Top 13 in 2013

  The Golf Association of Philadelphia unveils its Top 13 headlines from the year that was. Whittling down a year’s worth of activity into a small bundle of thoughts wasn’t easy, but we gave it a try.

1.

U.S. Open fever spread like wildfire throughout the Delaware Valley as Merion Golf Club hosted golf's national championship in 2013. Crowds flocked to the Ardmore, Pa. venue to experience a spectacle for the ages. The U.S. Open treated the region to a remarkable week of golf.

2.

Northampton Country Club's Noreen Mohler became the first female in the Association's 117-year history to be elected to its' Executive Committee. Mohler, a former Curtis Cup captain and one of the most accomplished players in the region, will serve a one year term. "To have somebody with her résumé made it seem like a good fit," GAP President Frank Rutan, IV said.

3.

Philadelphia Cricket Club shed a monkey off its back in 2013. Cricket, one of the Association's founding member clubs, captured its first GAP Team Matches title in the event's 113-year history. Philadelphia Cricket also erased a 94-year drought by winning its first Philadelphia Team Championship.

4.

It was a memorable summer for Brandon Matthews of Glenmaura National Golf Club. From holding alternate status in the U.S. Open to a pair of Association Major tournament victories to a scintillating run in the U.S Amateur at the historic The Country Club, Matthews constantly provided headlines and heroic shots.

5.

Chip Lutz set an Association record by winning his fourth straight Senior Player of the Year Award. The LedgeRock Golf Club member totaled 1,194.1 points — also a Division record — in 2013. A series of top placings allowed Lutz to stay firmly atop the Senior sect.

6.

The Dawn to Dusk Golf Marathon raised a record $207,000 for the J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust in 2013. From sunrise to sunset, 20 teams played more than 3,500 holes at Old York Road Country Club. For four years and counting, Dawn to Dusk continues to prove a success for the Trust.

7.

What a year it was for White Manor Country Club's Don Donatoni. In his first year competing as a Super-Senior, Donatoni dominated the division, claiming all four of its Majors as well as its Silver Cross Award. He totaled a bombastic 872.5 points to win the 2013 Super-Senior Player of the Year Award.

8.

As a way to promote the health benefits golf provides, the Association, in conjunction with Walgreens, launched the Get GAP Fit initiative in 2013. During each event, six to 10 players equipped pedometers, which tracked their steps taken, calories burned and distance traveled. The data collected was applied to the event's overall field. Get GAP Fit registered 42,882,614 steps in 2013.

9.

Cole Berman continues to command the Association's Junior circuit. The Philadelphia Cricket Club member again assembled a string of consistent performances to retain the Harry Hammond and Junior Player of the Year Award. Berman also excelled nationally, qualifying for his first U.S. Junior Amateur and advancing into match play.

10.

For the first time in its 117-year history, the Association conducted qualifiers for its Amateur and Middle-Amateur Championships on a Saturday. More than 150 golfers competed in events at Broad Run Golfer's Club and Downingtown Country Club, respectively. Both qualifiers gave individuals who were unable to break away from the work to experience GAP.

11.

Merion Golf Club's Michael McDermott added two more Majors to his proliferate portfolio in 2013. He won the Association's Middle-Amateur and Amateur Championship — a feat he also accomplished in 2008. He is the 17th player in GAP history to win more than one Amateur and holds a record four Middle-Amateur titles.

12.

Popularity of the Association’s Member Play Days continued to surge in 2013. So much so, the registration process was altered to a lottery system in May in order to make entering the one-day events a more fair process for all participants. All 11 Member Play Days were at capacity. The 2014 slate of venues will be released in January.

13.

The Mitchell family yearbook features great Golf Association of Philadelphia memories. Davis and his father Randy captured the Father & Son (Younger). Colman, with brother Davis on the bag, won the 65th Junior-Junior Boys’ Championship. The Wilmington Country Club duo also won their respective divisions in the Jock MacKenzie Memorial, becoming only the third set to do so in the event’s 29-year history.