Scott McNeil celebrated the nine-foot birdie putt he holed on the 18th hole at Lookaway Golf Club in Buckingham Township Thursday like it won him a second Golf Association of Philadelphia Middle-Amateur Championship title. And it did.
McNeil, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, finished birdie-birdie on the tough 6,993-yard, par-72 Lookaway layout, a Rees Jones design, for a final round of 3-under-par 69 that gave him a one-shot victory over another past Middle-Amateur winner, Matt Mattare of Saucon Valley Country Club and Sean McMonagle of Tavistock Country Club.
McNeil, who won the Middle-Amateur, a GAP major championship, in 2015, began the day in a group of seven players tied for second place at 2-under 70 following Wednesday’s opening round.
He was steady early, making 10 pars in Lookaway’s first 12 holes around birdies at the second and 10th holes and stood at 4-under for the championship with six holes to go. The only blemish on McNeil’s card was a bogey at the 13th hole, but his back-to-back birdies to finish the round gave him a 5-under 139 total.
“It’s all about winning No. 2,” the 35-year-old Philadelphia resident told the GAP website. “I feel like anybody can win one. You can always get hot for one or two days. To get that second one means you are there and that you have the game to compete day in and day out. I’m ecstatic.”
Mattare, winner of the Middle-Amateur in 2016, made a big move in the middle of his round with five birdies in a stretch of eight holes between the fifth and 12th holes that got him to 5-under for the championship. A bogey at the 14th hole dropped Mattare back to 4-under, he got it back to 5-under with a birdie at the par-5 17th, but then made a bogey at the last to complete a 3-under 69.
Combined with his opening-round 71, which had left him in a tie for ninth place, it gave Mattare, who is a threat to win in any GAP major he tees it up in, a 4-under 140 total. Mattare was joined in the tie for second place by McMonagle, who carded a second straight 2-under 70.
Patrick Knott of Merion Golf Club, was another one of the players tied for second place after opening with a 70. He added a 1-under 71 to finish alone in fourth place with a 3-under 141 total. Drexel men’s golf coach Ben Feld, who plays out of Green Valley Country Club, matched par with a 72 after also opening with a 70 and was alone in fifth place with a 2-under 142 total. Feld was the Middle-Amateur champion in 2017.
Another former Middle-Amateur champion, 2012 winner John Brennan of Philadelphia Cricket Club, also opened with a 2-under 70 and added a 1-over 73 Thursday to finish alone in sixth place at 1-under 143.
Once an assistant caddiemaster at Lookaway, Brett Diakon, playing out of Commonwealth National Golf Club, added a 1-under 71 to his opening-round 73 to land in seventh place at even-par 144.
Michael R. Brown Jr., a former Lookaway member who held off a host of challengers to claim the Pennsylvania Amateur Championship at Lookaway in a gritty performance last summer, matched par in Thursday’s final round after opening with a 1-over 73 to end up in eighth place with a 1-over 145 total.
Brown, the 2009 Middle-Amateur champion, plays out of LuLu Country Club and recently accounted for the clinching points in LuLu’s victory in the BMW GAP Team Match Playoff (another event in a busy May I’m still hoping to dig into a little and devote a post to).
Peter Barron III of Galloway National Golf Club, the 2014 Middle-Amateur champion, had grabbed the opening-round lead with a 4-under 68 the first time he saw the Lookaway layout. Barron cooled off with a 78 in Thursday’s final round to finish alone in ninth place at 2-over 146.
Brian Keyser of Woodcrest Country Club rounded out the top 10 as he added a 75 to his opening-round 72 to finish alone in 10th place with a 3-over 147.
Current GAP president Oscar Mestre of Overbrook Golf Club, the 2002 Middle-Amateur winner, headed a trio of players tied for 11th place at 4-over 148. Mestre added a 76 to his opening-round 72.
Andrew Mason of Huntingdon Valley Country Club matched Mestre’s splits with a 76 Thursday after an opening-round 72 to join him at 148. Mason was GAP’s William Hyndman III Player of the Year in 2011 when he won the Philadelphia Open and the Patterson Cup.
Rounding out the trio at 4-over was St. Davids Golf Club’s Brian Gillespie, who matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 76. Gillespie made a run to the BMW Philadelphia Amateur semifinals last summer at Lancaster Country Club.
A couple of former BMW Philadelphia Amateur champions, 2017 winner Gregor Orlando of Philadelphia Cricket Club, and 2004 winner Scott Ehrlich of Waynesborough Country Club were among a group of nine players that landed in a tie for 14th place at 5-over 149. Orlando matched par in the opening round with a 72 before struggling in Thursday’s second round with a 77. Ehrlich also struggled in the second round with a 78 after opening with a solid 1-under 71.
Yardley Country Club’s Christopher Ault also joined the group at 5-over as he added a 2-over 74 to his opening-round 75. Ault, Brennan and Orlando were three of the four GAP regulars who advanced to the match-play bracket when the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship was played at Stonewall in 2016.
Lookaway’s lone entry in the Middle-Amateur, Tony Peressini, used his local knowledge to finish up with a 1-over 73 after opening with a 76 to land in the logjam tied for 14th place.
Rounding out the group at 149 were John Lalley of Llanerch Country Club, Jim Sullivan, another LuLu entry, Brandon Dalinka of The Ridge at Back Brook, David Mecca of Wimberly Hills Golf Club and John Barone of Glenmaura National Golf.
Lalley, Sullivan, Dalinka and Mecca all had the same splits, finishing up with a 1-over 73 after opening with a 76. Barone, a Temple standout of recent vintage under Brian Quinn, opened with a 2-over 74 before finishing up with a 75.
The Middle-Amateur returned to its normal spot as the opening event on GAP’s major championship calendar. Played in September last year at LedgeRock Golf Club, Jeff Osberg of Pine Valley Golf Club completed a sweep of the four GAP majors, adding the Middle-Amateur title to his three Patterson Cup wins, two Philadelphia Open crowns and his victory in the 2014 BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship.
GAP was still trying to figure out all the pandemic protocols to get a tournament played at this time a year ago, but, to its credit, it staged all four of its major championships under difficult circumstances in 2020.
Osberg was unable to defend his Middle-Amateur title due to work commitments.
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