Week Two raises Playoff stakes in BMW GAP Team Matches

  A wild tie served as icing on a Week Two cake that sweetens the Playoff pot in the BMW GAP Team Matches.

  Division AA perennials Overbrook Golf Club and Huntingdon Valley Country Club battled to a 27-27 deadlock and, as a result, hold identical 1.5–0.5 records entering Week Three. Aronimink Golf Club, Glenmaura National Golf Club, Little Mill Country Club and Llanerch Country Club remain in control of their respective destinies following Week Two triumphs. Therefore, “win-and-you’re in” scenarios paint upcoming match-ups between Little Mill and Llanerch as well as Aronimink and Glenmaura National.

  Philadelphia Cricket Club, also 2–0, appears all but assured a Playoff spot. Record — and 29 points — separate it from closest chaser Back Creek Golf Club (1–1).

  “You’re never totally pleased with a tie, except when you’re trailing by eight points with two groups to go, you’ll take it,” Oscar Mestre, Overbrook’s captain, said. “Your perspective definitely changes based on the sequence of timing. Coming from where we were, we’re happy with a tie. We can and fight for one more week.”

  The aforementioned did indeed come to fruition. Mestre and Andy Thompson secured a six-point profit thanks to singles sweeps. However, the two only halved the better-ball portion after Huntingdon Valley’s Michael Gregor converted a nine-footer for par on the 18th hole at Overbrook. Playing in the last match of the day, the pairing of Chris Lange and Robert Loftus produced the necessary two points for Overbrook to forge a tie.

  “I knew things were tight when the away team starting showing up at [Nos.] 15 and 16,” Mestre said. “At that stage, I sensed that we needed a major shift in luck and momentum to even get into a tie.”

  Groups at Huntingdon Valley teed off hours prior to those at Overbrook. Greg Ferguson and Benjamin Smith, competing in the last match, accrued nine points overall to give Huntingdon Valley a 16-11 lead.

  “Our guys played tough. Everyone contributed,” team captain Dan Pinciotti, Jr. said. “We got some big points from our Nos. 5 and 6 at home, which was great to see. Greg stepped up and just played great. I think he shot 69 on his own ball — diamond in the rough I guess, which is great for us.”

  Overbrook holds 15.5-point advantage over Huntingdon Valley heading into a Week Three tilt against Merion Golf Club (1–1), which remains in the Playoff conversation with 62.5 points. However, Overbrook will be without one of its stronger players in Michael Kania, who broke his finger four days ago.

  “Making up for Michael is a tall order,” Mestre said. “We have an uphill battle. We’ll see how it turns out.”

  Huntingdon Valley faces a tall order, too, when it faces off against Yardley Country Club (0–2) in Week Three.

  “Obviously, we have to win and try to get as many points as we can,” Pinciotti said. “I know Merion is going to play hard. They have an opportunity to make the Playoff if something happens to us.”

  Like Overbrook, Glenmaura National also needed a bit of late magic to knock off White Manor Country Club (0–2), 29-25.

  “I know it’s White Manor’s first go round in AA, but they’re going to be there for awhile,” Matthew Dougherty, Glenmaura’s captain, said. “The home team definitely needed to play well in order to beat them. They’re a really strong team top to bottom with a lot of good young players.”

  White Manor’s Nicholas Anderson and Michael Lamond opened with a 31 better-ball score at Glenmaura. Patrick Mitchell, playing in the No. 1 spot at home, rallied to win the back nine and ultimately his individual match against Lamond. Dougherty, trailing by two with three holes to play, knocked a wedge 106 yards to three feet for a birdie on No. 18 and a crucial 1.5 points in the singles portion.

  “That was a big moment for the home team, to get those points late in the match especially when it’s 29-25,” Dougherty said. “I think each individual match has something similar to that. We had our work cut out for us when we went to the back nine. We were trailing in a lot of matches and were able to flip them.”

  Glenmaura’s road team edged White Manor by three points, bringing its total 37.5 thru two weeks. Dougherty points to the pairing of youngsters Christopher Cerminaro and Nicholas Johnson as a key to its success.

  “They’ve really matured from this year to last year,” he said. “You can put them out there together. They’re really delivering.”

  As Overbrook adjusts to the loss of Kania, Glenmaura welcomes the return of one of its impact performers; Stephen Hudacek, III, the 2011 BMW Philadelphia Amateur runner-up, will play in Week Three against Aronimink, which trails Glenmaura, points-wise, by a half.

  “We’re very happy that we have a half point lead,” Dougherty said. “It’s not out of the question that you could see a tie, and to have that advantage is huge.”

  Aronimink isn’t out of the Playoff question thanks to a 35-19 win over Tavistock Country Club (0–2). Through two weeks, the team’s averaged 21.5 points on its turf, with a quartette of former club champions in Dan Bernard, Joseph Fabrizio, Paul Liebezeit and Douglas Schroer leading the brigade.   “We really played well at home the last two weeks,” Jeff Fialko, Aronimink’s captain, said. “We’re doing it with our old and young players. You try to balance it as well as you can. You want to get more young guys involved, but you like the leadership of the veterans.”

  Fialko also praised BMW GAP Team Matches newcomer Max Siegfried, who reeled off 2.5 singles points at Tavistock. Siegfried, a Golf Association of Philadelphia Magazine Player to Watch in 2015, is one of many contributors expected to return next week.

  “We’re really excited about the opportunity to play Glenmaura,” Fialko said. “They’re really solid from top to bottom. We’re going to need to step up our game even more.”

  Section 2 presents a similar scene; Little Mill and Llanerch will battle for a Playoff spot after Week Two victories over a pair of Scranton area facilities. Little Mill carries a 3.5-advantage into the contest.

  “Our number one goal this week was getting 40 points or more, and we did just that. I couldn’t be more proud of my guys,” Michael Hyland, Little Mill’s captain, said. The team posted 45.5 points against Fox Hill Country Club (0–2).

  Llanerch defeated Huntsville Golf Club, 41.5-12.5. Its road team teed off two hours prior to the home squad and posted 19.5 points.

  “We were really confident when we made the turn, knowing what the away guys did,” Tom Spano, Llanerch’s captain, said. “Llanerch played really firm and fast — as tough as I’ve seen it.”

  The “win-and-you’re in” decree is one both Little Mill and Llanerch relish as Week Three approaches. Both will boast most of the same players as it did one Week Two with one noticeable absence. Hyland heads to San Francisco this week to compete alongside Brian Gillespie of St. Davids Golf Club in the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. His father Tom will assume his spot in the line-up.

  “Little Mill has been historically great over the last five years,” Spano said. “A tie is not good enough based on points. It’s going to be a great match. We’re looking forward to it.”

  Philadelphia Cricket Club rounds out the Division AA landscape following a 37-17 triumph over Commonwealth National Golf Club in Week Two. The pairing of Andy Latowski and Scott Storck swept the singles and better-portions at home. Ryan Gelrod and Jack Wallace spearheaded the away team’s effort by registering 2.5 points apiece individually. Philadelphia Cricket, the 2013 BMW GAP Team Matches champion, opposes Back Creek in Week Three.

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