Frazier makes GAP debut a winning one by downing Rogowicz in Brewer Cup final

   I’ve been around the two courses at Stonewall for four Fall Scramble rounds with Jeff Frazier, but it doesn’t take long to realize the 55-year-old left-hander can do a lot of things on a golf course.

   He’s sneaky long, can move it left to right very effectively with his lefty draw, but he can cut it when he needs to, just absolutely loves hitting driver off the deck, has a pretty nifty short game and is a very good putter. When he gets the line, like he did in the scramble format, forget about it. On top of all that, I just love the way the guy competes – every hole, every shot.

   Frazier, playing out of Carlisle Country Club, was making his Golf Association of Philadelphia debut in the 13^th Brewer Cup at LedgeRock Golf Club in Mohnton, Berks County, this week. And he proved to be a strong addition to the very talented group of veterans that show up on the GAP circuit, closing out a Brewer Cup victory with a 1-up victory over Yardley Country Club’s Paul Rogowicz in Wednesday’s final.

   Rain came down heavily for the last five holes of the final, but the last time I saw Frazier was Day 2 of the 2018 Fall Scramble that featured temperatures in the high 40s, a driving drizzle and a steady 15 to 20 mph wind at Stonewall’s North Course, so he can handle tough conditions.

   I mentioned in Tuesday’s post that I’m fairly certain that Rogowicz is the father of former Pennsbury and Penn State standout Jackie Rogowicz.

   So, it’s only fair to point out that Frazier’s daughter Morgan is no slouch. A scholastic standout at Cumberland Valley, Morgan Frazier was the captain of the Navy golf team the last two years, although she was in the ill-fated Class of 2020 and had her senior season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic this spring. Jeff and Morgan teamed up to win a Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) Father & Daughter title last summer.

   On her way to the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur crown at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill Course last summer, Jackie Rogowicz claimed a 1-up semifinal victory over Morgan Frazier. So, maybe Team Frazier and Team Rogowicz are all square. Stay tuned.

   Frazier ripped off wins at the sixth, seventh and eighth holes in the final against Rogowicz to turn a 1-down deficit into a 2-up advantage over the tough, 6,646-yard, par-72 LedgeRock layout. Always looking for an edge, Frazier played the par-5 eighth hole down the seventh fairway because he liked that angle into the hole better. And he did make birdie.

   Rogowicz got a hole back when his approach to the par-4 ninth hole finished a foot from the hole for a tap-in birdie.

   The rain arrived on the 14^th hole just about the time Rogowicz’s 40-foot birdie try found the hole, enabling him to even the match. Frazier answered right back with a win at the 15^th hole to restore his 1-up advantage.

   Frazier then dodged a bullet at the 17^th hole. With Rogowicz on the green with a great look at birdie from 10 feet, Frazier missed the green. He promptly chipped it to 20 feet and buried the par saver, then watched Rogowicz fail to convert his birdie try. Frazier was able to take a 1-up edge to the 18^th tee.

   Both players hit the green at the last, Frazier finishing 30 feet from the cup and Rogowicz giving himself a decent look at birdie from 18 feet. With the rain coming down hard, Frazier lagged his putt to gimme range and Rogowicz couldn’t get his birdie try to fall. Frazier’s first GAP senior win was a major one.

   If Frazier thought he had an edge on his Brewer Cup competition, it might have been his length off the tee.

   “It helped me a lot this week against some of the other guys,” Frazier told the GAP website after he had a chance to dry off. “I had some drives roll out to 300, 310 yards (in qualifying) on Monday when it was dried out. There were times today when I was hitting 7-, 8-, 9-iron in and (my opponent) had 200 yards in. I think that helps me in the (Senior division).”

   Earlier Wednesday, Frazier punched his ticket to the final with a 2 and 1 victory over Michael Quinn, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, in a semifinal match. Rogowicz had a tough battle before prevailing in the other semifinal, 1-up, over Michael Vassil of the Country Club of Scranton.

   In the Super-Senior division final, it’s always something of an upset when White Manor Country Club’s Don Donatoni, a five-time Brewer Cup Super-Senior winner, gets beat, but when you’ve dominated as long as Donatoni has, you sometimes bring out the best in the competition.

   That’s the way it worked Wednesday as Applebrook Golf Club’s Chuck Dowds played some great golf to pull out a 2 and 1 victory over Donatoni in the final over a LedgeRock layout that measured 6,226 yards for the 60-and-over set.

   The 66-year-old Dowds backed up a win at the first hole by sending a sand wedge into the par-4 sixth hole to eight feet and converting the birdie try for a 2-up advantage. Dowds then built a 3-up lead by firing a 7-iron to five feet at the par-3 ninth hole and converting the putt.

   Sure enough, Donatoni battled back by winning the 11^th and 12^th holes to cut his deficit to just 1-down.

   Dowds, however, got it back to 3-up by winning the 13^th and 15^th holes. After Donatoni got one back by taking the 16^th hole, the match was delayed by the heavy rain for 15 minutes. The pair each made bogey at the 17^th hole to give Dowds the victory.

   Dowds reached the final with a 3 and 2 win over Rolling Green Golf Club’s Bob Billings in Wednesday morning’s semifinals. Donatoni took out defending champion Tom Bartolacci of LuLu Country Club with a 2 and 1 victory in the other semifinal.