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Red-hot Brandon Matthews of Fox Hill just misses PCC course record
GLADWYNE, Pa.–Brandon Matthews of Fox Hill Country Club visited his swing coach Brian Quinn yesterday for a quick check-up. In the opening round of the 110th Joseph H. Patterson Cup, presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance, Thursday, the recently turned 18 year old performed like a finely tuned golfing machine.
Matthews blistered venerable Philadelphia Country Club (par 71, 6,793 yards) with a 6-under-par 65 to grab a three-stroke lead after the first of two rounds in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s final Major of the season. Christopher Fuga of Phoenixville Country Club; Ben Cooley of Huntingdon Valley Country Club; Michael Hyland of Little Mill Country and Grant Skyllas of Moselem Springs Golf Club stand in second place at 3 under.
Matthews fell a stroke shy of the modern PCC competitive course record (established after the 2002 renovation). Current PGA Tour player Charlie Beljan carded a 64 (also 6 under) in the 2005 U.S. Amateur Championship Qualifier. That week No. 6, the par 5, played as a 4.
A total of 12 players broke par on a day that saw a scoring average of 76.816. The cutline for the low 60 players and ties fell at 5-over 76. In all, 61 players made the cut. The final pairing of Matthews, Cooley and Fuga begin their final round at 11:10 a.m. James Kania, Jr. of Overbrook Golf Club is the lowest scoring player, at 2 under, who has won a prior Patterson Cup.
Matthews started white hot and remained that way on a warm, humid day.
He birdied No. 1 (par 4, 325 yards) after almost driving the green and No. 3 (par 5, 558 yards) after knocking a 4-iron onto the putting surface from 227 yards out with his second shot. Matthews added fuel to the fire on No. 6 (par 5, 500 yards) when he holed his third shot from 30 yards onto the green and watched it roll into the cup. Another birdie on No. 8 (par 4, 390 yards), a 60-degree wedge from 100 yards to seven feet, put Matthews at 5-under 31 at the turn.
“All I’m thinking is just cruise along. Try to limit the bogeys, bunt it down the fairways, bunt it on the greens and make a couple of putts,” said Matthews, the 2012 Pennsylvania Golf Association Junior Champion, from Dupont, Pa.
Matthews birdie barrage continued on No. 12 (par 5, 575 yards) when he reached the green in two strokes with a 3-iron from 250 yards. His seven-foot eagle putt slipped left of the jar. Matthews erased that disappointing eagle miss, if you can call it that, immediately when he lofted a 56-degree wedge from 103 yards on No. 13 (par 4, 375 yards) to two feet for another red circle.
Matthews lone bogey came on No. 15 (par 3, 220 yards), the hardest scoring hole on the course, after missing the green right with a 3-iron and failing to get up-and-down. He closed his round with three straight pars.
“I struck the ball extremely well. I went and saw my coach yesterday and he pointed something out to me. I don’t think I missed more than two golf shots today,” said the incoming Temple University freshman. “I hit [my shots] exactly where I wanted to.” Quinn is also the Temple University golf coach.
Matthews’ pairing may have been worth a couple strokes saved as well. He was grouped with longtime Philadelphia Country Club staple P. Chet Walsh. The 47-year-old Walsh has been a member at PCC for the last 41 years.
“It helped a lot. He knew every blade of grass on this golf course so I wasn’t worried at all. That was probably the best pairing I could ask for,” said Matthews.
Matthews’ performance also pushed the 2010 PIAA Champion into the Silver Cross Award lead. It was an unexpected bonus for Matthews who asked Walsh what that award represented midway through the round. Matthews forged ahead of Amateur Championship medalist Brian Colbert of White Manor Country Club by one stroke with one round to go. The Silver Cross is awarded to the player with the lowest aggregate score in the qualifying rounds of the Amateur Championship and the Patterson Cup.
Cooley, 19, of Rydal, Pa., was Matthews’ greatest danger, in a sense. Off in the morning, Cooley had his score at 5 under after birding holes No. 11-13, but finished with two bogeys in his final four holes.
“I just want to come out and do the same thing I did today,” said the University of Pennsylvania sophomore. “I want to minimize mistakes.”
Fuga, 21, of Phoenixville, Pa., is a sophomore at Coker College; Skyllas, 26, lives in Reading, Pa. and Hyland, 33, of Marlton, N.J. is a two-time Golf Association of Philadelphia Amateur Champion.
NOTES–The first round was delayed 50 minutes due to lightning … a field of 127 player started the day.
Name,
club
Score
Brandon
Matthews, Fox Hill Country Club
65
Christopher
Fuga, Phoenixville Country Club
68
Michael
Hyland, Little Mill Country Club
68
Grant Skyllas, Moselem Springs Golf
Club
68
Benjamin
Cooley, Huntingdon Valley Country Club
68
P.
Chet Walsh, Philadelphia Country Club
69
James Kania, Overbrook Golf Club
69
Michael
Johnson, Talamore Country Club
69
Tucker
Koch, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve
70
Cory
Siegfried, Philadelphia Country Club
70
Alexander
Hicks, Wildwood Golf & Country Club
70
Thomas
E. Timby, Jr., The Bucks Club
70
Brian
Gillespie, St. Davids Golf Club
71
Troy Vannucci, Burlington Country Club
71
Benjamin
Smith, Little Mill Country Club
71
Michael
McDermott, Merion Golf Club
71
Kevin
McDermott, Llanerch Country Club
71
Matthew
Mattare, Saucon Valley
Country Club
72
Brian
McDermott, Llanerch Country Club
72
Michael
Domenick, Phoenixville Country Club
72
Michael
Brown, Philadelphia Publinks GA
72
Christopher
Crawford, Spring Mill Country Club
72
Scott
McNeil, Philadelphia Publinks GA
72
Rodney
James, Golden Oaks Golf Club
72
Scott Storck, Philadelphia Cricket Club
73
Ben Feld, Green Valley Country Club
73
Greg Jarmas, Philadelphia Publinks
GA
73
Mike Meisenzahl, Little Mill Country Club
73
Cole
Berman, Philadelphia Cricket Club
73
J.D. Dornes, Meadia Heights Golf
Club
74
Oliver
White, Manufacturers Golf & Country Club
74
Peter
Barron, III, Stone Harbor Golf Club
74
Nelson
Hargrove, Merion Golf Club
74
Rob
Rowe, Bent Creek Country Club
74
Raymond
Thompson, Overbrook Golf Club
74
Thomas
Fisher, North Hills Country Club
75
Dave
Fardon, Philadelphia Publinks GA
75
Paul
Carbone, Jr., Old York Road Country Club
75
Brian
Colbert, White Manor Country Club
75
Stephen
Seiden, Llanerch Country
Club
75
Oscar Mestre, Overbrook Golf Club
75
Sean
Fahey, Overbrook Golf Club
75
Robert
Bechtold, Loch Nairn Golf
Club
75
Alex
Dupre, Rolling Green Golf Club
75
Robin
McCool, Saucon Valley Country Club
75
Eric Slawter, St. Davids Golf Club
75
Eric
Williams, Makefield Highlands Golf Club
75
Jalen Griffin, Talamore
Country Club
76
John
Brennan, Philadelphia Cricket Club
76
Ted
Brennan, Philadelphia Country Club
76
Jamie Slonis, Tavistock Country Club
76
Raleigh
Chapin, Jericho National Golf Club
76
Sam Pancoast, Radley Run Country
Club
76
William
Jeremiah, Bidermann Golf Club
76
Thomas
Gramigna, Tavistock
Country Club
76
Robert
Galbreath, Jr., Philmont
Country Club
76
John LeBoeuf, Philadelphia Country Club
76
Christopher
Lange, Overbrook Golf Club
76
Dan Ott, Little Mill Country Club
76
Francis
McFadden, Overbrook Golf Club
76
Michael
Carr, Plymouth Country Club
76
Failed
to qualify
Mike
Amole, Huntingdon Valley Country Club
77
Vincent
Anagnos, Philadelphia Publinks
GA
77
Michael
Davis, Merion Golf Club
77
Brett Cybulski, Merchantville Country Club
77
James Braunsberg, Blue Bell Country Club
77
Robert
Cunningham, Overbrook Golf Club
77
Patrick
Ross, Glenmaura National Golf Club
77
Will
Flood, Manufacturers Golf & Country Club
78
Thomas
Hyland, Little Mill Country Club
78
Joe Viechnicki, Saucon Valley
Country Club
78
John
Donnelly, Concord Country Club
78
Joseph
Fabrizio, Jr., Aronimink
Golf Club
78
Glenn Smeraglio, Mercer Oaks Golf Course
78
David
Shields, Philadelphia Publinks GA
78
Reilly
Erhardt, Yardley Country Club
78
Jack
Wallace, Philadelphia Cricket Club
78
John
Mullins, Five Ponds Golf Club
78
Robert
Savarese, Jr., Philadelphia Cricket Club
78
Bill
Murray, Wedgwood Country Club
78
Joshua
Krumholz, Moselem Springs
Golf Club
78
Marc
Mandel, Philadelphia Cricket Club
79
Ryan Felpel, Honeybrook Golf Club
79
James
Bea, Spring Mill Country Club
79
Mike Owsik, Philadelphia Publinks GA
79
Greg
O'Connor, Huntingdon Valley Country Club
79
Dan
Bernard, Aronimink Golf Club
79
Chris
Lange, Jr., Overbrook Golf Club
79
Zach Allinson, Lehigh Country Club
79
Tim
Pici, Chester Valley Golf Club
79
Aaron
Burton, Applecross Country Club
79
Scott
McLaughlin, Commonwealth National Golf Club
79
Robert
Good, Merion Golf Club
79
Cameron
Liebert, White Manor Country Club
79
Chuck
Lynch, Jr., Whitemarsh Valley Country Club
80
Andy
Achenbach, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve
80
Steve Lubin, Five Ponds Golf Club
80
Travis
Gahman, Philadelphia Publinks
GA
80
James
Robertson, Llanerch Country Club
80
Vincent
Sirianni, Whitemarsh
Valley Country Club
80
David Liotta, Whitemarsh Valley
Country Club
80
Brian
Fisher, Philadelphia Publinks GA
81
Ryan
Gelrod, Philadelphia Cricket Club
81
Mike
Good, Merion Golf Club
81
Joe
April, Philadelphia Cricket Club
81
Stephen
Hudacek, III, Glenmaura
National Golf Club
