It's another GAP major for Vannucci as he takes rain-shortened Patterson Cup at Concord

 

   Troy Vannucci has taken over as the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s top mid-amateur player.

   Vannucci, playing out Little Mill Country Club, earned his second career GAP major championship Thursday when the remnants of Hurricane Debby forced the 122^nd Joseph H. Patterson Cup at Concord Country Club in Concord Township, Delaware County to be shortened from 54 holes to 36 holes.

   The Patterson Cup, the last of GAP’s four major championships each season, had been expanded from its traditional 36 holes to 54 holes for the first time this year, making top finishers eligible for World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) points.

   But Mother Nature apparently liked the Patterson Cup at 36 holes. The 32-year-old Vannucci, a Marlton, N.J. resident, had opened with a sparkling six-birdie, no-bogey round of 6-under-par 64 Wednesday over the 6,860-yard, par-70 Concord layout that gave him a one-shot lead over another of GAP’s elder statesmen, Michael R. Brown Jr. of LuLu Country Club.

   The plan was for a 36-hole windup Thursday, but those Debby remnants, which had been creeping up from the South all day, finally made the course unplayable and play was suspended at 3:27 p.m.

   Play never resumed and the Patterson Cup reverted back to the completed 36 holes. Vannucci had begun his day with a solid 2-under 68 and his 8-under 132 total gave him a two-shot victory over Penn State senior Morgan Lofland, who was playing out of Phoenixville Country Club.

   Vannucci added a second GAP major to his glittering resume to along with his win in the GAP Middle-Amateur Championship in 2022 at Jericho National Golf Club. Vannucci also earned the season-long Silver Cross Award, GAP’s stroke-play championship that combines scores from qualifying for match in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur and the Patterson Cup, last summer.

   “(Winning these titles) is never easy,” Vannucci told the GAP website. “Especially with the weather and everything in the forecast. It was a bit uncertain. I knew my game was trending in the right direction. I was excited to play. And after the first round, I was really ready to get after it.

   “It means a lot. I’m over the moon. It really is special.”

   Vannucci got off to a good start in Wednesday’s opening round with birdies at the sixth and ninth holes. After adding a third birdie at the 13^th hole, Vannucci really got it going, ripping off three straight birdies at 15, 16 and 17.

   The 51-year-old Brown, one of just three players who have the GAP career grand slam – wins in the GAP Middle-Amateur, the BMW Philadelphia Amateur, the Philadelphia Open and the Patterson Cup – was Vannucci’s closest pursuer after opening with a 5-under 65. The two played in the same group.

   After opening his second round Thursday with a bogey at the first hole, Vannucci made back-to-back birdies at three and four. After a bogey at the sixth hole, Vannucci made a birdie at the 10^th hole, but a bogey at 13 dropped him back to even for the round.

   Vannucci, however, had just enough of a closing kick to finish the deal.

   At the 141-yard, par-3 15 hole, Vannucci drilled a 9-iron to seven feet and converted the birdie try. He used the 9-iron again for his approach from 137 yards at the 405-yard, par-4 17^th hole and he stuck it five feet away and made that birdie putt.

   There were par saves along the way, most notably a 20-footer for par at the 12^th hole that dropped, but Vannucci was always good enough.

   Lofland, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during his scholastic days at Conestoga, carded a second straight 3-under 67 to earn runnerup honors with a 6-under 134 total.

   Richmond senior Patrick Isztwan, playing out of Huntingdon Valley Country Club, matched Lofland for the best score in Thursday morning’s second round with a 3-under 67 after opening with a 2-under 68 to finish a shot behind Lofland in third place with a 5-under 135 total.

   Isztwan, who starred scholastically at Penn Charter, picked up a nice little bit of hardware to take home as he captured the Silver Cross Award by four shots over recent Liberty graduate Austin Barbin, the BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion who plays out of Chesapeake Bay Golf Club.

   Isztwan had claimed medalist honors in qualifying for match play in the Philly Amateur with a blistering 7-under 65 at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club and a 2-under 69 at North Hills Country Club. His two rounds in the Patterson Cup gave Isztwan a 14-under 269 total.

   Had the final round of the Patterson Cup been completed, it, too, would have been included in the Silver Cross total.

   Barbin, Isztwan’s playing partner in Thursday morning’s second round, was his closest pursuer and was the runnerup in the Silver Cross standings. Barbin registered a pair of 2-under 68s at Concord to finish in a tie for fourth place with Brown at 4-under 136. Barbin had lost in a playoff in the Patterson Cup a year ago at Llanerch Country Club.

   Barbin had matched Isztwan’s 7-under 65 in June at Whitemarsh Valley after opening with a 1-over 72 at North Hills. It added up to a 10-under 273 Silver Cross total, four shots behind Isztwan.

   “It means a lot,” Isztwan told the GAP website about his Silver Cross success. “The two events that count for the Silver Cross worked out well with timing. l played my best in the two events that make up this award and did not play that great around it.”

   Recent Penn State graduate Patrick Sheehan, coming off a Pennsylvania Amateur victory at Huntingdon Valley, ended up in third place in the Silver Cross scoring with a 6-under 277 total.

   Brown cooled off a little in the second round as he added a 1-over 71 to his opening-round 65 to share fourth place with Barbin at 4-under.

   Sheehan, playing out of Talamore Country Club, matched par in the second round with a 70 after opening with a 1-under 69 as he headed a quartet of players tied for sixth place in the Patterson Cup with a 1-under 139 total.

   Sheehan’s victory in the Pennsylvania Amateur forced him to delay the start of his professional career as it punched his ticket to the U.S. Amateur. It will be Sheehan’s fourth trip to the U.S. Amateur and he has been unable to qualify for match play in his first three tries.

   Sheehan is scheduled to tee off at the 10^th tee at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., at 8:22 a.m. our time Monday for the opening round of qualifying for match play in the U.S. Amateur.

   Joining Sheehan at 1-under were Saint Joseph’s junior Christian Matt, who plays out of Cedarbrook Country Club, Loyola of Maryland graduate student Mike Crowley, the 2023 BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion who plays out of Briarwood Golf Club, and Fieldstone Golf Club’s Joseph Tigani.

   Matt, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Wissahickon, matched Sheehan’s splits, matching par in the second round with a 70 after opening with a 1-under 69. Crowley and Tigani had identical splits as each matched par in the opening round with a 70 before adding a 1-under 69.

   LuLu’s Ryan Tall, a scholastic standout at Conestoga who went on to star at Lafayette, finished alone in 10th place at even-par 140 after adding a 2-over 72 in Thursday’s second round to his opening round of 2-under 68.

   LuLu’s general manager, Jon Rusk, coming off a Philadelphia Open victory last month at Applebrook Golf Club, headed a group of five players tied for 11^th place at 1-over 141. Rusk opened with a 1-under 69 before adding a 2-over 72 in the second round.

   Sunnybrook Golf Club’s John Stevenson, winner of two of GAP’s major championships for juniors, the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship and the Christman Cup for the second straight summer, was also in the group at 1-over as he matched par in the second round with a 70 after opening with a 1-over 71. Stevenson will join Ben Feld’s Drexel program later this month.

   Aronimink Golf Club’s Michael Davis, the runnerup in the Philly Am in 2015 at Llanerch, joined the group at 1-over as he matched par in the opening round with a 70 before adding a 1-over 71 in the second round.

   Rounding out the group at 1-over were a couple of Huntsville Golf Club guys in Eli Ropietski and Michael Lugiano, who were teammates on Lake Lehman’s 2022 PIAA Class AA Championship team.

   Ropietski, a sophomore at Pitt-Johnstown, opened with a solid 1-under 69 before adding a 2-over 72 in the second round. Lugiano, who will join the program at Conference USA champion Liberty later this month, had identical splits as his former Lake Lehman teammate, adding a 2-over 72 in the second round to his opening round of 1-under 69.