Final Four for GAP Team Matches set

  In fact, those three teams have won six of the eight GAP Team Matches titles since 2000. The other Final Four entrant, Huntsville Golf Club, is competing in its first playoff.

  Commonwealth National GC enters as the defending champion a year removed from surprising many with its solid all-around play and consistency. Captained by John Robinson, Commonwealth displayed a steady hand once again in 2008, compiling a 3-0 mark in Section 3 round-robin competition despite losing three key players from last year’s squad for various reasons (Craig Burton, Ken Matt and Steve Owens).

  “It's nice to be in a position to defend our championship,” said Commonwealth captain John Robinson. “As I said in the preview, after losing three quality players, our team has really stepped up. Moselem Springs, Wedgwood and Wilmington presented quite the challenge [in the round robin] in that each of them was plenty good enough to beat us.”

  And what can the team draw from last year’s playoff?

  “The difference is that we now know we can win. It also says a great deal about our course and club, that we can attract and develop enough talent to be here in the final for the fourth time in a row. We will certainly savor one of the best days of the GAP season on Saturday.”

  CNGC, which earned its first title a year ago, hopes to become the first GAP Team Matches repeat winner since Tavistock CC won three straight championships from 2004-06.

  Tavistock, who missed the final for the first time in five seasons last year, looks to return to the top perch after dominating Section 2 with a 3-0 record and Division AA high 155.75 points.

  “We are excited to get back in the final. We felt something extra this year hosting teams that were coming to our course after the renovation,” said Bob Arthur, who has played for the first team the past seven years. “The final should be exciting. Those are three talented clubs with excellent players.”

  A main factor in Tavistock’s return to the Final Four comes from the course itself.

  Last year, Tavistock was forced to play its home matches at Woodcrest Country Club while its own course was closed for renovation.

  The Haddonfield-area roster is stacked with players who were part of all three winning championship teams. (Those are Tavistock only three titles.)

  Yardley returns to the Playoff, as well, after a year’s absence.

  It too, like Tavistock, is stocked with veterans of championships past.

  Yardley defeated Llanerch Country Club, a Final Four entrant last year, in Week 3 to finish 3-0 in Section 1 and earn its 2008 shot.

  “The Team Matches are something that the players at Yardley look forward to each and every year. Having won it five times overall and four of the last 11 years with the caliber of the competition in the GAP, we feel it is a great accomplishment,” said Yardley captain Terry Sawyer. “We’ve done this by mixing very good veteran players (Glenn Smeraglio, Paul Rogowicz, Al Padovano, Ed Erickson, Paul Dansbury and Steve Budnez ) with young, sometimes very young, promising junior players (Open Champion Mark Miller, Dan Charen, Chris Ault and high schoolers Max Matejik, and Joe Gunnerman). With Tavistock, Commonwealth and Huntsville, we fully expect one of the most competitive finals in some time.”

  Huntsville advanced by way of a tiebreaker in Section 4. Huntsville, Philadelphia Cricket Club and Olde York Country Club each finished with a 2-1 record, but Huntsville accumulated 2.75 more points than Cricket and 6.25 more than Olde York to get the nod.

  “It was really neat driving back and talking to everyone on the phone. We were high-fiving and congratulating each other,” said Huntsville team member Jason Barkley. “We knew we had to beat Olde York and earn every single point possible and then get a good result with the Cricket-Country match in order to have a chance.”

  The GAP Team Matches Playoff begins at 12 p.m. The format is individual match play with 12 total players competing from each club. Three-man teams from each club play at the four sites with each individual match worth three points. An additional quarter point is awarded for margin of victory.