It seemed to be just a matter of time before Jeff Osberg got the only Golf Association of Philadelphia major championship to elude him.
That time was Wednesday, although the timing in 2020, the year of the coronavirus, was a little unusual. But, in many ways, it was vintage Osberg as the big hitter with the a deft short-game touch made three birdies and one remarkable par save on the back nine at LedgeRock Golf Club in Mohnton, Berks County that enabled Osberg to fire a 4-under-par 68 and earn a two-shot victory in GAP’s 37th Middle-Amateur Championship with a 5-under 139 total.
Osberg joins an old friend and rival, Overbrook Golf Club’s Chris Lange Sr., as the only players to win the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship, the Philadelphia Open, the Patterson Cup and the Middle-Amateur Championship in their careers.
The great Jay Sigel lacks only a Middle-Amateur on his resume, although when GAP started the championship in 1984, Sigel was busy being one of the best mid-ams in the world, winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship three times. Another Osberg friend and rival, Merion Golf Club’s Mike McDermott, is missing only the Philadelphia Open on his resume, although he has been close several times in an event that pits the best GAP amateurs against a talented bunch of Philadelphia Section PGA pros.
Lange was the first to complete the GAP career grand slam when he won the Philadelphia Open in 2004 at Philadelphia Country Club.
“I’m overwhelmed with joy,” the 36-year-old Osberg, a Bryn Mawr resident who plays out of Pine Valley Golf Club, told the GAP website. “It’s something I’ve had my sights on now for years since it’s been a possibility. It’s been a big focus of mine.
“There have been so many great players in the Philadelphia area. To think I stand on top with Chris Lange, who is a friend of mine, is special. Obviously, it goes without saying, he’s one of the best players ever to play in the Philadelphia area. To think there are only two people to have achieved (this) is really special.”
Osberg won the BMW Philadelphia Amateur in 2014, the Philadelphia Open in 2016 and again last year, and owns Patterson Cup victories in 2010, 2016 and for a third time a year ago.
Osberg, who starred scholastically at Owen J. Roberts and played on the 2004 Division III national championship team at Guilford College, carded a 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s opening round and trailed co-leaders Andrew Mason, the former Temple standout who plays out of Huntingdon Valley Country Club, and Jason Wilson, one of the Lehigh Valley’s top players out of Olde Homestead Golf Club, by two shots going into Wednesday’s final round.
The field played an entirely different golf course than the one they encountered Tuesday as dry summerlike conditions were transformed by 2.2 inches of rain overnight and some serious wind gusting out of the northwest. I’m sure the par-72 LedgeRock layout played every inch of its 7,069 yards Wednesday and that might have played into Osberg’s hands a little.
Still, Osberg, GAP’s reigning William Hyndman III Player of the Year, briefly trailed Mason by four shots after Osberg made a bogey at the par-3 10th hole to fall to 2-under for the championship.
But while Mason, playing behind Osberg, made back-to-back bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes to fall back to 4-under for the tournament, Osberg made his move.
Osberg drove the green at the 265-yard, par-4 12th hole and his 15-foot eagle try lipped out, giving him a two-putt birdie. At the 556-yard, par-5 13th hole, Osberg’s knock-down wedge from 50 yards away finished 10 feet from the hole and Osberg converted the birdie opportunity.
Osberg nearly drove the green at the 365-yard, par-4 16th hole, ending up in a greenside bunker. He blasted out to 10 feet and suddenly he was 5-under.
He capped his effort with a par at the tough 445-yard, par-4 17th hole that playing partner Matt Mattare, the 2016 Middle-Amateur champion and one of the region’s top mid-ams himself, called all-world.
Taking a 2-iron off the tee, Osberg ended up in the right rough. From 210 yards away, he kept the 2-iron in his hands, but slipped and ended up 67 yards away, but fortunately short of a cross bunker. Osberg played a lob wedge to five feet and drained the par-saver. Osberg’s a basher, but the par at 17 put his short-game prowess on display.
Saucon Valley’s Mattare, author of an impressive Philadelphia Open-Met Amateur Championship double in 2017, ended up earning runnerup honors. Mattare added a 1-under 71 to his opening-round 70 for a 3-under 141 total that left him two shots behind Osberg. Mattare, a 34-year-old Jersey City, N.J. resident, was never able to quite get back on track after a double bogey at the ninth hole.
Mason and Wilson each followed up their opening-round 69s with a 1-over 73 in Wednesday’s final round and finished in a tie for third at 2-under 142.
The Ridge at Back Brook’s Brandon Dalinka, who starred scholastically at Council Rock North and collegiately at North Carolina, added a 1-under 71 to his opening-round 72 to finish alone in fifth place at 1-under 143.
It was another two shots back to Old York Road Country Club’s John Samaha, who signed for a 1-over 73 after opening with a 72 to end up in sixth place at 1-over 145.
Another former Middle-Amateur champion, Ben Feld, the 2017 winner who plays out of Green Valley Country Club, was only a shot behind Mason and Wilson after an opening-round 70, but the Drexel men’s golf coach struggled to a 4-over 76 and shared seventh place with Yardley Country Club’s Christopher Ault, at 2-over 146. Ault cut two shots off an opening-round 74 with an even-par 72 Wednesday.
St. Davids Golf Club veteran Brian Gillespie, DuPont Country Club’s Matthew Finger and The 1912 Club’s Matt Teesdale, an assistant to Temple men’s golf coach Brian Quinn, finished in a tie for ninth place, each landing on 3-over 147. Gillespie added a 2-over 74 to his opening-round 73, Teesdale struggled a little with a 76 after opening with a 1-under 71 Tuesday, and Finger bounced back from an opening-round 76 with a 1-under 71.
Finger’s home course was originally scheduled to host the Middle-Amateur Championship in May. But the coronavirus forced the event to be postponed and the shifting state protocols amid the pandemic forced GAP officials to move the tournament from Delaware to Berks County and LedgeRock.
Defending champion Will Davenport, who plays out of Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, headed a group of four players tied for 12th place at 4-over 148. Davenport added a 75 to his opening-round 73.
Chris Fieger Sr., who claimed his second straight GAP Senior Amateur Championship earlier in September at Old York Road Country Club, carded his second straight 74 to join the group at 4-over. Fieger is a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry.
Rounding out the quartet at 148 were Merion Golf Club’s Patrick Knott, who improved four shots from his opening-round 76 by matching par with a 72, and Downingtown Country Club’s Sam Sherrill, who, like Fieger, posted a second straight 74.
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