The Philadelphia Section PGA pros dominated the better-ball
matches to claim an 11.5-6.5 victory over the Golf Association of Philadelphia
in the 26th Philadelphia Challenge Matches held Thursday at Saucon
Valley Country Club’s Grace Course.
Team GAP battled the Philadelphia Section pros to a 6-6
standoff in the 12 singles matches, but the pros used a 5.5-.5 advantage in the
better-ball matches to cruise to the victory, giving them a 20-2-4 lead in the
all-time series.
In the singles matches, the Philadelphia Section pros got
victories from William Sautter of Philadelphia Cricket Club in a senior match,
Whitford Country Club assistant pro Andrew Turner, Stuart Ingraham, the head of
instruction at the M Golf Range in Newtown Square, Overbrook Golf Club head pro
Eric Kennedy and Curtis Kirkpatrick of Indian Springs Country Club.
In the other senior singles match Wildwood Golf &
Country Club pro John Appleget halved with Team GAP’s Glenn Smeraglio of LuLu
Country Club and Tavistock Country Club pro Greg Mathias battled Benjamin Smith
of Huntingdon Valley Country Club to a draw.
Turner claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Christopher Crawford
of Spring Mill Country Club. Both players were among the U.S. Open hopefuls who
teed it up in a sectional qualifier at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J.
in June. Crawford rolled in a 40-footer for birdie on the 18th hole
at Canoe Brook’s North Course to quite dramatically punch his ticket to Oakmont
Country Club while Turner made a strong bid, but came up just short.
Crawford had just completed the best career in the history
of the Drexel golf program when he got through at Canoe Brook. Ben Feld, his
coach at Drexel, was on the bag at Canoe Brook. Crawford is completing the last
year of his five-year academic program and is helping out Feld as an assistant
coach with the golf program.
Feld, who plays out of Green Valley Country Club, won his
singles match, 2-up, over Dave Quinn of the Links Golf Club, but Team Drexel,
Crawford and Feld, dropped a 5 and 3 decision in their better-ball match to
Turner and Quinn.
Team GAP’s other singles winners were Philadelphia Cricket
Club’s John Brennan, who qualified for match play at last month’s U.S.
Mid-Amateur Championship at Stonewall, Du Pont Country Club’s Matthew Finger,
Michael R. Brown Jr. of the Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association and Llanerch
Country Club’s Stephen Seiden.
The senior better-ball match between Smeraglio and GAP
Senior Amateur champion Randy Mitchell of Wilmington Country Club and Appleget
and Sautter ended in a draw.
In addition to the win for Turner and Quinn over Crawford
and Feld, the Philadelphia Section pros got better-ball victories from the duos
of Ingraham and Kevin Kraft of the Bumble Bee Hollow Golf Center, Radnor Valley
Country Club head pro George Forster and The Country Club of Harrisburg’s Steve
Swartz, Kennedy and Mathias, and the Indian Springs pair of Kirkpatrick and Bob
Henefer.
Robin McCool originated the idea of the Challenge Matches
and was on hand as this year’s edition was played at his home course of Saucon
Valley. McCool acted as Team GAP’s captain.
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