The Loyola of Maryland connection continues in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship.
It started when former Greyhound Jeremy Wall, playing out of Manasquan River Golf Club, went back-to-back, claiming the title in 2018 at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club and again in 2019 at the Old Course at Stonewall.
Three years ago, Mike Crowley got himself a membership at Briarwood Golf Club in York and defeated Patrick Isztwan on his home course at Huntingdon Valley Country Club to make it three Loyola of Maryland winners of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s most coveted title in six years.
Apparently, Eli Spaulding, a junior with the Greyhounds out of Freeport, Maine, got wind of the Crowley path to GAP eligibility through Briarwood.
Saturday, at Sunnybrook Golf Club, Spaulding became the third Loyola of Maryland player to put his name on the J. Wood Platt Trophy, capturing the title in the 126th edition of one of America’s oldest golf championships with a decisive 9 and 8 victory over Saucon Valley Country Club’s Jake Haberstumpf, who will join the program at Liberty for his final year of college eligibility this summer.
A closing burst at the end of the morning round in the scheduled 36-hole final gave Spaulding a 3-up lead when the players broke for lunch.
Spaulding then jumped all over Haberstumpf, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Bethlehem’s Freedom High in the pandemic fall of 2020, by winning the first four holes of the afternoon round to take a commanding 7-up lead.
Spaulding’s 9 and 8 decision tied for second-biggest margin of victory in the Philly Am, matching the 9 and 8 win by Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Gregor Orlando over LedgeRock Golf Club’s Grant Skylass in 2017 at Orlando’s home course, the Wissahickon Course, A.W. Tillinghast’s magnificent design at Cricket.
The largest margin of victory was the 10 and 9 win for Jeff Osberg over Merion Golf Club’s Nelson Hargrove in 2014 at White Manor Country Club.
The final at Sunnybrook was even through 13 holes when Spaulding, a two-time winner of Maine’s Amateur Championship, made his move.
Spaulding put a nose in front when he reached the green at the 585-yard, par-5 14th hole in two and two-putted for a birdie.
Spaulding used a gap wedge from 135 yards away at the 419-yard, par-4 15th hole and finished four feet from the hole. He converted the birdie putt to take a 2-up lead.
With a 45-foot birdie bomb at the 220-yard, par-3 17th hole, Spaulding suddenly had a 3-up lead.
At the 19th hole, Sunnybrook’s 394-yard, par-4 opener, Spaulding hit a 58-degree wedge to eight feet and dropped his birdie putt.
A two-putt par by Spaulding at the 20th hole, Sunnybrook’s 460-yard, par-4 second, was good enough to put another win in the bank and increase his lead to 5-up.
At the 21st hole, Sunnybrook’s 575-yard, par-5 third, Spaulding’s flop shot finished two feet from the hole and resulted in another birdie and another win.
A little more magic with the putter at the 22nd hole, Sunnybrook’s 459-yard, par-4 fourth, gave Spaulding a 7-up lead as he knocked a 54-degree wedge from 115 yards away to 15 feet and drained the birdie putt.
“Obviously, 3-up through 18 holes is not a bad place to be,” Spaulding told the GAP website. “I didn’t feel the best about my game, though. I think that kind of helped me. I said ‘Go and attack the next 18 holes.’ I wanted to be free, aggressive and let the golf come.
“I wasn’t quite as focused and didn’t go through my whole process on the first 18. I was like ‘All right, stick to my process and don’t be afraid to make birdies.’”
Wins at the 25th and 26th holes, Sunnybrook’s seventh and eighth, increased Spaulding’s advantage to 9-up. Haberstumpf got one back by taking the 27th hole, the ninth at Sunnybrook, but Spaulding closed out the match with a two-putt par at the 28th hole, the 366-yard, par-4 10th at Sunnybrook.
Just another Loyola of Maryland guy turning out to be the class of a field filled with the best amateur golfers in the Philadelphia region.
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