*Media guide
White Manor Country Club welcomes 114th Amateur ChampionshipThe Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 114th Amateur Championship heads to White Manor Country Club June 9-11 & 14. The magnificent Malvern, Pa. track hosts the organization’s most prestigious event for the first time in its 66-year history. White Manor served as a qualifying site only in 2007. A field of 134 players will spar for 32 available match play spots. Contestants must advance through a 36-hole stroke play qualifier on the first day — 18 at White Manor and 18 at Overbrook Golf Club (qualifying site only). Any ties for the final spots will be broken by a sudden-death playoff. First and second-round matches will take place June 10, with the quarterfinals and semifinals following on June 11. The final two competitors will face off in a 36-hole final on Saturday, June 14. Merion Golf Club’s Michael McDermott is the tournament’s defending champion. He won his second Amateur title a year ago by defeating Wildwood Golf & Country Club’s Alexander Hicks, 5&4, at Aronimink Golf Club. McDermott also won in 2008 at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club. “I think the only thing [being the defending champion] does for you is give you something to draw on,” he said. “I don’t think it changes my expectations. It’s nice to have the good memories from last year. That’s always a positive, and if I can play like I played last year, that would be ideal.” Given its challenging carries and treacherous terrain, White Manor is an ideal site for the crown jewel of the Association’s calendar. The course holds just one GAP Major to its credit: the Joseph H. Patterson Cup in 2011, when the field scoring average neared 78 for both rounds. “That’s the type of course that I think I could do well at, but certainly, you got to play really good golf in every match at a course like White Manor,” McDermott, 39, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., said. “I think the (GAP) Mid.-Am. showed us that there are a lot of people playing good golf in Philadelphia. There are dozens of guys that can win next week, and I’m just one of them.” Perhaps Hicks is one player among that dozen. The Cape May Court House, N.J. resident advanced through local qualifying in the U.S. Open. He is currently 10th in the New Jersey State Golf Association’s Amateur Championship at Knickerbocker Country Club. And Hicks will compete in a three-day tournament on his home course over the weekend, which is sure to leave the 21-year-old primed for the GAP Amateur. “Obviously, I’d like to win it,” Hicks, an incoming senior at William & Mary College, said. “My game’s getting there. I’m looking forward to it.” Last year’s runner-up performance is a strong sounding board for Hicks. “I stayed pretty patient throughout most of that tournament, but I know during the final, I just wasn’t patient enough,” Hicks said. “I got in my own head a little bit, which I don’t normally do. I was trying to stay mentally focused. My game was there. It was a really fun week, and it will be great next week at White Manor.” Past Amateur winners in this year’s field include P.J. Bartholomew (2007), Brian Gillespie (2001), Michael Hyland (2000, 2011), Christopher Lange (1984, 1993-94) and Raymond Thompson (1972). In addition to determining the match play field, the Amateur Championship Qualifier also serves as first two rounds of the Silver Cross Award. Both the public and media are welcome to attend.
Golf Association of Philadelphia
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A Walk Through Time
GAP is the oldest state or regional golf association in the country. It started courtesy of a friendly competition – the Team Matches – and has grown into the preeminent golf association in the country. Along the way, golf history has been made.
