Philadelphia Cricket Club’s John Brennan returns to defend his Middle-Amateur title.

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Fieldstone to host 30th Middle-Amateur Championship

   The Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 30th Middle-Amateur Championship heads south to Fieldstone Golf Club in Greenville, Del. May 22-23. With a larger field size (144 players, an increase of 12 from years prior) and William Hyndman, III Player of the Year points at stake, the event is sure to kick off the Major season in style.

   Philadelphia Cricket Club’s John Brennan will defend his Middle-Amateur title. He posted a 1-over-par 141 to earn his first GAP Major trophy at Chester Valley Golf Club, a venue Brennan caddied at while in college, a year ago.

   “I want to put myself in a position like I did last year after the first day,” Brennan, 34, of Audubon, Pa., said. “That was the biggest thing about last year: getting off to a good start gave me an opportunity on the second day. I had some success this year in the Team Matches. Being part of the winning team is only going to give me confidence. I feel good about my game. Last year, I knew new Chester Valley was going to be tough and you expect to make some bogeys. There are going to be some mistakes, but you try to minimize them.”

   Brennan is paired with his predecessors in the Middle-Amateur champions circle: Tavistock Country Club’s Tom Gramigna (2010) and Mercer Oaks Golf Course’s Glenn Smeraglio (2011). Fieldstone previously hosted the Mid.-Am. in 2008, when relentless winds, cool temperatures and fast greens created difficult scoring conditions. Brennan finished in the middle of the pack that year with a 155-total.

   “It’s a good test of golf,” he said. “There are short par 4s and long 4s. There are some holes where you can’t hit driver off the tee; there are others holes where you have to hit driver off the tee. I think it’s a fair test of golf, too. You can see what’s in front of you of there.”

   Merion Golf Club’s Michael McDermott is among the 144 players in this year’s field. He captured his record third Mid.-Am. title at Fieldstone en route to POY honors in 2008.

   “It’s early in the year, and everybody’s still trying to figure their game out,” McDermott, 38, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., said. “We’ve probably all played a few good rounds, and we’ve probably played a few bad rounds. You just hope that when you step up at Fieldstone, you pull one of the good rounds out Day One and get yourself in the hunt. The course generally fits my eye pretty well. It’s a tough course. Nobody’s going to shoot low there. You have to drive and putt it well.”

   With the U.S. Open being contested at his home course next month, McDermott made a “larger than normal” commitment to golf in April and May. He competed in a local qualifier at Waynesborough Country Club and missed the cut by three strokes.

   “Despite being rather prepared, I just didn’t show up and really had a terrible day,” McDermott said. “It was disappointing, but I left that day saying, ‘I’m prepared anyway, and maybe the Mid.-Am. will be the day it (my golf game) shows up.”

  Recent former champions in the 2013 field include Philadelphia Publinks GA’s Michael Brown (2010), Overbrook Golf Club’s Oscar Mestre (2002) and Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Robert Savarese, Jr. (2003).

  The Middle-Amateur Championship is for players 25 years of age and older.

  The inaugural Middle-Amateur Championship was held in 1984, three years after the USGA created the U.S. Mid-Am as a formal championship for post-college amateurs. The Association followed suit with the USGA in creating a Mid-Am, but initially differed in its administration of the tournament in a couple of respects.

  The most obvious difference was the age requirement. Prior to 2001, the GAP Mid-Am was for players 30 years of age and older.

  The Association’s Executive Committee reviewed and revised that age requirement in 2001 to match the USGA's guidelines of 25 years of age or older for eligible players. Also at that point, the Committee changed the format of the event to a two-day stroke play tournament (instead of a one-day medal play event) with a cut to the low 70 players and ties after the first round. The field begins with 132 players. Players must have a GAP/USGA Handicap Index of 7.0 or lower.

  Members of the media are welcome to attend this year’s event. Aside from offering live scoring on its Web site, the Association will also provide Middle-Amateur updates thru its Tumblr and Twitter feeds. Search “Golf Association of Philadelphia” and follow @GAofPhilly.

  For more information on the Middle-Amateur Championship, contact the GAP office at 610-687-2340.

   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 143 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.