Geoffrey Cooper of Links Golf Club follows his birdie putt on No. 12 (par 4, 416 yards).

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Links GC’s Cooper caps Amateur Qualifier at Tavistock

  HADDONFIELD, N.J. — Two fundamental changes may lead to a competitive golf transformation for Geoffrey Cooper of Links Golf Club. He adopted the stack and tilt approach nearly three years ago and switched putters after a tough outing in the New Jersey State Golf Association’s Middle-Amateur Championship last week.

  Cooper now feels more confident in his game. It showed Tuesday as the Philadelphia, Pa. resident earned medalist honors in an Amateur Championship Qualifier at Tavistock Country Club (par 72, 6,789 yards). Challenging greens and high winds made scoring difficult, but Cooper didn’t seem to mind. He carded a 1-under-par 71, the day’s lone subpar score, to lead a field of 135 players attempting to grab one of 30 qualifying positions and ties available for the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 112th Amateur Championship, set for June 12-14 & 16 at Huntingdon Valley Country Club.

   “My work with Steve Sieracki [who operates the Stack and Tilt Golf Academy at Burlington Country Club] is getting better and better,” Cooper, 35, said. “Using the long putter has helped my short and long putting. For competitive golf, I’m just going to need to commit to it.”

  Cooper hit 16 greens in regulation. The two that he missed resulted in bogeys. Cooper flew the No. 1 (par 4, 355 yards) green with a 140-yard 9-iron shot, guided a chip to six feet and missed the par putt. Cooper nuked his 6-iron into the back bunker on No. 4 (par 3, 157 yards) and failed to get-up-and-down.

  Cooper, who works in sales, fired three birdies on his outward tour. He nearly holed an 80-yard wedge shot on No. 2 (par 5, 546 yards) for eagle. Cooper drilled an 8-iron 140 yards to 15 feet on No. 5 (par 5, 554 yards) and converted the right-to-left breaker. He hit a 56-degree wedge 55 yards to five feet on No. 7 (par 4, 340 yards). Cooper stayed steady on the back, adding a fourth birdie to the scorecard on No. 17 (par 5, 489 yards). He powered a 3-iron 210 yards to 20 feet and nearly executed the eagle try. A three-putt on the par 4, 430-yard 18th hole prevented a score in the 60s.

  The Amateur Championship is the only competitive tournament left on Cooper’s schedule. He and his wife Betsy are expecting their second child this summer.

   “We have a baby coming July 20, so I’m going to shut it down after this [the Championship proper],” Cooper said. “That’ll be my competitive outlet. I want to make match play. I’ve never made match play the last couple of years. I’ve played Huntingdon Valley a lot, and I’ve played it well, so I think I have a good chance.”

  Patrick Knott of Merion Golf Club carded a 1-over-par 72 to place second.

   “My short game saved me today, which you’d like to have out there,” he said. “I made a lot of 10 foot putts today. On greens this fast, it can be quite scary. It was really gut-it-out type round.”

  Starting on the back nine, Knott, 26, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., converted five straight pars before running into trouble on the dogleg left No. 15 (par 5, 542 yards). He attempted to hook a 6-iron around the corner, but beamed his golf ball directly into a row of trees. A punch 7-iron shot hit a tree, forcing Knott to exhaust a fourth stroke just to return to the fairway.

   “I compounded the mistake by trying to get too aggressive with my second and third shots,” he said.

  Knott, who works in investment management, recovered a stroke on No. 17 (par 5, 489 yards) by knocking a 9-iron 130 yards to six feet. He also birdied the par 5, 546-yard No. 2 after sending a sand wedge 106 yards to 10 feet left of the flagstick. Knott stuffed a 9-iron 130 yards to a foot on No. 5 (par 5, 554 yards) to move into subpar territory.

  A bogey on the following hole (No. 6, par 4, 424 yards) didn’t allow Knott to stay there long. He steered an 8-iron 155 yards into the left greenside bunker and failed to get up-and-down. Knott also bogeyed the par 3, 210-yard No. 8. His 4-iron hit the upslope and retracted to the front of the green. Knott hit a bump-and-run to 15 feet and didn’t save par.

   “I decided to play more competitive golf this summer,” Knott said. “I just want to keep working on my game and see what happens next.”

  At the end of the day, the cut line fell to 78.

  Tuesday’s qualifier was the first of two used to determine who will play in the Championship Proper next month. The second will take place May 17 at Penn Oaks Golf Club.

  Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional golf association in the United States and serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. Its 145 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.

Qualifiers

Name, club

Score

Geoffrey Cooper, Links Golf Club

71

Patrick Knott, Merion Golf Club

73

Sean Seese, Huntingdon Valley Country Club

74

Benjamin Smith, Little Mill Country Club

74

Bryan Ott, Silver Creek Country Club

74

Matthew Finger, Woodcrest Country Club

74

Greg O'Connor, Huntingdon Valley Country Club

74

Robert Beck, Lehigh Country Club

74

Ryan Felpel, Honeybrook Golf Club

74

Joseph Russo, Running Deer Golf Club

74

Daniel Pinciotti, Jr., Huntingdon Valley Country Club

75

Dan Bernard, Aronimink Golf Club

75

Brandon Dalinka, The Ridge at Back Brook

76

Sean Torpey, Commonwealth National Golf Club

76

John Fasy, Wilmington Country Club

76

Kevin Kramarski, Riverton Country Club

76

Robert Savarese, Jr., Philadelphia Cricket Club

76

Christopher Ault, Yardley Country Club

77

Troy Vannucci, Burlington Country Club

77

James Braunsberg, Blue Bell Country Club

77

Michael Carr, Plymouth Country Club

77

Tim Westfall, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve

77

Kyle Martin, Commonwealth National Golf Club

77

Thomas Bartolacci, Jr., Saucon Valley Country Club

77

Sean Coyle, Llanerch Country Club

77

Jeffrey Huntzinger, Philadelphia Publinks GA

77

Matthew Kreuter, Philadelphia Cricket Club

78

Rand Mendez, Fieldstone Golf Club

78

Scott Storck, Philadelphia Cricket Club

78

Gary Schoeman, Stonewall

78

Joseph Jasinski, Northampton Country Club

78

 

Failed to qualify

Pat Pasquariello, Philadelphia Country Club

79

Peter Barry, Medford Village Country Club

79

Mark Kosko, Sea Oaks Golf Club

79

Michael Moffat, Commonwealth National Golf Club

79

Nicholas Lukow, Woodstone Country Club

79

Gregory Markus, Little Mill Country Club

79

Brian Kenny, Greate Bay Country Club

80

Daniel Feeney, Philadelphia Cricket Club

80

Chris Lange, Jr., Overbrook Golf Club

80

Phillip Villari, Jr., Riverton Country Club

80

Doug Cusick, Tavistock Country Club

80

Michael Casella, Northampton Country Club

80

John Aloisio, Running Deer Golf Club

80

Bobby Svigals, Radnor Valley Country Club

80

Brett Cybulski, Merchantville Country Club

81

Bradley Roberts, Wedgwood Country Club

81

Nicholas Stoyer, Bent Creek Country Club

81

Gerald Bowes, Jr., Whitemarsh Valley Country Club

81

Steve Oh, Llanerch Country Club

81

Matthew Bastian, Jr., Rolling Green Golf Club

81

Anthony Apostolico, Back Creek Golf Club

81

Ryan Worthy, Merion Golf Club

81

Christopher Reedman, Makefield Highlands Golf Club

81

Bill Boyle, Metedeconk National Golf Club

81

Erik Meyer, Glen Oak Country Club

81

Dylan Shollenberger, Schuylkill Country Club

81

Philip Potter, Radley Run Country Club

81

Johan van Schalkwyk, Burlington Country Club

82

Michael Olson, Riverton Country Club

82

Paul Bickford, Little Mill Country Club

82

Russell Hill, Old York CC at Chesterfield

82

Ryan Jordan, Tavistock Country Club

82

Matt Grubb, Overbrook Golf Club

82

James Gillespie, Wedgwood Country Club

82

Arthur Kania, Jr., Merion Golf Club

82

Ryan Brown, Country Club of Scranton

82

Mac Selverian, Aronimink Golf Club

82

Ryan Gelrod, Philadelphia Cricket Club

83

Daniel Rexon, Tavistock Country Club

83

Patrick Hennigan, Tavistock Country Club

83

Santo Lafoca, Huntsville Golf Club

83

Patrick Welsh, Makefield Highlands Golf Club

83

Alec Kissell, Huntingdon Valley Country Club

83

Jack Wallace, Philadelphia Cricket Club

83

Andrew Bauer, Laurel Creek Country Club

83

Bill Murray, Wedgwood Country Club

84

Dino Stathis, Metedeconk National Golf Club

84

Sean Leonard, Tavistock Country Club

84

Fran Begley, Wedgwood Country Club

84

Matt Raudenbush, Pine Valley Golf Club

84

Anthony List, Jr., Llanerch Country Club

84

Chuck Lynch, Jr., Whitemarsh Valley Country Club

84

Drew Garis, North Hills Country Club

84

Alex Acciani, Talamore Country Club

84

Bradley Cusick, Tavistock Country Club

84

Brian Dempster, Mercer Oaks Golf Course

84

Mark Hodgson, Burlington Country Club

84

Brian Powell, Burlington Country Club

84

Michael Hodges, The Springhaven Club

85

Mark Quigley, Lu Lu Country Club

85

Andrew Dietz, Laurel Creek Country Club

85

Steve Mroozian, Middletown Country Club

85

Alex Dupre, Rolling Green Golf Club

85

Tom Lane, Riverton Country Club

85

Jack Knowles, Country Club of Scranton

85

Christopher Parmer, Metedeconk National Golf Club

86

Michael Rogers, Llanerch Country Club

86

Daniel Kilpatrick, Running Deer Golf Club

86

Matt Brady, Penn Oaks Golf Club

86

James Lewis, Little Mill Country Club

86

Michael Fagan, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club

86

Timothy Chow, Indian Valley Country Club

87

Chris Meares, Sakima Country Club

87

Chris Hunger, Wedgwood Country Club

87

Jonathan Shevlin, North Hills Country Club

87

Brian Sokolowski, Mercer Oaks Golf Course

87

Bill Shotzbarger, Torresdale-Frankford Country Club

88

Bob Britton, Philadelphia Publinks GA

88

David Ripa, Running Deer Golf Club

88

Jack Clough, Wilmington Country Club

89

Rick Lynd, Running Deer Golf Club

89

Garrett Conway, Burlington Country Club

89

James Denon, Jr., The Springhaven Club

89

Peter Landreth, Jr., Philadelphia Cricket Club

90

Bill Lippman, The Bucks Club

90

Andrew Pierson, Merchantville Country Club

92

Jeffrey Angelucci, Torresdale-Frankford Country Club

93

Michael Cole, Torresdale-Frankford Country Club

93

Liam Fahey, Overbrook Golf Club

97

Schuyler Wickes, Phoenixville Country Club

102

Drew O'Neill, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club

WD

Joe Frey, Edgmont Country Club

WD

Gary Daniels, Aronimink Golf Club

WD

Oscar Mestre, Overbrook Golf Club

WD

Todd Vonderheid, Huntsville Golf Club

WD

James Bell, III, Makefield Highlands Golf Club

WD

Robert Galbreath, Sr., Huntingdon Valley Country Club

WD

Zachary Rothaus, Philmont Country Club

WD

Ken Sayers, Rancocas Golf Club

WD

Mike Dunn, Little Mill Country Club

WD

Mark Mulvihill, Fieldstone Golf Club

WD

 

WD-withdrawal

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