Feld, Crowley share medalist honors after a long day of qualifying for match play in BMW Philadelphia Amateur

 

   Ben Feld gave his heart and soul in his nine seasons as the head coach for the Drexel golf program.

   His teams were always competitive in the Coastal Athletic Association and the Dragons have consistently been one of the best programs in the city during Feld’s tenure.

   All this while remaining competitive on the Golf Association of Philadelphia scene, winning a GAP major when he captured the Middle-Amateur Championship in 2017 at Overbrook Golf Club.

   Feld stepped down after Drexel came oh-so-close to claiming a CAA crown and earning the berth to an NCAA regional that goes with it in its last season in the conference as the Dragons fell in a playoff to Elon at the CAA Championship at Union League National Golf Club at the Jersey Shore in April.

   So maybe Feld’s head was a little clearer with the responsibility of running a Division I college golf program in the rear-view mirror when he ripped off four straight birdies on the outgoing nine at Radley Run Country Club outside of West Chester Monday morning on his way to a 3-under-par 69 that helped him get a share of medalist honors in qualifying for match play in the 125^th BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship.

   Feld closed with a solid 2-under 68 in the afternoon at the Donald Ross masterpiece that is Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square. The scores were generally higher at the par-72 Radley Run, a course that some of the elite field might not have been as familiar with as they are with Aronimink.

   Aronimink, of course, will play host to the PGA Championship next May, the second time that major championship will be staged there, although several generations have passed since Gary Player won the third of the nine majors he piled up in an incomparable Hall of Fame career in 1962.

   Aronimink, though, has been building toward its major championship moment, staging the AT&T National when it was being hosted by Tiger Woods in 2010 and 2011 while its usual host, Congressional Country Club, was holding the 2011 U.S. Open, hosting the BMW Championship, the next-to-last stop in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Playoffs in 2018, and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a major championship on the LPGA Tour, albeit without fans in the pandemic year of 2020.

   After his opening-round 69 at Radley Run, Feld got off to a solid start in the afternoon at Aronimink on a mostly cloudy and humid, but blessedly mostly dry Monday. Feld made a birdie at the second hole, but gave that shot back with a bogey at three.

   He made birdies at the seventh and ninth holes, gave a shot back with a bogey at 11 and then picked up a birdie at the par-5 16^th.

   It added up to a solid 2-under 68 that gave him a 5-under 137 total and a share of medalist honors with Briarwood Golf Club’s Mike Crowley, the BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion two years ago at Huntingdon Valley Country Club.

   Crowley did play in an NCAA regional last month as he helped Loyola of Maryland capture the Patriot League crown and earn a spot in the field for the Auburn Regional, where Crowley finished in a tie for 20^th place in the individual standings.

   Crowley opened with a 1-under 71 at Radley Run and really got it going in the afternoon at Aronimink with a sparkling 4-under 66.

   Crowley made four birdies on the outgoing nine at Aronimink with red numbers at the third, fourth, sixth and ninth holes. He stumbled briefly with a bogey at the 12^th hole and got that shot right back with a birdie at 13. After making his second bogey of the round at the 14^th hole, Crowley again bounced right back with a birdie at 15 and got it to the house at 4-under.

   As I wrap up this post Tuesday morning, Feld and Crowley are already back on the golf course at Aronimink for their first-round matches against two of the four survivors of a playoff among six players who finished in a tie for 29^th place with a 3-over 145 total.

   By the end of the day Tuesday, there will only be eight players standing as the winners of the morning matches will meet in the round of 16 in the afternoon.

   Feld, who received the top seed in a draw, is taking on Owen Mulhern of Whitford Country Club, who qualified for the 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Sleepy Hollow Country Club, while Crowley is facing Blake Micholas of Kings Country Club.

   Jeremy Wall, who won the second of back-to-back Philly Am titles at Stonewall in 2019, headed a group of four players tied for third place in qualifying for match play with a 3-under 139 total that left them two shots behind Feld and Crowley.

   Wall, who, like Crowley, starred collegiately at Loyola of Maryland, opened with a solid 2-under 68 before adding a 1-under 71 at Radley Run in the afternoon. Wall is playing out of the Manasquan River Golf Club.

   Joining Wall at 3-under were Jalen Griffin, the head golf coach at the University of San Francisco, David Mecca of the Country Club of Scranton and Aaron Williams of the Bayside Resort Golf Club.

   Griffin, a scholastic standout at Wissahickon, often comes home for this event and was the co-medalist in qualifying in the pandemic year of 2020 at Lancaster Country Club. Griffin, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association representative, opened with a 1-under 71 at Radley Run before adding a 2-under 68 in the afternoon at Aronimink.

   Mecca matched par in the opening round with a 72 at Radley Run before ripping off a sparkling 3-under 67 in the afternoon at Aronimink. Williams opened with a 3-under 69 in the morning at Radley Run before matching par in the afternoon with a 70 at Aronimink.

   Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Patrick Isztwan, who lost to Crowley in the Philly Am final on Isztwan’s home course two years ago, shared seventh place in qualifying with Jake Haberstumpf of LedgeRock Golf Club, each landing on 2-under 140.

   Isztwan, the qualifying medalist a year ago at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club and North Hills Country Club, matched par in his opening round with a 72 at Radley Run before adding a solid 2-under 68 in the afternoon at Aronimink.

   Isztwan wrapped up his college career at Richmond this spring by finishing in 14^th place in the individual standings as the Spiders came up just short of capturing the team title in their first appearance in the Atlantic 10 Championship at the Evermore Resort’s Grand Cypress Course in Orlando, Fla.

   Haberstumpf opened with a 2-over 72 at Aronimink, but came on strong in the afternoon with a 4-under 68 at Radley Run.

   Heading a group of six players tied for ninth place at 1-under 141 was Cole Berman, whose 2015 Philly Am crown at Llanerch Country Club I got to cover in a previous life with the Delaware County Daily Times. Has it really been 10 years?

   Berman, playing out of Merion Golf Club, opened with a 1-over 73 at Radley Run before tallying a solid 2-under 68 in the afternoon at Aronimink.

   Overbrook Golf Club’s David Colleran, winner of the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship in 2016 at Tavistock Country Club, was also in the group at 1-under as he opened with a sparkling 3-under 67 at Aronimink in the morning before adding a 2-over 74 in the afternoon at Radley Run.

   Colleran and Drue Nicholas, playing out of Galloway National Golf Club, were two of Feld’s former Dragons who earned spots in the match-play bracket in Monday’s qualifying for match play, something Feld was probably at least as proud of as his own accomplishment in earning co-medalist honors.

   Nicholas, who has been Feld’s best player since joining the program, was one of six players who finished in a tie for 23^rd place at 2-over 144 after bouncing back from an opening round of 3-over 75 at Radley Run with a solid 1-under 69 at Aronimink.

   Nicholas has a GAP major championship on his resume as he outdueled Michael R. Brown Jr. in a playoff to win the Patterson Cup in 2022 at St. Davids Golf Club.

   Another interesting name in the match-play bracket is that of Aronimink’s own, Hunter Stetson, who is coming off a solid freshman season at North Carolina State.

   Got a chance to watch Stetson on his home course when the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac League’s individual championship was staged there in the fall of 2023. Stetson finished in a tie for third place that day with a putter that was about to be replaced. He led the Inter-Ac in the individual standings compiled during the league’s six regular-season invitationals as a senior at Episcopal Academy that fall.

   Stetson was in the lineup for the Wolfpack in the Urbana Regional, hosted by Illinois at Atkins Golf Club.

   Stetson opened with a 2-over 72 on his home course at Aronimink before adding a solid 2-under 70 at Radley Run in the afternoon to join a group of four players tied for 15^th place with an even-par 142 total.