The Golf Association of Philadelphia

Liotta, McCool top U.S. Mid-Am qualifier

TRENTON, N.J.-David Liotta of Lansdale, Pa., a member of Whitemarsh Valley CC, posted a 5-under-par 66 to head a group of six players to advance to the U.S. Middle-Amateur Championship at a qualifier held on Monday at Trenton CC (par 71, 6,348 yards).

The U.S. Middle-Amateur Championship is set for Oct. 2-7 at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga. A field of 111 players with a handicap index of 3.4 or better attempted to qualify for the 24th U.S. Mid-Am. Players who will reach their 25th birthday by Oct. 2 were eligible.

The afternoon wave was delayed 1:40 at 2:30 p.m. by lightning.

Other qualifiers at Trenton CC were Robin McCool (67) of Bethlehem, Pa., David Brookreson (69) of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Glenn Smeraglio (69) of Newtown, Pa., Rich Pruchnik (70) of West Chester, Pa. and Michael McDermott of Havertown, Pa. (71). Due to darkness, the final two positions will be settled tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. Five players will compete for the last two spots. Alternate positions also have to be determined.

The story of the day was McCool.

The 53-year-old member of Saucon Valley CC will be making his seventh U.S. Mid-Am appearance after posting a 4-under-par 67. It’s an appearance that seemed unlikely and unthinkable this April.

A pinched nerve in his back forced McCool into the hospital for surgery. A staff infection took root a couple days later, however, and McCool suffered through great pain for the next 10 days. He remained on an intravenous line for another month and couldn’t swing a club for about 45 days. It’s been a slow road back, but McCool said he finally felt healthy about three weeks ago.

"I had no idea I was going to be able to play any good golf in the future considering it hurt everytime I moved," said McCool, "but thanks to the medical care and an exercise program, I’ve been able to get back in top form."

McCool, starting on the backside, fired a smashing 3-under-par 32. He sank a pair of eight-foot birdie chances on No. 13 (par 3, 162 yards) and No. 15 (par 3, 114 yards) to get to 2 under. On No. 18 (par 4, 392 yards), he landed an 8-iron out of a bad lie in the rough that rolled up to a couple of feet.

Approaching the meat of the golf course, holes No. 1-4, McCool carded his lone two bogeys of the day before rebounding with three birdies in his last six holes. McCool knocked a 4-iron to 15 feet on No. 5 (par 3, 193 yards) and sank

the putt. On No. 8 (par 4, 366 yards), he dropped a gap wedge to two feet and on No. 9 (par 5, 475 yards) made a simple two putt for another birdie.

"It’s very rewarding to finally feel like I’m back in the group," said McCool. "Once you make a USGA event, you never want to miss one again."

Liotta, 34, who works in the software development field, heads to his second U.S. Mid-Am after posting a 5-under-par 66 to take medalist honors. He qualified last year when the event was at Wilmington CC. He failed to make the cut.

Liotta carded a 4-under-par 32 on the front side before posting eight pars and a birdie on the back nine.

"I just wanted to keep making good swings and make some birdies," said the soft-spoken Liotta. "I really wasn’t thinking about what I was doing."

Liotta started the day eagle, birdie.

Brookreson, 56, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., who captured the gross division of the Chapman Cup (a Golf Association of Philadelphia senior event) last week, posted a 2-under-par 69. It’ll be his sixth U.S. Mid-Am appearance, but first since 1992.

In 1992, he made the round of 16 before bowing out. In fact, Brookreson has made the match play cut every year he’s qualified for the U.S Mid-Am except one.

Smeraglio, 44, Newtown, Pa., will make his second U.S. Middle-Amateur Championship after posting a 2-under-par 69. He traveled to Fresno, Calif., in 2001, and missed making the cut by a couple of strokes.

Smeraglio didn’t even think he was going to play today. Yesterday, he quit after a couple holes of a practice round, battling a herniated disk problem.

"I iced it all day and night and put a little heat on it as well," said Smeraglio. "I took a couple of anti-inflammatory [medicine] and wore a back brace today for the first time. I had no problems."

Pruchnik, 38, a member at West Chester G&CC, carded a 1-under-par 70 and will be making his first U.S. Mid-Am appearance. This was only his second try.

Pruchnik made the turn at even par, before finishing at 1 under.

McDermott, 29, a member at Llanerch CC, qualified for his fourth U.S. Mid-Am. He’s made the match play draw two of the three years he’s advanced in the championship.

McDermott rolled in a 12 footer on No. 18 (par 4, 400 yards) for birdie to assure himself of a qualifying spot.

Qualifiers
Pos.	Name	Club	Front 9	Back 9	Total
1	David Liotta	Whitemarsh Valley CC	32	34	66
2	Robin McCool	Saucon Valley CC	35	32	67
T3	David Brookreson	Huntingdon Valley CC	35	34	69
T3	Glenn Smeraglio	Yardley CC	35	34	69
5	Rich Pruchnik	West Chester G&CC	36	34	70
6	Michael McDermott	Llanerch CC	35	36	71

*Playoff to determine final two positions set for tomorrow at 7:30 a.m.
T7	Duke Delcher	Berkeley Hall	37	35	72
T7	Brian Corbett	Huntsville GC	36	36	72
T7	Gui Costin	Merion GC	36	36	72
T7	Jamie Slonis	Tavistock CC	35	37	72
T7	Michael Minter	Trenton CC	40	32	72
T12	Roc Irey	Cedarbrook CC	38	35	73
T12	John Robinson	Commonwealth National GC	40	33	73
T12	P Chet Walsh	Philadelphia CC	40	33	73
T12	Gary Roberts	Trenton CC	38	35	73
T12	Steven Owens	Wildwood G&CC	39	34	73
T17	Carlos Ochoa	Little Mill CC	38	36	74
T17	Kevin Kelly	Philadelphia Cricket Club	38	36	74
T17	Thomas Timby Jr	Talamore at Oak Terrace CC	35	39	74
T20	Marc Grinberg	Battleground CC	36	39	75
T20	Michael Anderson	Commonwealth National GC	38	37	75
T20	Ryan Gelrod	Forsgate CC	37	38	75
T20	Chris Lange	Overbrook GC	40	35	75
T20	Robert Savarese Jr	Philadelphia Cricket Club	39	36	75
T20	Burton McHugh	Sunnybrook GC	39	36	75
T20	Jim Gavaghan	Torresdale-Frankford CC	38	37	75
T20	Andy Strock	Trenton CC	37	38	75
T28	Jimmy Kieserman	Blue Bell Country CC	40	36	76
T28	Lynn Kilduff	Huntsville GC	40	36	76
T28	Wayne Bartolacci	Jericho National GC	38	38	76
T28	Thomas Mallouk	Lookaway GC	37	39	76
T28	Francis McFadden	Overbrook GC	40	36	76
T28	Peter Barron III	Stone Harbor GC	38	38	76
T28	D Drew Siok	Tavistock CC	41	35	76
T28	Thomas Gramigna	Tavistock CC	37	39	76
T28	Kirk Kashevaroff	Tuxedo Club	37	39	76
T28	Chris Yard	Whitford CC	37	39	76
T38	Michael Ciesla	Ash Brook	39	38	77
T38	David O'Brien	Cedarbrook CC	40	37	77
T38	Michael Moffat	Commonwealth National GC	39	38	77
T38	Thomas Borsello	Fieldstone GC	41	36	77
T38	Dan Pinciotti Jr	Huntingdon Valley CC	39	38	77
T38	Chase Brockstedt	Kings Creek CC	38	39	77
T38	Tom Finn	Penn Oaks GC	38	39	77
T38	Brian Gillespie	St David's GC	39	38	77
T38	Michael Deo	Stanton Ridge	40	37	77
T38	Edward Erickson	Yardley CC	39	38	77
T48	Bill Dwyer	Concord CC	44	34	78
T48	Freddy Henriquez	Deerfield GC	41	37	78
T48	Ron Jamarowicz	Ed Oliver GC	38	40	78
T48	Jeff Goydan	Green Knoll	40	38	78
T48	Kevin Hart	Hopewell Valley GC	40	38	78
T48	Frank Corrado	Jericho National GC	40	38	78
T48	Clark Hargrove	Merion GC	41	37	78
T48	Jarrett Kling	Merion GC	38	40	78
T48	Drew Panebianco	Talamore at Oak Terrace CC	39	39	78
T48	Robert Arthur	Tavistock CC	40	38	78
T48	Frank Polizzi	Whitemarsh Valley CC	43	35	78
T48	Paul Rogowicz	Yardley CC	38	40	78
T60	Michael McBride	Back Creek GC	43	36	79
T60	John Lovett	Charleston Springs	40	39	79
T60	Thomas Dicinti	Little Mill CC	42	37	79
T60	Kyle Ross	Old Orchard CC	40	39	79
T60	Bryan Marvin	Old York Road CC	41	38	79
T60	Dino Volpi	Plymouth CC	41	38	79
T60	Patrick Dougherty	Talamore at Oak Terrace CC	39	40	79
T60	David West	Whitford CC	40	39	79
T60	Steve Walczak	Wilmington CC	40	39	79
T69	Jeff Dellafranco	Concord CC	43	37	80
T69	Robert Coyne	Edgmont CC	41	39	80
T69	Edward Kelly	Lu Lu CC	41	39	80
T69	Patrick Sawyer	Yardley CC	40	40	80
T73	Brandon Haase	Charleston Springs	40	41	81
T73	Mark Inman	Cherry Valley CC	42	39	81
T73	Jeff Rogatz	Fieldstone GC	37	44	81
T73	Kevin De Haven	Hopewell Valley GC	41	40	81
T73	Robert Lodovici	Little Mill CC	40	41	81
T73	Charles Dowds	North Hills CC	44	37	81
T73	Keith Janecek	Piney Branch GC	42	39	81
T73	Clark Holle	Royce Brook GC	45	36	81
T73	Bill Coyle	Saucon Valley CC	44	37	81
T73	Rusty Seyle	Saucon Valley CC	43	38	81
T83	Gary Barbetta	Howell Park GC	43	39	82
T83	Glen Schreiner	Mainland GC	44	38	82
T83	Gerald Gallagher	Paxon Hollow GC	41	41	82
T83	James Pates	Tantallion CC	44	38	82
T83	Bob Husbands	West Chester G & CC	41	41	82
T83	John Giordano	Yardley CC	42	40	82
T89	Gary Daniels	Aronimink GC	38	45	83
T89	Frank Boensch	Bethpage	42	41	83
T89	Graham Parker	Cranbury GC	41	42	83
T89	Bill Turner	Golden Pheasant GC	43	40	83
T89	Ajai Sirohi	Mercer Oaks	45	38	83
T89	James Kiewra	Royce Brook GC	43	40	83
T89	Ted Harris	Sparrows Point CC	46	37	83
T96	Pete Widdoes	Deerfield GC	41	43	84
T96	Donald Ashley	Philadelphia CC	43	41	84
T96	Paul Zorlas	Rockaway River CC	45	39	84
T99	Frank Filippo	Delaware Valley GC	43	42	85
T99	Anthony List Jr	Glen Mills GC	46	39	85
T99	Christian Bohanon	Green Knoll	44	41	85
T99	Stuart Katzoff	Hudson National GC	40	45	85
T99	John Boscarelli	Yardley CC	40	45	85
104	Timothy Haberbusch	Meadows of Middlesex	42	44	86
T105	Mark Czerniakowski	Cobbs Creek GC	45	42	87
T105	Richard Smith	Philadelphia CC	45	42	87
T105	Mark Dennish	The Ridge at Back Brook	48	39	87
T108	John Doster	Heron Glen GC	48	40	88
T108	Kevin Heyeck	Mercer Oaks	47	41	88
T108	Paul Norris	Royce Brook GC	46	42	88
111	Darren Riddle	Dauphin Highlands GC	45	44	89
T112	Bill Holsten	Aronimink GC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Michael Rose	Ashbourne CC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Jeffrey Kiley	Baltusrol GC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Henry Blue	Caves Valley GC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Bill Knight	Fiddler's Elbow	WD	WD	WD
T112	Larry Silk	Greate Bay GC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Thomas Fallon	Hollywood GC	WD	WD	WD
T112	David Poletti	Llanerch CC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Brian Early	Overbrook GC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Chris Dunham	Peace Pipe	WD	WD	WD
T112	Chris Kallmeyer	Philadelphia Cricket Club	WD	WD	WD
T112	Paul Hamilton	Pine Crest CC	WD	WD	WD
T112	George Marucci Jr	Pine Valley GC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Kevin Taunton	Spring Brook CC	WD	WD	WD
T112	John Gianacaci	Springdale GC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Toby Stern	Sunningdale CC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Terrence J Sawyer	Yardley CC	WD	WD	WD
T112	Bill Murray Sr	Merchantville CC	DQ	DQ	DQ
T112	Alexander Maguire Jr	Phladelphia Cricket Club	NS	NS	NS
T112	Lawrence Piekarsky	Preakness Hills CC	NS	NS	NS
T112	John Crosby	Charleston Springs	NS	NS	NS
T112	Thomas Brower	Charleston Springs	NC	NC	NC
T112	Mark Battista	Cranston CC	NC	NC	NC

WD-withdrawal; DQ-disqualification; NS-no show; NC-no card

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Liotta, McCool top U.S. Mid-Am qualifier