament last fall. But he’s playing some really good golf at Philly Country.

   Lydon stunned Austin Barbin of Chesapeake Bay Golf Club, 3 and 2, in the opening round of match play. Barbin, the 2019 GAP Junior Boys’ Championship winner, played a couple of rounds for Liberty in the NCAA Championship this spring at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   Lydon then cruised to a 6 and 5 decision over Honeybrook Golf Club’s R.J. Wren in the second round. Wren starred scholastically at Twin Valley and is a year removed from a solid college career at Delaware.

   Lydon’s quarterfinal opponent will be Huntsville Golf Club’s Logan Paczewski, who was one of the top scholastic players in Pennsylvania at Dallas, capping his career by finishing in a tie for fourth place last fall at Heritage Hills.

   Paczewski reached the quarterfinals with a 4 and 3 victory over Philadelphia Cricket Club veteran John Brennan, a school teacher in the Spring-Ford School District. Paczewski began his day with a 5 and 3 victory over Zach Dilcher of Hartefeld National Golf Club. Dilcher played his high school golf at Kennett and played college golf at West Chester.

   The winner of the Lydon-Paczewski match will get the winner of the Vannucci-Brown match in Wednesday afternoon’s semifinals.

   By the end of the day Wednesday, just two players will be left standing. Those two survivors will meet in the 36-hole final Saturday at Philadelphia Country Club.