Public facilities see success in BMW GAP Team Matches

  Public? No problem.

  Participation in the BMW GAP Team Matches is possible. So is success, judging by the 2015 schedule.

  Back Creek Golf Club and Mercer Oaks Golf Course occupy Section I in Division AA alongside past champions Commonwealth National Golf Club (2007, 2009) and Philadelphia Cricket Club (2013). A handful of public facilities make up Division A: Five Ponds Golf Club, Golden Oaks Golf Club, Honeybrook Golf Club, Makefield Highlands Golf Club and Sea Oaks Golf Club.

  “The competition within the public player has always been there. It’s been the opportunity, and GAP has been a visionary in seeing that the opportunity to have quality players come and play needed to happen,” Jim Schulz, Jr., captain of Mercer Oaks’ first team, said. “For those of us who have had a tradition of playing in public facilities, we always knew there were good players. We just needed the place and the opportunity. I think what you’re seeing is really a testament to that statement.”

  In 1996, a bylaw change opened Golf Association of Philadelphia membership to public facilities, thus rendering those who joined eligible for the BMW GAP Team Matches.

  “I just think [the BMW GAP Team Matches] gives the guys from public facilities the chance to see some of these top notch private clubs that are in the area that you wouldn’t normally get to play unless you play in some of the GAP tournaments,” Mark Kosko, captain of Sea Oaks’ first team, said. “Of the 12 guys we field, I’d say maybe only five of them play in GAP events, so the rest of them are seeing nice courses like Laurel Creek (Country Club) and Rolling Green (Golf Club), who we’re playing this year.”

  The BMW GAP Team Matches served as an impetus for Sea Oaks to join the Association three years ago.

  “I had been at several clubs – Stone Harbor, Seaview, Mercer Oaks,” Kosko, 51, of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., said. “When I got to Sea Oaks, I told everybody about it and said it would be a good idea to start a team if everybody was willing. Jeff (Bonicky, Sea Oaks head professional) just needed to sign over to the GAP. Everybody likes it.”

  “It was something that we looked that would offer our membership an opportunity to compete. It was obviously well received by them,” Bonicky, 47, of Little Egg Harbor Township, N.J., added. “It’s still young for us. Being a newer facility experiencing success, my guys really enjoy it.”

  Public facilities appeal to golfers who are unable to finance a private membership yet are able and anxious to compete. The BMW GAP Team Matches provides that competitive outlet.

  “If given the chance, most folks would want to join a private club, but for a variety of reasons, they can’t, and that’s OK,” Schulz, 45, of Hamilton, N.J., said. “Having quality public facilities with good practice opportunities really has made the difference. I think that’s been proven, certainly with us rising to AA and having been able to stay there for a number of years now.”

  “Most of the guys on our team were all private club guys for a long time,” Adam Reiss, captain of Makefield Highlands first team, added. “Whether it was the economy — or in my case, I got married and my wife got pregnant — we decided to leave private. I don’t think anyone knew there was going to be an exodus out of private clubs, and places like Makefield have really succeeded because there was that economic downturn.”

  It’s sort of a Catch-22, though.

  “A public golf course is a transient place,” Neil Gordon, captain of Five Ponds’ first team, said. “People come and go, and you don’t quite know who’s going to be sticking around. We’ve had years where our team’s been better, and then we lost three or four guys to private clubs. That’s kind of where we’re at.”

  But Five Ponds first team is “right where it should be,” Gordon, 47, of Warrington, Pa., insists. Its position can change, though — thanks to the Challenges component in the BMW GAP Team Matches. A chance to square off against private counterparts magnifies intensity and anticipation.

  “We lost last year [in a Challenge] in a cross-town rivalry against Yardley (Country Club),” Reiss, 38, of Yardley, Pa., said. “I think everyone is excited to get to the Challenges and hopefully break the window and get into AA. As a team captain, you want your 9-12 guys to show up. Those are the guys that are going to make it or break it for you.”

  The competitive vibes that public golfers feel during the BMW GAP Team Matches differ from those generated from a typical $10 Nassau.

  “I found that a lot of these guys think playing for money is the ‘be all, end all’ — that if you could play for $100, you could play for anything,” Kosko said. “But then they get nervous playing in these competitive events, particularly when there’s a team involved. You don’t want to play bad and let your team down.”

  Rest assured that golfers — whether public or private — do want to play in the BMW GAP Team Matches.

  “There’s a real desire among the members of the club to be a part of it,” Schulz said. “The facilities want and enjoy the opportunity for the competition that GAP provides.”

Golf Association of Philadelphia
  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 150 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.