The way David Mecca looked at it, he wasn’t just representing Glen Oak Country Club in Clarks Summit, he was carrying the banner for the entire Anthracite Golf Association (AGA).
There’s plenty of good golf played in Northeastern Pennsylvania and Mecca hammered that point home by capturing the first major championship on the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 2023 calendar, grinding out a one-shot victory in the 40th Middle-Amateur Championship, presented by NJM Insurance, which wrapped up Tuesday at Old York Road Country Club in Spring House.
A birdie burst in the middle of Tuesday’s second round enabled Mecca, a 30-year-old Clarks Summit resident, to post the only round under par for the tournament, a 1-under-par 70, over a 6,632-yard, par-71 Old York Road layout that played really tough for a talented group of the region’s top mid-ams.
Combined with a 3-over 74 in Monday’s opening round, Mecca’s closing kick gave him a 2-over 144 total that was a shot better than a trio of players who were his closest pursuers.
“It’s surreal,” Mecca told the GAP website. “It’s awesome for finally an AGA guy winning. I’m really happy with how I played today. (Monday), I didn’t strike it all that great. I just got around the course.
“Today, I had my ‘A’ game. I putted really well. I hit the ball well with the exception of like one shot.”
That would be his bladed approach at the par-4 second hole that resulted in a double bogey. Fortunately, there was still a lot of golf to be played and Mecca quickly found his groove.
Another AGA guy, Glenmaura National Golf Club’s John Barone, a fixture in head coach Brian Quinn’s Temple lineup not all that long ago, appeared to be in control of the championship.
Mecca, who played collegiately at Hofstra, kept the pressure on the 27-year-old Barone with four birdies over a seven-hole stretch.
Mecca’s 5-wood shot into the 574-yard, par-5 fourth hole left him with a chip from 50 feet. He knocked it to 10 feet and converted the birdie try.
Mecca used the 5-wood off the tee at the 330-yard, par-4 eighth hole and needed just a sand wedge from 40 yards to stop the ball four feet from the hole for another birdie. Mecca was just in front of the green in two at the 553-yard, par-5 ninth hole, chipped it to six feet and buried the birdie putt.
Mecca then rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt at the 408-yard, par-4 10th hole to get it 1-over for the championship.
When Barone rolled in a 50-foot birdie bomb on the 149-yard, par-3 14th hole, he still looked like a winner as his lead over Mecca was two shots.
But three straight bogeys by Barone opened the door for Mecca and he made the most of the opportunity, even overcoming a three-putt bogey at the 17th hole.
Barone had opened with a solid 1-over 73 in Monday’s first round. His late stumble left Barone with a 2-over 73 in Tuesday’s second round and a 3-over 145 total.
Barone shared second place at 3-over with Green Valley Country Club’s Ben Feld, the Drexel head golf coach and 2017 GAP Middle-Amateur champion, and Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Stewart Rickenbach.
Feld added a 2-over 73 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 72 to get his share of second place. Richenbach had a share of the lead going into Tuesday’s final round after he matched par in the opening round with a 71. He backed off a little in the second round with a 3-over 74 to join Barone and Feld in the tie for second place at 3-over.
Veteran mid-am Brian Gillespie of St. Davids Golf Club closed with a second straight 2-over 73 to finish alone in fifth place with a 4-over 146 total.
Zak Drescher of Bent Creek Country Club was another shot behind Gillespie in sixth place at 5-over 147 as he closed with a solid 1-over 72 after opening with a 4-over 75.
The 1912 Club’s Scott McNeil, a two-time GAP Middle-Amateur Championship winner in 2015 and again in 2021, finished up with a 2-over 73-after opening with a 4-over 75 as he ended up in seventh place with a 6-over 148 total that left him a shot behind Drescher.
Rounding out the top 10 was a quartet of players tied for eighth place, each landing on 7-over 149, including Daniel Rudhershausen of Bidermann Golf Club, Joseph Tigani of Fieldstone Golf Club, Nathan Fry of Green Pond Country Club and Jacoby Chappa of Maple Dale Country Club.
Rudershausen and Tigani had the same splits, each adding a 3-over 74 in Tuesday’s second round to an opening-round 75. Fry and Chappa also had identical splits as each opened with a 2-over 73 before closing with a 5-over 76.
No comments:
Post a Comment