Lu Lu's Cooley ousts No. 1 seed Brennan, advances to Jr. Boys' semis

  EXTON, Pa. - Close friends and golf buddies Ted Brennan of Philadelphia CC and Benjamin Cooley of Lu Lu CC have grown up playing golf together in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s junior ranks. Just last year, Cooley defeated Brennan, 3&1, in the First Flight’s Round of 16 during the Junior Boys’ Championship at Riverton CC.

  One year later, the stakes were much higher, but the result was relatively similar. Cooley, of Rydal, Pa., edged Brennan, the No. 1 seed, 1-up, to become a semifinalist in the 96th Junior Boys’ Championship at Whitford CC (par 72, 6,401 yards). Cooley will now face No. 4 seed Conor Pocino of Old York CC at Chesterfield in the semifinals, which begin at 8 a.m. tomorrow.

  “It feels good. Yesterday, I was a little worried that I wasn’t going to make match play,” Cooley, the First Flight Champion in the 2009 Junior Boys’ Championship, said. “I played better today. There’s definitely a lot more that needs to be done.”

  Brennan, of Newtown Square, Pa., established an early lead by winning No. 2 (par 3, 180 yards). Although his 5-iron found the front bunker, Brennan, 17, blasted out to four-feet and cleaned up the par putt. Cooley, meanwhile, pushed his tee shot right, chopped out of the rough and two-putted to card a bogey. On No. 3 (par 4, 402 yards), Cooley, 17, escaped the left-side trees with a 5-iron, but it sailed 160 yards and rolled off the green. He chipped back onto the green to within a couple of feet, and Brennan, who didn’t save par after an errant tee shot, conceded Cooley’s par. Cooley, a senior at Abbington High School, added to his lead by hitting his 8-iron 155 yards, chipping onto the green and leaving his birdie effort two-feet shy. Brennan’s struggles continued as he three-putted to log a bogey.

  Cooley, the No. 9 seed, created a two-hole advantage on No. 8 (par 4, 386 yards). His drive slammed into a tree and fell onto the fairway. Cooley then hooked his 4-iron 190 yards, chipped onto the green and drained a three-footer to save par and to best a Brennan bogey. With nine holes remaining, Cooley implemented a low-key strategy.

  “I just wanted to play steady,” he said. “Make pars and if he makes birdies, it’s OK. I didn’t want to give him a hole. I wanted him to earn it.”

  Brennan cut Cooley’s lead in half on No. 10 (par 4, 357 yards). Brennan knocked his pitching wedge 125 yards and two-putted for par. Cooley’s approach came up short of the green, and he then juiced his birdie chip 10-feet past the flagstick and missed the comebacker. The two exchanged pars on No. 11 (par 4, 336 yards). Brennan did so after his wedge from 80 yards out stopped seven-feet to the left of the flagstick. Cooley escaped the fairway bunker, missed the green with a wedge from 110 yards out and chipped in to save par.

  Brennan began to teeter on the strenuous par 5, 500-yard 12th hole. His drive ricocheted off a tree and breached the out-of-bounds stakes. He re-teed, swayed his second shot into the right-side rough and neglected to get up-and-down for par. Cooley smoked his 5-iron 185 yards and registered a red figure by two-putting from 15 feet. Cooley extended his lead to three-holes after his 8-iron on No. 13 (par 3, 146 yards) settled 15-feet to the right of the flagstick. Cooley safely two-putted from 15-feet for par. Brennan’s 8-iron landed in the front bunker. He escaped, but missed a six-footer to match Cooley’s par.

  “My hand slipped off the club and I chunked it,” Brennan said of his tee shot.

  “Once I was 3-up, I felt pretty comfortable,” Cooley added.

  But a resilient Brennan stayed afloat by rocketing his drive into the center of the No. 14 (par 4, 358 yards) fairway). With 70 yards remaining, he whacked his 54-degree wedge 70-yards and two-putted from 10-feet to make par. Cooley flared his drive into the right-side trees and attempted to punch out with a 5-iron, but it nipped a branch and traveled to the other side of the fairway. Cooley reached the green with a 9-iron from 135 away, but couldn’t match Brennan’s par. Brennan then fired a birdie on No. 15 (par 4, 394 yards) to crawl to within one. He stuck his 54-degree wedge 100 yards to three-feet and converted the under-par chance. Cooley’s wedge sailed 120 yards, but he couldn’t execute an eight-footer for birdie. Brennan stood one shot back with three to play.

  “I was like, ‘OK, here I come. I’m going to finish this,’” Brennan said. “I wanted to come back.”

  “I was trying to get it back,” Cooley added. “I wanted to make a par. I didn’t want to give up the lead.”

  Both players halved No. 16 (par 5, 517 yards) with respective pars. Brennan elected to take 6-iron off the No. 17 (par 3, 178 yards) tee, but blocked it right. With a tricky lie, he managed to chip onto the green, but two-putted from 12-feet. Cooley also nudged his 6-iron right, and like Brennan, he returned to the putting surface and two-putted from 25-feet.

  “After I hit my shot, I thought he would beat me, and then he did the same thing, so I still had some life,” Brennan said. “And even after we tied, I still felt that way.”

  So it came down to the final hole. Both Brennan and Cooley powered their drives into the No. 18 (par 4, 374 yards) fairway. Cooley knocked his GAP wedge 110 yards. It landed to the rear of the flagstick and reversed back toward the cup, barely missing the left edge and sliding onto the front of the green. Cooley rolled his ensuing birdie putt to three-feet. Brennan, sensing an opportunity to force extra holes, drilled his 54-degree wedge 90 yards, but missed a left-to-right breaker from five-feet.

  “I thought it went in,” he said.

  For Brennan, the loss didn’t severely sting, mainly because it came at the hands of a close friend and golf comrade in Cooley.

  “We’ve been playing together for a long time,” Brennan said. “It was a very comfortable pairing. We had fun the entire day. When I was coming back, we were still joking about things. There wasn’t any tension. If anyone was going to beat me, I’m glad it’s Ben. He’s a great kid. I feel like he kind of deserves it.”

  “He’s a good guy to play with. He’s scrappy. He’ll make you work,” Cooley said of Brennan. “I guess I have his number.”

  Pocino, of Chesterfield, N.J., defeated Daniel Dansbury of Yardley CC, 5&3, in the quarterfinals. The Peddie School senior posted wins on Nos. 8 and 9 (par 5, 487 yards) en route to his triumph. On the first, Pocino, 17, fired a birdie after striking his GAP wedge 125 yards to three-feet, and on the latter, he smoked his 8-iron 160 yards, found the green with a wedge and converted a five-footer for par.

  This marks Pocino’s first appearance in the Junior Boys’ Championship.

  “I know a lot of kids that play in it, and I thought it’d be fun,” he said. “It feels great to make the semifinals.”

  Also advancing to the semifinals were No. 2 seed Vince Boyle of Torresdale-Frankford CC and Bobby Svigals of Radnor Valley CC, the No. 14 seed.

  Round of 16

  Brennan defeated Mike McCullough of the Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour, 4&2, to advance to the quarterfinals. Brennan stood 2-up with six to play after hitting a 60-degree wedge 50 yards to six-feet on No. 12 (par 5, 500 yards). On No. 14 (par 4, 358 yards), Brennan sprayed his drive into the left rough and failed to reach the green with a 54-degree wedge from 100 yards out.

  "I was in the back of a divot with a downhill lie and chunked it out," Brennan said.

  Brennan then chipped onto the green but watched his six-footer for par burn the left edge. McCullough, of Reading, Pa., made par with a safe two-putt to climb to within one. However, Brennan again deepened McCullough's deficit on No. 15 (par 4, 394 yards) by drilling his wedge 90-yards and converting a 10-footer for birdie. He sealed victory one hole later (No. 16, par 5, 517 yards). McCullough launched his hybrid 230 yards into left fairway bunker. He attempted to escape with a sand wedge, but he overpowered his shot and bumped it into a bed of pine needles 10 yards behind the green.

  "My ball was in the sand, and I was trying to open the face and hit it a little higher. I hit it too hard," McCullough, a senior at Reading High School, said.

  Meanwhile, Brennan's 3-wood from 250 yards out settled in the left greenside bunker. After watching McCullough, 17, miss the green, he felt a sense of comfort and knocked his sand wedge to five-feet.

  "I didn't try to do anything crazy," Brennan said.

  McCullough's chip attempt for birdie never threatened.

  "I wanted to make some putts," McCullough said. "My swing was really off. I was hooking everything. I wish I hit the ball a little better today."

  Evan Galbreath of Huntingdon Valley CC, brother of four-time Junior Boys' Champion Robert Galbreath, Jr., defeated T.J. Summers of Commonwealth National GC, 5&4. Galbreath sealed victory on the par 4, 358-yard 14th hole by piercing his 8-iron 155 yards to within inches of the cup. Galbreath fell to Bobby Svigals of Radnor Valley CC, 4&3, in the quarterfinals.

Championship Flight
Quarterfinals
9. Benjamin Cooley, Lu Lu CC d. 1. Ted Brennan, Philadelphia CC, 1-up
4. Conor Pocino, Old York CC at Chesterfield d. 12. Daniel Dansbury, Yardley CC, 5&3
2. Vince Boyle, Torresdale-Frankford CC d. 7. Louis Kelly, Philmont CC, 2&1
14. Bobby Svigals, Radnor Valley CC d. 6. Evan Galbreath, Huntingdon Valley CC, 4&3

Round of 16
1. Ted Brennan, Philadelphia CC d. 16 Mike McCullough, Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour, 4&2
9. Benjamin Cooley, Lu Lu CC d. 8. Tim Godshalk, Whitford CC, 4&2
4. Conor Pocino, Old York CC at Chesterfield d. 13 Reilly Erhardt, Trenton CC, 4&3
12. Daniel Dansbury, Yardley CC d. 5. Matthew Long, Great Bear G&CC, 20 holes
2. Vince Boyle, Torresdale-Frankford CC d. 15. W. Evan Thornton, Berkshire CC, 2&1
7. Louis Kelly, Philmont CC d. 10. Rich Thorpe, Lu Lu CC, 6&5
14. Bobby Svigals, Radnor Valley CC d. 3. Kyle Martin, Commonwealth National GC, 6&4
6. Evan Galbreath, Huntingdon Valley CC d. 11. T.J. Summers, Commonwealth National GC, 5&4

First Flight
Quarterfinals
9. Steven Altieri, Hopewell Valley GC d. 16. Daniel Hayes, III, Yardley CC, 1-up
12. Eric Slawter, St. Davids GC d. 13. Joseph Reuter, Jr., Torresdale-Frankford CC, 2&1
2. Justin Smith, Huntingdon Valley CC d. 7. Alex Dupre, Rolling Green GC, 3 &1
14. William Breskman, Rolling Green GC d. 6. Matthew Fedder, Bala GC, 4&3

Round of 16
16. Daniel Hayes, III, Yardley CC d. 1. R. Morgan Dougherty, Huntingdon Valley CC, 1-up
9. Steven Altieri, Hopewell Valley GC d. 8. Will Young, Hopewell Valley GC, 2-up
12. Eric Slawter, St. Davids GC d. 5. Jack Gregor, Huntingdon Valley CC, 4&3
6. Matthew Fedder, Bala GC d. 11. Geordie Lukas, Whitford CC. Lukas was disqualified.
13. Joseph Reuter, Jr., Torresdale-Frankford CC d. 4. Zach Arsenault, Little Mill CC, 1-up
14. William Breskman, Rolling Green GC d. 3. Alex Blickle, LedgeRock GC, 2&1
7. Alex Dupre, Rolling Green GC d. 10. Matt Yanek, Woodstone CC, 1-up
2. Justin Smith, Huntingdon Valley CC d. 15. Jonathan Liu, Commonwealth National GC, 20 holes