Inter-Ac golf off to a wet start

   This blog will try to get at some of the golf news that falls through the cracks at the Daily Times. And never does that happen more than in the spring when there is a ton of high school sports, the Phillies are under way and the Flyers and even the 76ers this year are in the playoffs.
    Got word the other day that family commitments will keep Steve Cloran from accompanying The Haverford School golf team on the Inter-Ac League fairways this spring. Gerry Rooney and Gui Costin are sharing the coaching duties for the Fords.
   It didn't seem likely that the Fords would get their match in with archrival Episcopal Academy at Merion Golf Club's West Course in Tuesday's nasty weather.
   But play they did with the Churchmen, led by Bobby Svigals' 33, edging the Fords, 234-239. Svigals was one of the top junior players on the Golf Association of Philadelphia circuit last summer, winning the Christman Cup title and reaching the semifinals of the GAP Junior Championship.
    As a former Merion looper who got to play "the West" more than a few times a few decades ago, I can tell you that it is short, but challenging. I pretty sure they usually play the front nine for high school matches there, but regardless, a 33 in rain and wind is pretty strong.
   Rooney and Costin, though, have some very talented young players at The Haverford School and that was very much in evidence Tuesday as the Fords were led by sophomore Scott Jaster with a 38 and freshman Cole Berman with a 39.
   Jaster qualified for the Junior PGA Championship last summer while Berman was a fixture on Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour leaderboards all summer.
   The elder statesman for The Haverford School is senior captain Ted Brennan, the GAP Junior Player of the Year in 2010. Brennan won the Jock McKenzie Memorial, earned the Harry Hammond Award and was the qualifying medalist at the GAP Junior Championship on his way to Player of the Year honors.
   The other captain for the Fords is junior Mac Selverian, an All-Delco as a sophomore. He was probably the most consistent player on a Haverford School team that finished 6-4 in league play a year ago.
   Other playrs expected to contribute for the Fords are freshman Ryan Tetrault, eighth-grader Alex Fisher, junior Kevin Zipf, freshman Jake VanArkel, junior Jimmy Ryan and sophomore Garrett Grubb.
Golf Association of Philadelphia team matches
     The Golf Association of Philadelphia conducts a competition each spring that pits players from clubs all over the region against one another in a unique format in which half of the matches are played at each of the two clubs' courses to come up with a result.
   Overbrook Golf Club with its star-studded group of veterans -- we're talking Chris Lange, the brothers Thompson, Andy and Ray, Frank McFadden, etc. -- complemented by some young guns like Chris Lange Jr. and James Kania Jr., has won the title in the top echelon of the matches -- Division AA -- six times. Overbrook got started Sunday with a 41.5 to 15.5 dismantling of Moselem Springs G.C. in its Section 3 opener.
    A pretty tough Llanerch C.C. team, led by one of its newer members, 2010 Patterson Cup champion Jeff Osberg, was knocked off, 31.5-22.5, by Philadelphia Cricket Club in Section 2.
   Meanwhile in Section 3, RiverCrest, led by Radnor High golf coach Andy Achenbach, pulled off a bit of a surprise with a 30-24 victory over Glenmaura National.
Tiger's Masters
    I will allow myself the occasional comment on the national scene, especially when the AT&T National draws closer.
   In a national golf publication, Golf World, Dan Jenkins, reminiscing about his many years covering the golf scene, wrote something to the effect that Tiger Woods went 15 years without missing a putt. That should not be possible, Jenkins said.
    That's what makes those short putts Tiger missed Saturday and particularly Sunday at Augusta National so shocking. It will be interesting to see how he approaches that part of his game as the swing changes he's worked on with new coach Sean Foley appear to be starting to take hold.