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Monday, June 10, 2019

A looper's take as the BMW Philadelphia Amateur returns to Stonewall


   The first time I laid eyes on Stonewall’s Old Course was 10 years ago when Conrad Von Borsig was battling James Kania Jr. in the scheduled 36-hole final for the J. Wood Platt Trophy that goes to the winner of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship.
   I had covered Von Borsig’s scholastic career at Strath Haven for the Delaware County Daily Times pretty extensively, including a runnerup finish in the 2003 PIAA Championship and a District One title and a fifth-place finish at the state championship the following year.
   I didn’t get out to see Kania play during his career at The Haverford School, but his record was too good to ignore, so I made him the Daily Times Player of the Year a year after Von Borsig had claimed that honor.
   Von Borsig was in the midst of a solid college career at Virginia. Kania, part of the golfing Kania family at Overbrook Golf Club, went to Kentucky, but didn’t have a whole lot of success there.
   I was aware of Stonewall. It had opened near the end of my time at The Mercury in Pottstown, but I had never made it out to the Tom Doak gem where East Nantmeal Township meets Warwick Township in northwest Chester County.
   So, with two guys whose high school careers I had covered for the Daily Times going at it for a Philly Am title, it was the perfect opportunity to finally get to see a course I had heard so much about. By the time I got out there, Von Borsig had built up a pretty good lead in the morning round of the scheduled 36-hole final and wouldn’t relinquish it, eventually claiming a 6 and 4 victory.
   If you had told me that day that I would be back at Stonewall the next time the BMW Philadelphia Amateur came there as a caddy, I would have questioned your sanity.
   But I will, indeed, be looping Tuesday at the ’Wall. I will be working for Noah Schwartz, a former Penn Charter standout coming off a solid freshman season at Cornell. I went around the North Course with Schwartz for a practice round last week and he hired me for Tuesday’s qualifying, 18 holes on the North and 18 on the Old Course.
   Schwartz had played in the Christman Cup at the North Course two years ago, so he had a little experience in the bank from that experience. I looped for Schwartz’s former Penn Charter teammate Brian Isztwan that day. Pretty sure it was the hottest day of 2017.
   The BMW Philadelphia Amateur, the Golf Assocation of Philadelphia’s marquee event, is one of my favorite tournaments on the golf calendar each year, no matter the venue. The fact that it’s at Stonewall this year only added to my anticipation.
   The field will include 138 of the Philadelphia area’s best amateur players: High school kids, college players, mid-amateurs with tons of experience, senior amateurs who have forgotten more about golf than some of the young kids will ever know. Beware of Adam Armagost.
   If you’re one of the 32 who survive Tuesday’s 36 holes of qualifying, you’re a player. Stonewall will make certain of that.
   If you’re one of the two players still standing for Saturday’s scheduled 36-hole final, you are absolutely a player because that means you survived 36 holes of qualifying Tuesday, won two matches Wednesday, possibly, but hopefully not, requiring another 36 holes, and won two more matches Thursday, again, on some tired legs by that point.
   It doesn’t hurt to be in your 20s, although three years ago at Merion Golf Club, there was 41-year-old Michael McDermott battling it out with 31-year-old Jeff Osberg in a scintillating 36-hole final that went right to the final hole before McDermott finally defeated his rival and friend for his third Philly Am title.
   It's been 19 years since the Philly Am first came to Stonewall and McDermott announced his presence on the GAP scene by reaching the final before falling to Michael Hyland on the 38th hole.
   McDermott lost to Von Borsig in a 1-up thriller in the semifinals of the Philly Am 10 years ago. Three years ago when Stonewall made its debut on the national stage by hosting the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, McDermott reached the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Stewart Hagestad.
   McDermott is 44, but if he gets into match play at Stonewall, he is going to be a tough out. Eight years after falling to Hyland in the 2000 final at Stonewall, McDermott finally broke through, putting his name on the J. Wood Platt Trophy for the first time with a victory at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club.
   Five years later, the week after the 2013 U.S. Open was staged at Merion Golf Club, McDermott won again at another of his home courses, Aronimink Golf Club. Three years later, he won his third title, rallying to defeat Osberg in that epic final at Merion.
   It took 9-over 149 to get into a playoff to be among the 64 players who qualified for match play in the U.S. Mid-Am in 2016.
   Two of the GAP players who joined McDermott in the match-play bracket, Yardley Country Club’s Christopher Ault and Philadelphia Cricket Club’s John Brennan, will play in the same group Tuesday at Stonewall.
   Another Cricket Club standout, Gregor Orlando, the Philly Am champion two years ago on his home course, is not in the field this week. Orlando also qualified for match play in the 2016 U.S. Mid-Am.
   Saucon Valley Country Club’s Matthew Mattare was involved in that 14-for-1 playoff at 9-over 149 in the 2016 U.S. Mid-Am, but failed to reach match play. The following summer, Mattare captured the Met Amateur, maybe the only association amateur title tougher to win than the Philly Am, and the Philadelphia Open at Philadelphia Country Club.
   Then there is the 32-year-old Von Borsig. He briefly turned professional after college, but was a reinstated amateur by the time the 2013 BMW Philadelphia Amateur was played at Aronimink. Von Borsig is part of the deep stable of talent at the Cricket Club and if he can get into match play, his memories of 2009 will give him some good vibes at Stonewall.
   “Playing all of those matches there and having so much experience, you saw patterns: Holes that you could play more aggressive, holes you play more conservative,” Von Borsig told the GAP website. “I’ll definitely lean on those matches. They’re still blazed in my mind. I think I can rely on some of that experience, even though it’s 10 years later.”
   Osberg won the BMW Philadelphia Amateur title in 2014 at White Manor Country Club. He is long and that often plays well at Stonewall, although keeping it out of the fescue that gobbles up wayward shots is just as important.
   Osberg will be in the same group in qualifying with 2015 BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion Cole Berman, another Haverford School guy whose scholastic career I chronicled in the Daily Times. Berman was a four-year standout at Georgetown, capturing the Philly Am title at Llanerch Country Club following his freshman season with the Hoyas.
   The defending champion is 23-year-old Jeremy Wall, the oldest of the golfing Wall brothers of Brielle, N.J. who plays out of Manasquan River Golf Club. He had just completed a standout college career at Loyola of Maryland when the claimed the Philly Am crown a year ago.
   Wall defeated Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Andrew Mason in a hard-fought battle that went 37 holes in the final at Whitemarsh Valley a year ago. Mason, a former Temple standout, dominated the GAP scene in the early part of this decade and is a reinstated amateur after a brief pro career.
   Superintendent Dan Dale has both courses in terrific condition. After months of non-stop rain, it’s finally dried out enough these last few weeks that the ball is actually bouncing occasionally. Not sure I’d categorize it as firm and fast, but certainly the Old Course and the North Course are firmer and faster than they have played since sometime last summer.
   Stonewall might not have the century or more of tradition that so many of the courses that the BMW Philadelphia Amateur is staged on have. But in 25 short years, the Old Course has gained the reputation as a course that serious golfers want to play.
   And the North Course is hardly some kind of weak sister to the Old Course. The USGA’s decision to use the North for the first 18 holes of the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur final tells you all you need to know about how the “Udder Course” was viewed by the organization that runs our national championships.
   The greens at the Old Course have the subtle contours of many of the Philadelphia area’s classic layouts. The North Course greens are, let’s just say, not as subtle in places.
   I’ll blog when I can, although Tuesday promises to be a long day. I’d like to think I’ll have a bit of added insight when it comes to day-to-day course conditions, pin placements, which way the wind is blowing, stuff like that.
   They are beautiful golf courses a little off the beaten track in Chester County. Stonewall will produce a great champion because that’s what happens at great golf courses.


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