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Cricket’s Brennan cards 3-under 67 in Rd. 1 of Middle-Amateur
MALVERN, Pa.–Buzzwords like redemption and validation have been the theme of the two previous Middle-Amateur Championships. Should this year’s 18-hole leader John Brennan of Philadelphia Cricket Club survive tomorrow’s final round, either descriptor, and probably both, would aptly apply to the 33-year-old resident of Audubon, Pa.
Brennan, still in search of his first individual Golf Association of Philadelphia victory, has finished in the Top 9 in four of the past six Mid.-Ams. On Thursday, he enters the second round of the 29th Middle-Amateur Championship at Chester Valley Golf Club (par 70, 6,582 yards) fresh off an impressive 3-under-par 67 and in unfamiliar territory with a two-stroke advantage.
“It would mean the world to me to win it,” said Brennan, a social studies teacher at Spring-Ford High School. “The tough part is probably going to be sleeping on the lead. I’m sure I’ll be getting a lot of text messages tonight from people wishing me luck. It doesn’t matter what it is, whether it is your club championship or playing in the GAP Mid.-Am., sleeping on a lead is tough. But I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Ben Smith of Little Mill Country Club, 25, from Philadelphia, Pa., stands alone in second place at 1 under. Michael Brown, 39, of Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association from Cheltenham, Pa., the 2009, Mid.-Am. winner, sits in third place at 1 over. Defending champion Glenn Smeraglio of Mercer Oaks Golf Course missed the cut with an 86.
The cut-line for the Mid.-Am. fell at 80. A total of 71 players advanced to tomorrow’s second round which starts at 7:30 a.m. Brennan, Smith and Brown begin their final 18 holes at 11:40 a.m.
Brennan emerged from a jumbled pack when he caught fire on the back nine after posting an even-par 35 on his outward side. He birdied four of his first seven inward holes to rocket up the leaderboard.
On No. 10 (par 3, 184 yards), he lofted a 6-iron to 15 feet and made the putt before fueling that fire a few shots later when he rolled it in from the front fringe on No. 11 (par 4, 379 yards).
“The birdie on No. 11 is a funny story,” said Brennan. “Matt [Mattare] hit his second shot out of bounds and Steve [Seiden] pulled his second shot to the left side. So I have a lot of good thoughts going through my head as you can imagine and I leave my second shot short. I used my putter from about three steps off the front and it rolled in. It was probably a good 65 feet.”
Brennan continued with his torrid birdie pace on No. 14 (par 5, 495 yards) when he got up-and-down from just short of the green and on No. 16 (par 4, 404 yards) when he knocked a pitching wedge from 133 yards to 12 feet.
Brennan ended the round on a sore note, though, when his 9-iron from 167 yards in the right rough on No. 18 (par 4, 436 yards) rolled over the green and he failed to save par.
“I caddied here when I was going through college (Lebanon Valley College), so I felt comfortable on the course,” said Brennan. “I felt comfortable I knew the lines and I had a good idea on the greens.”
Smith, a member of Little Mill CC’s last two GAP Team Matches Championship team, sneaked up into the final pairing with a strong finish as well. He birdied four of his final 10 holes to go from nomad to contender.
On No. 9 (par 4, 380 yards), he knocked a 92-yard, 54-degree wedge to three feet for birdie. He followed that up on No. 11 (par 4, 379 yards) with a 60-degree wedge from 96 yards to eight feet. On the par 5, 14th, he made a smart up-and-down from five yards short of the green for four before knocking his 60-degree wedge on No. 17 (par 4 385 yards), again from 96 yards, to six feet.
“My expectations were pretty high [coming in here]. I’ve been playing pretty good golf lately,” said Smith. “Being paired with [past Mid.-Am. Champions] Chris Lange and Chip Lutz was inspiration for me.”
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 145 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
Name, club
Score
John Brennan, Philadelphia Cricket Club
67
Benjamin Smith, Little Mill Country Club
69
Michael Brown, Philadelphia Publinks GA
71
Chip Lutz, LedgeRock Golf Club
72
Rich Pruchnik, Back Creek Golf Club
72
Daniel Feeney, Philadelphia Cricket Club
73
Bill Boyle, Metedeconk National Golf Club
73
Tim Freeh, Back Creek Golf Club
73
Gary Daniels, Applebrook Golf Club
74
Joshua Isler, Chester Valley Golf Club
74
G. Patrick Dougherty, Philadelphia Cricket Club
74
Michael Quinn, Edgmont Country Club
74
Brian McDermott, Llanerch Country Club
74
Steve Lubin, Five Ponds Golf Club
75
Michael McDermott, Merion Golf Club
75
William Jeremiah, Bidermann Golf Club
75
Todd Vonderheid, Huntsville Golf Club
75
Scott McNeil, Philadelphia Publinks GA
75
Eric Williams, Makefield Highlands Golf Club
75
Anthony Apostolico, Back Creek Golf Club
75
Mark Walker, Laurel Creek Country Club
75
Jack Anderson, Makefield Highlands Golf Club
75
Thomas Hyland, Little Mill Country Club
76
Paul Kupcha, Fieldstone Golf Club
76
Joe Viechnicki, Saucon Valley Country Club
76
Ronald Jamarowicz, Hartefeld National
76
David Shields, Philadelphia Publinks GA
76
Robert Bechtold, Loch Nairn Golf Club
76
James Gillespie, Wedgwood Country Club
76
Mark Coassolo, Brookside C.C. of Allentown
76
Rich Thon, The Springhaven Club
77
Matthew Mattare, Saucon Valley Country Club
77
Matthew Finger, Woodcrest Country Club
77
Scott McLaughlin, Commonwealth National Golf Club
77
Louis Giovi, Mercer Oaks Golf Course
77
Christopher Lange, Overbrook Golf Club
77
Rodney James, Golden Oaks Golf Club
77
Michael Moffat, Commonwealth National Golf Club
77
Marc Mandel, Philadelphia Cricket Club
78
Michael Walker, Loch Nairn Golf Club
78
Richard Umani, Honeybrook Golf Club
78
Lance Oberparleiter, Little Mill Country Club
78
Matt Maurer, Bent Creek Country Club
78
James Donnelly, Merion Golf Club
78
Michael Domenick, Phoenixville Country Club
78
Frank Corrado, Jr., Jericho National Golf Club
78
Ryan Gelrod, Philadelphia Cricket Club
79
Brian Gillespie, St. Davids Golf Club
79
Mark Peterson, Philadelphia Cricket Club
79
Peter Barron, III, Stone Harbor Golf Club
79
Thomas Brennan, Five Ponds Golf Club
79
Richard Atcavage, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club
79
William Naylor, Applebrook Golf Club
79
Jack Wallace, Philadelphia Cricket Club
79
Doug Fedoryshyn, Concord Country Club
79
Chris Lange, Jr., Overbrook Golf Club
79
Oscar Mestre, Overbrook Golf Club
79
Neil Gordon, Five Ponds Golf Club
79
Robert Cunningham, Overbrook Golf Club
79
Michael Beran, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve
80
Dave Fardon, Philadelphia Publinks GA
80
Kevin Cahill, Merion Golf Club
80
Chris Hunger, Wedgwood Country Club
80
George Griffaton, Brookside Country Club
80
Bryan Ott, Silver Creek Country Club
80
David Brookreson, Huntingdon Valley Country Club
80
Santo Lafoca, Huntsville Golf Club
80
Michael Rose, Talamore Country Club
80
Adam Mastone, Trump National Golf Club - Philadelphia
80
Francis McFadden, Overbrook Golf Club
80
Joseph Roeder, Links Golf Club
80
Failed to qualify
Robert Loftus, Overbrook Golf Club
81
Elias Chua, Fieldstone Golf Club
81
Simon Hagger, Fieldstone Golf Club
81
Chris Hynoski, Mercer Oaks Golf Course
81
Matthew Walsh, Overbrook Golf Club
81
Andy Achenbach, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve
81
Peter Moran, Edgmont Country Club
81
Ryan Jordan, Tavistock Country Club
81
Jeffrey Huntzinger, Philadelphia Publinks GA
81
Tom Grady, West Chester Golf & Country Club
81
Jamie Slonis, Tavistock Country Club
82
Sean Ryan, Huntingdon Valley Country Club
82
David West, Whitford Country Club
82
Ray Pyontek, Yardley Country Club
82
Kenneth Matt, Mercer Oaks GC
83
Grant Skyllas, Moselem Springs Golf Club
83
John Simone, Philmont Country Club
83
Daniel Pinciotti, Jr., Huntingdon Valley Country Club
83
Scott Orr, Brookside Country Club
83
Paul Bickford, Little Mill Country Club
83
Tom Spano, Llanerch Country Club
83
Bill Albertus, Penn Oaks Golf Club
83
Michael Santerian, Wedgwood Country Club
83
Robert Good, Merion Golf Club
83
Sean Coyle, Llanerch Country Club
83
Patrick McCauley, Applebrook Golf Club
83
Stephen Seiden, Llanerch Country Club
84
Ed Chylinski, Chester Valley Golf Club
84
Brian Fisher, Philadelphia Publinks GA
84
Arthur Herling, III, Cedarbrook Country Club
84
Christopher Lucci, Brookside Country Club
84
Jason Barkley, Moselem Springs Golf Club
84
Tim Anderson, Philadelphia Publinks GA
85
Andrew Dietz, Laurel Creek Country Club
85
Patrick Phillips, Spring Ford Country Club
85
Tom Piersanti, Saucon Valley Country Club
85
Carlo Fitti, Llanerch Country Club
85
Ivan McBride, Five Ponds Golf Club
85
Mark Kosko, Sea Oaks Golf Club
85
John Gosselin, Kennett Square Golf & Country Club
85
Andrew Carnevale, North Hills Country Club
85
Gregg Angelillo, Moselem Springs Golf Club
86
Drew Panebianco, Five Ponds Golf Club
86
Glenn Smeraglio, Mercer Oaks Golf Course
86
Steven Budenz, Makefield Highlands Golf Club
86
Gordon Jamieson, Merion Golf Club
86
Blake Cleary, Wilmington Country Club
86
Michael Fagan, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club
86
Peter Landreth, Jr., Philadelphia Cricket Club
87
Jim Braunsberg, Blue Bell Country Club
87
Michael Casella, Northampton Country Club
88
Jonathan Shevlin, North Hills Country Club
89
Timothy Whartenby, Northampton Valley Country Club
