A talented group of Golf Association of Philadelphia
mid-amateurs just got a little stronger.
Will Davenport, a 27-year-old who just completed his first
year in The Wharton School’s MBA program, and Andrew Keeling, a 26-year-old
mechanical engineer at Southco, Inc., found themselves going toe-to-toe in a
four-hole aggregate playoff for the title in GAP’s 36th
Middle-Amateur Championship Thursday at Rolling Green Golf Club in
Springfield, Delaware County.
Davenport, playing out of Whitemarsh Valley Country Club in
his first GAP major championship, claimed the title, edging Keeling, playing
out of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club, by a shot in the playoff.
Keeling was playing in just his second GAP Mid-Am and had
grabbed the lead with a sparkling 5-under-par 65 over the 6,906-yard, par-70
William Flynn gem at Rolling Green in Wednesday’s opening round.
And despite a stumbling start that looked like it had taken
him right out of the championship, Keeling put his stamp on this edition of the
GAP Mid-Am with a stunning eagle-birdie finish that enabled him to catch
Davenport at even-par 140 and force the playoff.
Davenport had trailed Keeling by two shots after firing an
opening round of 3-under 67. He had taken control of the tournament with a stretch
of 10 straight pars from Nos. eight to 17 before a bogey at the 18th,
combined with Keeling’s birdie, sent them back to the 15th tee to
play Rolling Green’s final four holes.
Davenport finished with a 3-over 73 while Keeling needed
that eagle-birdie finish to post a 5-over 75.
All of this happened against a backdrop of some volatile
spring weather that forced three delays.
The last one came right after Keeling had pulled to within
two shots of Davenport by bombing a 2-hybrid from 238 yards away at the par-5
17th hole to a foot for a tap-in eagle. Thunder and lightning,
indeed.
Keeling had striped his drive at the par-4 18th
hole right before the siren sounded, signaling the final weather delay of the
day. When he returned, Keeling sent a pitching wedge from 140 yards away to 10
feet and made the birdie putt. Davenport had found the trees on the right side
of the hole off the tee and it ultimately led to a bogey.
Davenport still liked his chances in the playoff.
“You can only control what’s between the ears and I think I
did a good job of that today,” Davenport, a native of Palm City, Fla, told the
GAP website. “Especially from (Nos.) 12 to 17, I really played my best golf and
I was nervous all the way through that stretch. I knew if I could do it then, then
why not for four more holes.”
Davenport quickly gained the edge in the playoff when he hit
a wedge from 92 yards away to six feet at the 15th hole and dropped
the birdie putt to get a one-shot lead over Keeling. Both players made a bit of
a mess of the short, par-3 16th hole, Davenport settling for a bogey
and Keeling making a double bogey. Davenport’s lead was two.
Keeling was just off the par-5 17th in two and
two-putted for birdie to cut Davenport’s advantage to a shot.
Davenport and Keeling each found the trees down the left
side off the 18th tee. After Davenport made a bogey, Keeling had a
10-foot par putt that would have sent the playoff into a sudden-death mode, but
the putt just stayed out and Davenport had a hard-fought first GAP major
victory.
Davenport and Keeling finished ahead of a talented bunch of
mid-ams in the Philadelphia area on a day when Rolling Green wasn’t yielding a
whole lot of low scores.
Stephen Dressel of St. Davids Golf Club and Andy Beittel of
Manufacturers Golf & Country Club finished two shots behind the top two in
a tie for third at 2-over 142. Dressel added a 2-over 72 to his opening-round
70 while Beittel carded his second consecutive 1-over 71.
Three past GAP Mid-Am champions, including defending
champion Michael Hyland of Little Mill Country Club, shared fifth place, each
landing on 3-over 143. He was joined at that figure by Michael McDermott of
Merion Golf Club, a four-time GAP Mid-Am winner, and 2016 champion Matthew
Mattare of Saucon Valley Country Club. All three players added a 71 to his
opening-round 72.
John Brennan of Philadelphia Cricket Club had the best round
of the day, a 2-under 68, after opening with a 76 and finished alone in eighth
place at 4-over 144.
Jeff Osberg of Pine Valley Golf Club was trying to fill in
the only missing line in his glittering GAP major championship resume after
opening with a 67. But a flurry of three-putts on Rolling Green’s challenging
green complexes on the inward nine cost Osberg as he finished with a 78 to
share ninth place with Gregor Orlando, the 2017 BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion,
at 5-over 145.
Orlando, Brennan’s fellow Cricket Club member, added a 75 to
his opening-round 70.
Matthew Finger of DuPont Country Club added a 75 to his
opening-round 71 to finish alone in 11th place at 6-over 146.
You need to look no further than the qualifying for match
play when the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship came to town in 2016 at Stonewall
to see how strong the Philadelphia mid-am contingent can be. Teeing it up on a
national stage, McDermott, Brennan and Orlando all earned berths in match play
and Mattare lost out in a playoff for the final match-play berth.
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