When Merion Golf Club’s Peter Bradbeer teamed with his dad Brad to capture the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Father & Son (Middle) Championship earlier this month at LuLu Country Club, he told the GAP website that he plans to give professional golf a shot at some point later this year.
For now, though, the former Bucknell standout is playing amateur golf and with a 5-under-par performance Monday at The 1912 Club and Cedarbrook Country Club, Bradbeer earned qualifying medalist honors as the 121st BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship teed off Monday.
Bradbeer already has one GAP major championship on his resume as he captured the Joseph H. Patterson Cup in 2017 at Wilmington Country Club’s South Course. When match play gets under way Tuesday morning, Bradbeer will take aim at adding a second GAP major to his ledger.
Bradbeer’s opponent in the opening round of match play will be determined first thing Tuesday morning as a pair of Philadelphia Cricket Club players, Marty McGuckin, a semifinalist in the 2018 BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, and Mike Miller will battle it out for the 32nd and final spot in the match-play bracket.
They were two of the five players battling it out in a five-for-one playoff for the final berth in match play after they all landed on 5-over 147. McGuckin and Miller were the last two survivors on the third hole of the playoff when evening thunderstorms interrupted the proceedings.
One of the casualties of the playoff was the Manasquan River Golf Club’s Jeremy Wall, the winner of the Philly Am crown in 2018 at Whitemarsh Valley and again in 2019 at Stonewall, making him the first repeat winner of GAP’s premier championship in 25 years.
Qualifying day in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur is very simply one of the most interesting days on the local golf calendar as a field filled with talent -- mid-amateurs, college kids, high school kids, guys like Bradbeer thinking about turning pro, guys in the amateur limbo between college and mid-am -- battles it out for 32 precious spots in the match-play bracket.
Qualifying day was once again 36 holes after being limited to 18 holes a year ago at Lancaster Country Club due to coronavirus concerns. Last year’s BMW Philadelphia Amateur was one of the first major events on the regional sports calendar to go on, despite the rigorous protocols in place in the early days of the pandemic. And GAP, to its everlasting credit, pulled it off.
Two rounds of match play will be contested Tuesday and two more rounds of match play will whittle the field down to two finalists, who will tee it up in a scheduled 36-hole final Saturday. All of the matches will be played at Cedarbrook. If that sounds like a lot of golf, it is. And it’s by design. The Philly Am is a test of talent, sure, but it is also a test of stamina and of the mind.
Sounds like the weather will be pretty favorable the rest of the way, but the vagaries of the final days of spring in this part of the country can also play a role in determining who will hoist the J. Wood Platt Trophy by the end of the week.
Bradbeer earned medalist honors mostly on the strength of a 4-under 66 in the morning at The 1912 Club, the refurbished Plymouth Country Club.
After a standout career at Bucknell, Bradbeer took up the NCAA on its offer of a fifth year of eligibility to make up for the spring of 2020 stolen by the pandemic and spent the early part of the spring on the Temple roster. Temple head coach Brian Quinn is one of the owners of The 1912 Club, so Bradbeer was able to familiarize himself with the course.
Bradbeer made birdies at the third, sixth and seventh holes to make the turn at 3-under. A bogey at the 11th hole dropped him back to 2-under, but he got two shots back with an eagle 2 at the par-4 13th. A birdie at the 14th hole got Bradbeer to 5-under before he gave a shot back with a bogey at the 16th.
Bradbeer was steady in a 1-under 71 in the afternoon at Cedarbrook. He made birdies at the second and ninth holes before giving a shot back with a bogey at the 10th. A birdie at the 12th hole got him back to 2-under for the round before a bogey at the 15th cost him a shot.
The 71 at Cedarbrook, combined with the opening-round 66 at The 1912 Club, gave Bradbeer a 5-under 137 total that left him three shots clear of the field.
Bradbeer earned a berth in the match-play bracket in last week’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship at Sewickley Heights Golf Club in the Pittsburgh suburbs, although he was knocked out in the opening round.
Bradbeer’s closest pursuer was Austin Barbin, the 2019 GAP Junior Boys’ champion who was coming off a solid sophomore season at Maryland. Austin Barbin, playing out of Loch Nairn Golf Club, bounced back from a morning 73 at Cedarbrook with a 3-under 67 at The 1912 Club in the afternoon for a 2-under 140 total.
Austin Barbin is part of the golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md. that includes older brother Zach Barbin, the defending BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion who is coming off a solid junior season at Liberty, helping the Flames reach the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Zach Barbin added a 1-over 71 at The 1912 Club to his opening round of 1-over 73 at Cedarbrook to join a group of five players tied for 10th place at 2-over 144. He will be in with a chance to repeat the title he won a year ago at Lancaster.
Matt Mattare of Saucon Valley Country Club, a threat to win any GAP event he tees it up in, shared third place with John Peters, the 2020 Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ champion who will graduate from Carlisle this month, if he hasn’t already, each finishing at 1-under 141.
Mattare, who shared second place in last month’s GAP Middle-Amateur Championship at Lookaway Golf Club, opened with a 3-under 67 at The 1912 Club before adding a 2-over 74 at Cedarbrook. Peters, playing out of Carlisle Country Club, carded a 1-over 71 at The 1912 Club before putting together a solid 2-under 70 at Cedarbrook.
LuLu Country Club’s Michael R. Brown Jr., winner of the Pennsylvania Amateur last summer at Lookaway, headed a trio of players tied for fifth place at even-par 142 as he had a pair of 71s, one-over at The 1912 Club in the morning and 1-under at Cedarbrook in the afternoon.
He was joined at that figure by Little Mill Country Club’s Troy Vannucci and LedgeRock Golf Club’s Ross Pilliod, who starred scholastically at Berks Catholic and collegiately at Saint Joseph’s. Vannucci was 2-over with his morning 72 at The 1912 Club and 2-under with his afternoon 70 at Cedarbrook. Pretty sure, Pilliod’s 3-under 69 in the morning was the best round of the day at Cedarbrook. He added a 3-over 73 in the afternoon at The 1912 Club.
Ron Robinson, the North Penn product who is coming off his senior season at Monmouth, shared eighth place with Jason Wilson of Olde Homestead Golf Club, each landing on 1-over 143.
After matching par with a 72 at Cedarbrook in the morning, Robinson signed for a 1-over 71 at The 1912 Club in the afternoon. Wilson opened with a 1-over 71 at The 1912 Club before matching par in the afternoon with a 72 at Cedarbrook.
Joining defending champion Zach Barbin in the fivesome tied for 10th place at 2-over 144 were Ben Cooley of Huntingdon valley Country Club, Merion’s Michael Davis, the runnerup in the 2015 Philly Am at Llanerch Country Club, Jeffrey Cunningham, another LuLu entry who recently wrapped up his senior season at Drexel, and Kennett Square Golf & Country Club’s Connor Bennink, a member of Unionville’s 2017 PIAA Class AAA championship team.
Cooley had a pair of 72s, going 2-over in the morning at The 1912 Club before matching par in the afternoon at Cedarbrook. Davis, a Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual champion at Malvern Prep who starred collegiately at Princeton, added a 1-over 73 at Cedarbrook in the afternoon to his 1-over 71 at The 1912 Club in the morning.
Cunningham added a 1-under 71 at Cedarbrook in the afternoon to the opening round of 3-over 73 he posted at The 1912 Club in the morning. Bennink, who helped Gannon finish in 10th place in its first trip to the NCAA Division II Championship last month, matched par with a 70 at The 1912 Club in the morning before signing for a 2-over 74 at Cedarbrook in the afternoon.
The Barbins weren’t the only brother tandem to earn a spot in the match-play bracket as Huntingdon Valley’s Brian Isztwan and Patrick Isztwan both earned spots among the top 32.
Brian Isztwan took a gap year after Harvard and the rest of the Ivy League – at least the Crimson didn’t drop the program enrtirely, like Dartmouth did -- abandoned intercollegiate golf entirely in 2020-2021. After opening with a 3-over 73 at The 1912 Club in the morning, Brian Isztwan matched par in the afternoon with a 72 at Cedarbrook and was part of a 11-man logjam tied for 15th place at 3-over 145.
Patrick Isztwan’s senior season at Penn Charter was also a casualty of the pandemic. He will start his college career at Richmond in the fall. Patrick Isztwan opened with a 1-over 71 at The 1912 Club before adding a 3-over 75 at Cedarbrook and his 4-over 146 total left him among a group of six players tied for 26th place.
Both Iszwan brothers were Bert Linton Inter-Ac individual champions during their scholastic careers at Penn Charter.
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