Haberstumpf, Spaulding each win two matches and will battle it out for BMW Philadelphia Amateur title at Sunnybrook

 

   It’s been quite a journey through the collegiate ranks for Saucon Valley Country Club’s Jake Haberstumpf.

   A PIAA Class AAA qualifier in the pandemic fall of 2020 while at Bethlehem’s Freedom High, Haberstumpf began his college career at Moravian. He spent some time in Brian Quinn’s Temple program and was at Drexel as recently as last fall when he finished in a tie for third place and helped deliver the first tournament title for new Dragons head coach Scott Yurgalevicz, who was succeeding Ben Feld, in the Temple Invitational.

   Apparently, the journey is not over yet, either, as Haberstumpf will use up the rest of his college eligibility at Liberty, the Conference USA champion.

   It’s always a journey, too, to navigate the match-play bracket in a BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship and Haberstumpf still has a little way to go to try to reel in the most prestigious title on the Golf Association of Philadelphia circuit.

   But Haberstumpf, after winning two matches Wednesday at Sunnybrook Golf Club, is one of the last two standing who will tee it up in the scheduled 36-hole final Saturday in the 126^th playing of one of America’s oldest championships.

   Haberstumpf’s opponent will be Eli Spaulding, a junior on the golf team at Loyola of Maryland from Freeport, Maine who is playing out of Briarwood Golf Club.

   Haberstumpf reached the final with a 4 and 2 victory over LuLu Country Club’s Christian Matt, a recent Saint Joseph’s graduate who was a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Wissahickon.

   The match turned with a little short-game wizardry on Haberstumpf’s part at the ninth and 10^th holes.

   With the match even at the 382-yard, par-4 ninth hole, the 23-year-old Haberstumpf stuck a 54-degree wedge from 72 yards away to three feet.

   The 22-year-old Matt caught a flyer and his gap wedge from 138 yards away ended up 30 feet away with a slick downhill putt. Matt left himself six feet for par and, when he missed the par saver, he conceded the birdie to Haberstumpf.

   At the 365-yard, par-4 10^th hole, Haberstumpf tried to drive the green, his tee shot ending up in a bunker 50 yards short of the green.

   After Matt hit a magnificent approach to eight feet, Haberstumpf delivered the dagger, blasting it on to the front of the green and then watching it roll right into the hole for an eagle.

   Haberstumpf added wins at the 14^th and 16^th holes to close out Matt.

   Earlier in the day, Haberstumpf withstood a game effort from Chester Valley Golf Club’s John Curran, who finished in a tie for second place in the PIAA Class AA Championship in 2024 as a senior at Devon Prep, to reach the semifinals with a 2-up victory.

   The 19-year-old Curran, who took a gap year after graduating from Devon Prep, will join the program at Penn State later this summer.

   Two years ago, Haberstumpf reached the Philly Am semifinals at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club before falling to eventual champion Austin Barbin.

   Haberstumpf has played two rounds of qualifying for match play at Sunnybrook and The 1912 Club Monday, two matches Tuesday and two more Wednesday. One more potential 36-hole test awaits. He’s familiar with the journey.

   “Rest and recovery,” Haberstumpf told the GAP website concerning his approach this week. “Prioritizing that. If you didn’t hit it great, don’t worry. It’s going to get better tomorrow. Go home and sleep. These matches are so much stress on your body.”

   Matt reached the semifinals with a 4 and 3 victory over The 1912 Club’s John Barone, a former Temple standout.

   Spaulding is following in the footsteps of another Loyola of Maryland standout as Mike Crowley took out a membership at Briarwood in York and put his name on the J. Wood Platt Trophy by defeating Patrick Isztwan on Isztwan’s home course, Huntingdon Valley Country Club, in 2023.

   Spaulding survived a hard-fought battle with Little Mill Country Club’s Troy Vannucci, the region’s top mid-amateur, to reach the final with a 1-up victory.

   The 20-year-old Spaulding got even with Vannucci when he ripped a 5-iron from 225 yards away to 12 feet at the 553-yard, par-5 16^th hole and made the eagle putt.

   When Spaulding got it up and down from the front bunker for par at the 460-yard, par-4 finishing hole at Sunnybrook, he was through to the final.

   The 34-year-old Vannucci, twice a winner of GAP’s Middle-Amateur Championship and also the owner of a Patterson Cup title, reached the semifinals with a 2-up victory over Huntsville Golf Club’s Cael Ropietski, a scholastic standout at Lake Lehman who is a junior on the golf team at Marshall.

   Spaulding had a similar scenario to his semifinal victory several hours earlier in his quarterfinal match. Spaulding arrived at the 18^th hole clinging to a 1-up lead over Lehigh Country Club’s Dane Mohap, who finished in a tie for ninth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a sophomore at Nazareth last fall.

   This time, Spaulding got it up and down from the bunker to the right of the 18^th green to close out a 2-up victory.