It’s been three years since Christopher Crawford, a standout
scholastically at Holy Ghost Prep and collegiately at Drexel, was one of the
stars of “Golf’s Longest Day,” with 36-hole sectional qualifiers for the U.S.
Open going on all over the country.
Crawford dropped an epic 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th
hole of Canoe Brook Country Club’s North Course to avoid a playoff and earn a
ticket to Oakmont Country Club for the 2016 U.S. Open. Crawford was only a few
weeks removed from completing one of the finest golf careers in Drexel’s
history.
Still an amateur, Crawford repeated the feat the following
year, minus the dramatics, and played in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills.
The 25-year-old Crawford is a professional these days,
teeing it up in state Opens wherever he can, Monday qualifying and playing
mini-tours. But he will get another shot at playing in the National Open as part
of “Golf’s Longest Day” again June 3 after enduring two days of awful weather
to earn medalist honors in a local U.S. Open qualifier administered by the Golf
Association of Philadelphia at the Country Club of Scranton in Clarks Summit
earlier this week.
Crawford carded a 1-over-par 71 over the tough 6,672-yard,
par-70 Country Club of Scranton layout to edge former Temple standout Patrick
Ross of Dunmore by a shot for medalist honors.
Crawford was 3-over through 10 holes before play was
suspended a little after noon Monday. He returned to slightly less miserable
conditions Tuesday knowing he needed to make something happen. And that’s what
he did.
Crawford drilled a gap wedge from 134 yards away to 10 feet
at the tough par-4 14th hole and made the birdie putt. At the par-5
18th hole, he wedged one from 95 yards out to tap-in distance for a
closing birdie that gave him medalist honors.
Crawford seems to bring the right mental approach to these
things, no matter the weather.
“It’s a mindset you have to have going in,” Crawford, who
captured the 2015 Patterson Cup, a GAP major championship, at Chester Valley
Golf Club, told the GAP website. “You know it’s going to be really hard. Everyone
is dealing with it. Some weird stuff is probably going to happen.
“You’re not going to have total control of your golf ball.
You accept it and just hang in there as long as possible.”
Crawford will tee it up in the sectional qualifier at
Century Country Club and Old Oaks Country Club in Purchase, N.Y. June 3. He’s
proven he can handle the pressure of “Golf’s Longest Day.”
Ross, 27, turned pro not long after winning medalist honors
in qualifying for the 2016 BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Merion Golf
Club, admitting that one more shot at the East Course persuaded him to remain
an amateur just a little bit longer.
Ross spent the winter working at Mizner Country Club in
Delray Beach, Fla. and playing the mini-tours. But he was in familiar territory
at the Country Club of Scranton and his knowledge of the course helped him hit
13 greens in regulation in a 2-over 72.
Ross plans to tee it up in the sectional qualifier at
Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.
Another local guy, Anthony Sebastianelli of Clarks Summit,
earned a ticket to sectional qualifying as he shared third place with Patrick
Forbes of Toronto, each posting a 3-over 73.
Sebastianelli was making his professional debut on his 24th
birthday and overcame a triple bogey on the first hole to earn one of the five
coveted tickets to sectional qualifying.
Sebastianelli, who played collegiately at Central
Connecticut State, finished third in the 2013 PIAA Class AAA Championship as a
senior at Abington Heights.
Sebastianelli qualified for last summer’s U.S. Amateur and
opened qualifying with a solid 1-under 71 at Spyglass Hill Golf Course before
getting disqualified in the second round at the Pebble Beach Golf Links. If he
can get through sectional qualifying, he’ll get another shot at Pebble Beach on
northern California’s Monterey Peninsula, where this year’s U.S. Open will tee
off June 13.
The final ticket to sectional qualifying went to Evan
Thornton, who survived a 3-for-1 playoff after carding a 4-over 74.
Thornton was the winner of the 2017 Berks County Amateur
Championship at Berkshire Country Club playing out of LedgeRock Golf Club. He
has since turned professional and is playing out of Delray Beach, Fla.
The first alternate is Brett Cairns, another Canadian
professional. The second alternate is Pittston amateur Tyler McGarry, who is a
member of the golf team at Keiser University in West Palm Beach, Fla. Cairns
and McGarry matched Thornton’s 4-over 74 and rounded out the 3-for-1 playoff.
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