Edgmont's Moran, Makefield Highland's Reedman top Patterson Qual.

  POTTSTOWN, Pa. - Peter Moran of Edgmont CC and Christopher Reedman of Makefield Highlands GC each carded a 2-under-par 69 to share medalist honors in Thursday’s Joseph H. Patterson Cup Qualifier at Bellewood GC (par 71, 6,566 yards).

  Moran and Reedman led a field of 125 players attempting to earn a spot in the Championship proper, set for Aug. 12-13 at RiverCrest GC & Preserve. Moran, of Chester Springs, Pa., parred eight of his first nine holes en route to medalist honors.

PETER MORAN

  Moran, who began his round on the back nine, missed an ideal under-par chance on No. 10 (par 5, 557 yards). He crushed his 58-degree wedge 100 yards, but failed to convert a seven-footer.

  “That was one that I definitely left on the table,” he said.

  Scoring opportunities presented themselves throughout the next seven holes, but Moran, 41, walked away with pars on the scorecard. He ended his outward trek with an unwanted hiccup on the strenuous par 5, 546-yard 18th hole. After his drive settled in the left-side rough, Moran choked up on his utility wood and smashed it 241 yards into a bed of mulch.

  “The ball was above my feet. I figured it would do something, so I aimed right at the green just trying to chase it in,” he said. “It stayed right on that line and went right into it.”

  Moran escaped by punching his 5-iron underneath a tree. He attempted to reach the green with his third shot, but flubbed his wedge. Moran then dropped a nine-footer to save bogey. He experienced déjà vu at the turn, making five consecutive pars on his voyage back to the clubhouse. Moran scrambled on the par 4, 445-yard No. 4. His 6-iron approach flew 170 yards, landed behind the flagstick and bounced over the green. Moran chipped back on and executed an eight-footer to save par.

  He uncovered his first red figure on No. 3 (par 3, 130 yards) by stopping his GAP wedge at eight feet. Moran hammered his 4-iron 224 yards to reach the No. 5 (par 5, 530 yards) green in two strokes.

  “I was lucky the 4-iron held. I hit that pretty hard,” he said. “The ball-mark was only 10-feet away, so it didn’t roll out much. I was surprised it stopped, but that was good.”

  Moran ran his 25-footer for eagle to within a few feet of the jar. On the downhill par 3, 217-yard No. 8, he missed the green right with his 4-iron, but knocked his chip to five-feet above the flagstick. Moran stamped his qualifying bid with a birdie on No. 9 (par 4, 423 yards). With 98 yards into the green, he drilled his 58-degree wedge to 15-feet and converted a challenging left-to-right breaker.

  “I was just trying to get it close. I figured a par was good, but it was one of those ‘the less I try, the better it goes,’” Moran said.

  When it comes to Golf Association of Philadelphia qualifying events in 2010, Moran’s game has been a case of “on again, off again.” He missed the Middle-Amateur cut at Plymouth CC, but made the Amateur field with a strong performance at Indian Valley CC. In fact, Moran nearly attained a match play spot in the latter, but fell in a five-hole, sudden-death playoff to Llanerch CC’s Jeff Osberg at Saucon Valley CC. Moran didn’t qualify at French Creek CC for the 106th Open Championship. It seemed as if he was destined to gain a berth in the Patterson field.

  “It kind of balances out,” Moran said. “I missed it (the Patterson Cup) last year. It’s good to make it back in. This gives me a little bit of hope to try and push a little bit. I’m putting better now than I was at the beginning of the year. I straightened a couple things out. I’m making better saves and making the six-footers when I need to.”

CHRISTOPHER REEDMAN

  “I made good decisions. I wasn’t trying to overpower the course, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do all year,” he said. “I was just putting it where I could see into the hole.”

  Reedman, who also started on the back nine, fired back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 (par 4, 401 yards) and 12 (par 3, 117 yards). On the first, he whacked his wedge 140 yards and drained a downhill 15-footer. On the latter, the Yardley, Pa. resident watched his 5-iron settle on the collar, 30 feet from the flagstick. He then dialed in a right-to-left breaker.

  “I had perfect speed on it,” Reedman, 25, said. “It dropped right in the middle.”

  His first bogey of the day occurred on the par 3, 158-yard 14th hole. His 9-iron sailed to the left of the green. With a tough lie in thick grass, Reedman topped a sand wedge and then watched his eight-footer to save par lip out of the cup. But he recovered a stroke on No. 18 (par 5, 546 yards) by striking his hybrid 235 yards and two-putting from 30-feet for birdie. Reedman’s 8-iron approach into the wind on No. 1 (par 4, 384 yards) missed the green left. His ensuing chip stopped 15-feet shy of the flagstick, and Reedman ran his par effort four feet past the cup.

  Reedman, however, kept his focus and registered red figures on the remaining par 5s: Nos. 2 (511 yards) and 7 (530 yards). His hybrid stopped 20 yards from the No. 2 flagstick. Reedman then chipped up to a foot. He laced his 7-iron 170 yards into the left greenside bunker on No. 7, but blasted his sand shot to within inches of the drain.

  Earlier this year, Reedman shared medalist honors with Matthew Finger of Wedgwood CC in an Amateur Championship Qualifier at Indian Valley CC. In the Championship proper at Saucon Valley, he failed to earn a match play spot. Now, Reedman hopes to take his game to the next level on a bigger stage.

  “I need to sharpen up the irons,” he said. “I’m driving it good. If I’m missing it, I’m not missing by much. The putter’s been good to me all summer."

  At the end of the day, the cut line fell to 76.