Vannucci takes a major step with GAP Middle-Amateur victory in playoff with Flanigan at Jericho National

    Troy Vannucci was always a talented player in South Jersey circles, the Marlton, N.J. resident part of the deep stable of talent that calls Little Mill Country Club home.

   Then in the spring of 2019, Vannucci and his buddy from Marlton, Vince Kwon, took Bandon Dunes by storm, reaching the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship. Competing on a national stage in a United States Golf Association championship seemed to take Vannucci’s game to another level.

   The only thing missing was a Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) or a New Jersey State Golf Association (NJSGA) trophy to validate that sense that Vannucci was one of the better mid-amateur players around.

   The 30-year-old Vannucci got his validation and his name on a GAP major championship trophy this week as he prevailed in a four-hole aggregate playoff with Sean Flanigan, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association representative, to capture the title in GAP’s first major of 2022, the 39^th Middle-Amateur Championship, which wrapped up Wednesday at Jericho National Golf Club in New Hope.

   “It’s incredible,” Vannucci, a project manager for American Athletic Track and Turf, told the GAP website. “It’s hard to win (out here). They say it’s hard to win and you better believe it is. I’ve been knocking for a long time. My cousin Michael (Hyland) just says, ‘Keep on playing.’ He always encourages me.

  “(My uncle Tom, Michael’s father) has always encouraged me. You fail, go play the next one. Who cares.  Keep playing. Keep swinging. It’s eventually going to work out.”

   Vannucci had carded a solid 2-under 70 over the 6,817-yard, par-72 Jericho National layout in Tuesday’s opening round and was in a tie for third place, two shots behind Flanigan, who set the pace with a 4-under 68.

   The 41-year-old Flanigan, a Logan Township, N.J. resident, still appeared to be in command when a couple of loose shots gave Vannucci an opening.

   Flanigan’s tee shot at the 205-yard, par-3 15^th hole went over the green and led to a double bogey. He missed the green with his approach to the next hole, the 403-yard, par-4 16^th hole, and that led to a bogey.

   Up ahead, Vannucci was over the green at the 510-yard, par-5 17^th hole in two. His flop shot stopped a foot from the hole and his tap-in birdie suddenly gave him a share of the lead.

   Vannucci would post a 1-under 71 to get in the clubhouse with a 3-under 141 total as he caught Flanigan, who added a 1-over 73 to his opening-round 68.

   Vannucci immediately gained the advantage in the playoff as Flanigan’s approach to the 439-yard, par-4 10^th hole found the pond and led to a double bogey. Vannucci, as he had throughout the tournament, reached the green in regulation and two-putted for a par that gave him a two-shot lead.

   Vannucci and Flanigan each made par on the next two holes of the playoff, the 11^th and 12^th holes. Vannucci’s approach to the final hole of the playoff, the 18^th, found the putting green, 25 feet from the hole. Knowing two putts would win him the title, Vannucci’s lag putt tumbled into the cup for a closing birdie.

   St. Davids Golf Club’s Brian Gillespie, winner of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Jericho National in 2001, and Yardley Country Club’s Christopher Ault finished two shots out of the playoff in a tie for third place, each landing on 1-under 143.

   Gillespie added a 2-under 70 to his opening-round 73 while Ault recorded a 1-under 71 in Wednesday’s final round after matching par with a 72 in the opening round.

   A couple of past GAP Middle-Amateur champions, Michael R. Brown Jr., the 2009 winner playing out of LuLu Country Club, and Matthew Mattare, the 2016 winner playing out of Saucon Valley Country Club, and Brandon Dalinka of The Ridge at Back Brook finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on even-par 144.

   The steady Mattare registered a pair of even-par 72s while Brown bounced from an opening round of 3-over 75 with a 3-under 69 in Wednesday’s final round.

   Dalinka, who starred scholastically at Council Rock North and played college golf at North Carolina, added a 2-over 74 to his opening round of 70. Dalinka won the NJSGA Mid-Amateur crown in 2019.

   A couple of City 6 standouts of recent vintage, former Saint Joseph’s standout Russ Pilliod, playing out of LedgeRock Golf Club, and former Temple star John Barone, playing out of Glenmaura National Golf Club, finished in a tie for eighth place, each ending up with a 1-over 145 total.

   Pilliod, who was a scholastic standout at Berks Catholic, recorded the best score of the day in Wednesday’s second round with a 4-under 68 after struggling to a 77 in the opening round. Barone cooled off with a 75 in the second round after opening with a solid 2-under 70.

   Joseph Tigani of Fieldstone Golf Club finished alone in 10^th place with a 2-over 146 total as he bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a 3-under 69.

   Merion Golf Club’s Cole Willcox, a reinstated amateur, was a shot behind Flanigan following an opening round of 3-under 69 before falling back with a 78 in Wednesday’s second round as he shared 11^th place with Josh Anderson, another LedgeRock entry, each landing on 3-over 147. Anderson added a 1-under 71 in the second round to his opening-round 76.

   Pine Valley Golf Club’s Jeff Osberg, whose 2020 Middle-Amateur victory enabled him to complete a career sweep of GAP’s major championships, headed a group of six players tied for 13^th place at 4-over 148 total. Osberg matched par in Wednesday’s final round with a 72 after opening with a 76.

   Another Middle-Amateur champion, 2014 winner Peter Barron III, playing out of Galloway National Golf Club, joined the group at 4-over with a pair of 2-over 74s.

   Merion’s Michael Davis, the runnerup in the 2015 BMW Philadelphia Amateur, was also in the group at 148 as he added a 1-over 73 in Wednesday’s final round to his opening-round 75. Davis was a scholastic standout at Malvern Prep and starred collegiately at Princeton.

   Rounding out the group at 4-over were a couple of players out of the deep stable of talent at Philadelphia Cricket Club, Michael Carr and Alexander Kim, and Chris Balaga of Briarwood Golf Club.

   Carr had matched par in the opening round with a 72 before closing with a 76. Kim added a 1-over 73 in Wednesday’s final round to his opening-round 75. Balaga bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a 1-under 71.