*Event photos

Veteran Chris Lange cards 70;
tops U.S. Middle-Amateur Championship Qualifier

  GALLOWAY, N.J. – Longtime USGA competition veteran Chris Lange of Bryn Mawr, Pa., carded the only sub-par round at a tough Galloway National GC (par 71, 6,954 yards) Thursday to top the local qualifier run by the Golf Association of Philadelphia for the U.S. Middle-Amateur Championship with a 1-under-par 70.

  Lange will be joined by Gregory Wolfe of Newark, Del., Norman Swenson of Linville, N.C., Glenn Smeraglio of Newtown, Pa., Thomas Gramigna of Haddonfield, N.J., James Kieserman of Dresher, Pa., Marc Mandel of Conshohocken, Pa., and Walker Cup captain George "Buddy" Marucci, Jr., of Villanova, Pa., in the Championship set for Sept. 6-11 at Milwaukee CC in River Hills, Wis.

  "It’ll be fun to go to Milwaukee," Lange said. "I just have to go out there and play great. We’ll see what happens when we get out there."

  Lange got out to a fast start carding a 2 on the par 3, 2nd hole (143 yards) after knocking a 9-iron to within two feet for a kick-in birdie. The 53-year-old continued his solid play throughout the day on the tricky Jersey Shore track and finished strong with a birdie on the dogleg right, 18th hole (par 4, 442 yards).

  After cutting a drive down the middle of fairway to leave him a manageable 122 yards to the hole, Lange reached the green safely with a pitching wedge but was some 25 feet from the flagstick.

  From there, a surprised Lange made the "snaking putt" for birdie to give him the top qualifying spot.

  "I was very surprised by it going in, since I didn’t really make much today," said Lange of his birdie try on No. 18. "It was a nice note to end on."

  Wolfe, 36, who was given back his amateur status only last Friday, finished with a solid 1-over-par 72 to advance to his first U.S. Mid-Am Championship.

  "My goal was to qualify for either the [Amateur] or [Mid-Amateur]," said Wolfe, a former mini-tour player on the Tampa circuit. "That was the goal all summer."

  Added Wolfe on playing the difficult New Jersey course, "This is just a tough course. Whether you set it up easy or hard, you could make a number out here. One loose tee shot and you could easily make a double bogey."

  Norman Swenson, 61, of Linville, N.C., fired a 3-over-par 74 Thursday to advance into his first U.S. Mid-Am Championship. The defending European, Mexican, Bermuda and New Zealand (55-and-older division) Senior Amateur champion qualified for the U.S. Mid-Am. in his first try.

  "It’s not every day that a guy in his 60s qualifies for the Mid-Am." said Swenson. "The only reason I tried to get in today was that you get a seven-year exemption into the British Senior Amateur."

Notes:
  The U.S. Mid.-Amateur originated in 1981 for the amateur golfer of at least 25 years of age, the purpose of which to provide a formal national championship for the post-college player. The event is open to those with a USGA Handicap Index of 3.4 or lower. It is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

---

  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 136 Member Clubs and 56,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The purpose of the Association is simple: To promote, protect and preserve the game of golf in the region.

Qualifiers

Name

City

Front 9

Back 9

Total

Chris Lange

Bryn Mawr, PA

35

35

70

Gregory Wolfe

Newark, DE

37

35

72

Norman Swenson

Linville, NC

38

36

74

Glenn Smeraglio

Newtown, PA

36

38

74

Thomas Gramigna

Haddonfield, NJ

38

36

74

James Kieserman

Dresher, PA

38

37

75

Marc Mandel

Conshohocken, PA

39

36

75

*George Marucci, Jr.

Villanova, PA

38

38

76

  

Alternates (in order)

*Dominic Schiavone

Bangor, PA

37

39

76

*Jamie Slonis

Sewell, NJ

38

38

76

  

Failed to qualify

*James Donnelly

Wayne, PA

40

36

76

*John Capra

Martinsville, NJ

37

39

76

*Matthew Finger

Woolwich Township, NJ

37

39

76

*Ryan Gelrod

Hoboken, NJ

38

38

76

*Sean Seese

Huntingdon Valley, PA

39

37

76

Kevin Kelly

Horsham, PA

34

43

77

Michael McDermott

Bryn Mawr, PA

40

37

77

Michael Paduano

Shrewsbury, NJ

37

40

77

Michael Tash

Glassboro, NJ

38

39

77

Nicholas Verrecchio

Havertown, PA

36

41

77

Peter Barron III

Mays Landing, NJ

35

42

77

Phil Auerbach

New York, NY

35

42

77

Christopher Okeefe

Massapequa, NY

38

40

78

Clinton Bunting

Rehoboth Beach, DE

39

39

78

Garry Marker

Mays Landing, NJ

39

39

78

Jeff Huntzinger

Huntingdon Valley, PA

40

38

78

Larry Maxwell

Owensboro, KY

36

42

78

Robert Derojas

Philadelphia, PA

38

40

78

Thomas Lusto

Saylorsburg, PA

38

40

78

David Liotta

Broomall, PA

42

37

79

Gary Awalt

Baltimore, MD

38

41

79

James Bohn

Lewisburg, PA

39

40

79

Marc Grinberg

Morganville, NJ

40

39

79

Michael Brown

Cheltenham, PA

37

42

79

Anthony Fioto

Manalapan, NJ

37

43

80

Brian Gillespie

Wayne, PA

35

45

80

Craig Groenendaal

Centreville, VA

39

41

80

Daniel Pinciotti, Jr.

Huntingdon Valley, PA

42

38

80

Eric Williams

Honesdale, PA

38

42

80

Frank Corrado

Washington Crossing, PA

39

41

80

Geoffrey Cooper

Philadelphia, PA

40

40

80

Jackson Hughes III

Charlotte, NC

40

40

80

Jerry Lynch

Larchmont, NY

41

39

80

Marion Moore, Jr.

Georgetown, SC

41

39

80

Mark Kosko

Egg Harbor Twsp, NJ

38

42

80

Michael Marotta

Freehold, NJ

42

38

80

Robert Bechtold

Avondale, PA

40

40

80

Ronald Levinson

Long Beach, NY

39

41

80

Sean D Leonard

Haddonfield, NJ

40

40

80

Ted Harris

Yardley, PA

42

38

80

Thomas Dicinti

Voorhees, NJ

36

44

80

Clark Holle

South Orange, NJ

39

42

81

David Braka

Long Branch, NJ

40

41

81

David West

Downingtown, PA

39

42

81

Francisco Sojo

Buenos Aires

40

41

81

Jerome Malinay

Bristol, VA

42

39

81

Keith Janecek

Parkton, MD

41

40

81

Matt Jasudowich

Phoenixville, PA

41

40

81

Ajai Sirohi

Princeton, NJ

41

41

82

Brian Sexton

Little Egg Harbor, NJ

40

42

82

Chris Esbenshade

Lititz, PA

43

39

82

Dino Stathis

Monroe Township, NJ

43

39

82

Ken Zimmer

Moorestown, NJ

42

40

82

Mike Moffat

Warrington, PA

39

43

82

Rich Thon

Swarthmore, PA

40

42

82

Santo Lafoca

Pittston, PA

42

40

82

Alan Kline

Lewisburg, PA

40

43

83

Kevin McSorley

Old Bridge, NJ

43

40

83

Stephen Seiden

Chadds Ford, PA

42

41

83

Andy Dietz

Marlton, NJ

41

43

84

Chad Moore

Egg Harbor City, NJ

42

42

84

Ghun Tae Kim

Cresskill, NJ

40

44

84

Mark Dennish

Skillman, NJ

42

42

84

Brian Corbett

Clarks Summit, PA

42

43

85

Michael Korcuba

Sicklerville, NJ

40

45

85

Michael McGovern

Oradell, NJ

43

42

85

Steve Donahue

Skillman, NJ

43

42

85

Brian Slama

Mays Landing, NJ

43

43

86

Greg O'Connor

Collegeville, PA

45

41

86

Kevin Campbell

Massapequa Park, NY

40

46

86

Mark Inman

Skillman, NJ

41

45

86

Mark Wachter

Wilmington, DE

39

47

86

Amrish Patel

Belleville, NJ

41

46

87

Edward Kelly

Maple Glen, PA

49

38

87

John Garland

Staten Island, NY

44

43

87

P Chet Walsh

Wayne, PA

39

48

87

Brandon Davis

New York, NY

40

48

88

Joe Rossi

Monmouth Beach, NJ

40

48

88

Joseph Olin

Medford, NJ

45

43

88

Thomas Mallouk

Doylestown, PA

46

42

88

Bill Turner

Delran, NJ

47

42

89

Billy Byrnes

Brooklyn, NY

44

45

89

Eric Olinick

Schwenksville, PA

41

48

89

Greg Mitchell

Wilmington, DE

43

46

89

Lance Oberparleiter

Blenheim, NJ

42

47

89

Andrew Wickersham

Highland Mills, NY

48

42

90

Gary Franco

Wyckoff, NJ

42

48

90

Matt Mangold

Plymouth Meeting, PA

44

46

90

Donald Burgess

Lancaster, PA

45

46

91

Chris Anderson

Wilmington, DE

44

48

92

Michael Pastorius

Collegeville, PA

44

52

96

Randy Kruse

Abington, PA

52

45

97

Derrick Scenna

Manasquan, NJ

48

51

99

Adam Grosso

Franklin Lakes, NJ

NS

NS

NS

Daniel Heller

West Windsor, NJ

NS

NS

NS

John Allegra

Jersey City, NJ

NS

NS

NS

Philip Waterman III

New York, NY

NS

NS

NS

Anthony List

Havertown, PA

WD

WD

WD

Christopher Corr

Rosemont, PA

WD

WD

WD

Christopher Housen

Brielle, NJ

WD

WD

WD

Christopher Scott

Short Hills, NJ

WD

WD

WD

Dan Marino

Short Hills, NJ

WD

WD

WD

Dave Pierman

Highland Heights, OH

WD

WD

WD

David Leveille

Basking Ridge, NJ

WD

WD

WD

Glen Schreiner

Elkton, MD

WD

WD

WD

Harry Reed

Wilmington, DE

WD

WD

WD

Jackson Hughes, Jr.

Greenville, SC

WD

WD

WD

Jhoon Chang

Ardmore, PA

WD

WD

WD

Jimmy Rattigan

Orwigsburg, PA

WD

WD

WD

John Lupica

Newtown, PA

WD

WD

WD

John Stickle

Spring Lake, NJ

WD

WD

WD

Marion Moore

Orangeburg, SC

WD

WD

WD

Matthew Stefanski

Manahawkin, NJ

WD

WD

WD

Stuart Katzoff

New York, NY

WD

WD

WD

Thomas Borsello

Wilmington, DE

WD

WD

WD

  

*-determined in a playoff

NS-no show; WD-withdrawal

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