It’s hard to believe that the Bradbeers, one of the first families at Merion Golf Club, had never teed it up in a Golf Association of Philadelphia Father & Son event.
Dad Brad Bradbeer and son Peter, winner of a GAP major in 2017 in the Joseph H Patterson Cup at Wilmington Country Club’s South Course, fixed that this week by claiming a one-shot victory in the Father & Son (Middle) Championship with a select-drive, alternate shot total of 4-under-par 67 Wednesday at LuLu Country Club, an early Donald Ross design in Glenside.
The Father & Son (Middle) Championship is for teams with sons ages 19 to 29 and started in 2008 because the demand to play in the Father & Son (Younger) and Father & Son (Older) events was so strong.
Team Bradbeer has been a very successful father-son combo at Merion, capturing the club’s Father & Son crown three straight times from 2017 to 2019.
But with Peter Bradbeer contemplating taking a shot at the professional ranks, this seemed like as good a time as any to give the GAP Father & Son (Middle) a shot. Peter Bradbeer graduated as one of the top players ever at Bucknell a year ago, although the spring of his senior season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.
He had a solid showing in the Men’s Dixie Amateur at Eagle Trace Golf Club’s Gold Course in Coral Springs, Fla., the week before Christmas, finishing in a tie for sixth place with a 3-over 291 total. At the time, I wasn’t exactly sure what he was working toward.
I got my answer when Temple, which did not play in the fall portion of the 2020-2021 season with the pandemic continuing to rage, put out its roster in the spring and Peter Bradbeer was on it. The NCAA allowed for a fifth year of eligibility because of the pandemic and some players, like Bradbeer, chose to take the extra year close to home. He made head coach Brian Quinn’s starting lineup several times and was a solid contributor.
Team Bradbeer got the job done with three birdies on the front nine of the 6,097-yard, par-71 LuLu layout and, after their only misplay led to a bogey at the par-5 10th hole, a birdie-birdie finish.
“I think we’re a pretty good ham-and-egg team,” 23-year-old Peter Bradbeer, who starred scholastically at Friends’ Central, told the GAP website. “He loves playing my tee shots. We had a lot of fun.”
The strategy was simple: Let dad drive one in the fairway and then have Peter let ’er rip.
The 59-year-old Brad’s 52-degree wedge at the 95-yard, par-3 fourth hole finished 15 feet from the hole and Peter dropped the birdie try. On the 170-yard, par-3 sixth hole it was Peter knocking a choked-down 7-iron to five feet and dad cleaning it up by making the putt.
Peter Bradbeer bombed it on the green at the 305-yard, par-4 ninth hole, leaving dad with 12 feet for eagle. Brad Bradbeer came up just short on the eagle try, but he left Peter with a tap-in birdie.
Peter Bradbeer drove it out of bounds on the 491-yard, par-5 10th hole, so the team was left with dad’s tee shot. Peter Bradbeer’s attempt to lay up with a 3-iron ended up wet and it led to Team Bradbeer’s lone bogey.
They got it back to 3-under at the 490-yard, par-5 17th hole as Peter Bradbeer’s flip wedge left dad with six feet for birdie and Brad drained it. Peter Bradbeer bombed a drive on the 385-yard, par-4 finishing hole, leaving dad with just a 62-degree wedge from 52 yards away. Brad Bradbeer knocked it to 15 feet below the hole and Peter dropped the birdie try, getting Team Bradbeer to 4-under, just enough to get a shot clear of the field.
The Talamore Country Club duo of John Wiseman and Ben Wiseman came up just short, finishing a shot behind Team Bradbeer in second place with a 3-under 68.
The Huntingdon Valley Country Club pair of Dan Pinciotti and D.J. Pinciotti III, a former Holy Ghost standout, finished a shot behind the Wisemans in third place with a 2-under 69.
The Blue Bell Country Club pair of Mark Lafond and Matt Lafond shared fourth place with the LedgeRock Golf Club duo of George Audi and Dylan Audi, each team landing on 1-under 70. Matt Lafond was the Catholic League champion as a senior at La Salle in the fall of 2019, helping the Explorers to a third-place finish in the PIAA Class AAA team race. Matt Lafond joined the La Salle University program this past season.
The Hartefeld National Golf Club tandem of Jef Fogel and Ryan Fogel was alone in sixth place as the Fogels matched par with a 71.
John Tall of RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve and Ryan Tall of host LuLu headed a group of three teams tied for seventh place at 1-over 72. Ryan Tall was a Central League champion as a junior at Conestoga and won the 2018 GAP Junior Boys’ Championship at Blue Bell. Ryan Tall finished in a tie for ninth place in the Patriot League Championship at the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Course in Annapolis, Md. last month to wrap up his junior season at Lafayette. Tall helped the Leopards finish in third place in the team standings.
Joining Team Tall at 1-over were Bob Wurtz of Philadelphia Cricket Club and Bobby Wurtz of Philadelphia Country Club and the Cricket Club pair of Kevin Kelly and Ryan Kelly.
Rounding out the top 10 were the duos of Joseph Templin and Drew Templin of LedgeRock and Michael Anderson of the Cricket Club and Timothy Anderson, both of which finished in a tie for 10th place, each posting a 3-over 74. Joseph Templin, a 59-year-old Mohnton, Berks County resident, aced the 142-yard, par-3 12th hole, his 7-iron shot finding the bottom of the cup. Joseph Templin had a full day as he played with son Jake in the morning as well.
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