Peter Barron, III of Stone Harbor GC won his first GAP Major title at the Middle-Amateur Championship last year.

Stone Harbor's Barron defends Middle-Amateur title at St. Davids

  Golf season has officially arrived, and the unofficial reminder that the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s season is in full swing will come with the first tee shot at the 32nd Middle-Amateur Championship presented by Callaway Golf at St. Davids Golf Club being played on May 20-21.

  A field of 133 players, ages 25 and over, will battle for the coveted title on the challenging yet rewarding Wayne, Pa. course. The Middle-Amateur Championship is a 36-hole stroke play competition, with the low 70 players and ties advancing into the final round. It is a William Hyndman, III Player of the Year points event.

  Peter Barron, III of Stone Harbor Golf Club will arrive at St. Davids looking to defend his title, his Major win, and the Sterling Silver Hammered Bowl after coming out victorious at last year’s championship played at Gulph Mills Golf Club. Barron fired rounds of 69 and 68 at Gulph Mills, and willed in a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to win by a stroke. Barron said St. Davids reminds him of Gulph Mills in a few areas.

  “It’s a good track, a nice clubhouse, a nice place. It’s been probably three or four years since I’ve played St. Davids, but it kind of reminds length-wise of Gulph Mills. Its an old course and not overly long,” said the defending champion.

  Both courses are Donald Ross designs.

  Barron has been working with full-time swing instructor Jason Lamp out of Galloway National Golf Club and short-game instructor Mike Dynda out of Meadowlands Country Club to get his game primed for a repeat.

  “I’d say my confidence level right now is a seven or an eight. It can get really good or bad, depending on the day. Hopefully next week everything will be close to being spot on, but it’s impossible to have everything clicking at the same time,” said Barron, a Mays Landing, N.J. resident. “It’s all about not making big numbers and limiting mistakes. As long as you can keep everything around par in this event, you should be toward the top of the leaderboard.”

  Barron predicts the final outcome of this year’s championship at St. Davids will come down to one aspect of the game: sinking putts.

  “It will come down to hitting the ball on the green and making the putt. The greens are not huge at St. Davids, but they are traditional and sloped back to front, which makes the greens a little bit easier. Whoever putts the best will score the lowest and wind up winning,” said the 39 year old.

  “[It’s] just a matter of making putts at the right time and avoiding a costly mistake here and there,” said 2014 Middle-Amateur runner-up Chris Ault of Burlington Country Club. “There’s a lot of good players in the field. It’s going to come down to who makes putts and who doesn’t.”

  Ault, who lost by a stroke, expects to follow up last year’s event with another strong showing.

  “It tells me I have the game to compete and win. So, it’s certainly a confidence boost,” said the 28 year old from Yardley, Pa. Ault recently represented the GAP in the 2015 Compher Cup. He is the 2013 Pennsylvania Golf Association Amateur Champion.

  In addition to Barron, this year’s field includes a total of 13 former Middle-Amateur champions: John Brennan (2012), David Brookreson (1986, '88), Michael R. Brown (2009), Gary E. Daniels (1985), Neil Gordon (1999), Chris Lange (2005, '06), Michael McDermott (2001, '04, '08, '13), Oscar Mestre (2002), Rob Savarese, Jr. (2003), Glenn Smeraglio (2011), Michael Tash (1994) and Richard Umani (1996). The last back-to-back Middle-Amateur champion was Lange, when he won his first title at Spring Mill Country Club followed up by a victory at Commonwealth Wealth National Golf Club.

  Even with so many past champions in the field, in addition to a plethora of young talent capable of shooting low numbers, Barron will once again be a contender to hoist the Middle-Amateur hardware.

  “For me, I’m going there with the same mindset. It just gives me more confidence that I did win last year,” Barron said. “You do something once, why can’t you do it again?”

  This year’s event is open to the public. Aside from offering live scoring on its Web site, the Association will provide Middle-Amateur updates via its social media outlets. Follow @GAofPhilly on Twitter and Instagram and use the #GAPMidAm hashtag.

  The inaugural Middle-Amateur Championship was held in 1984, three years after the United States Golf Association (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 Middle-Amateur 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. Players must have a GAP/USGA Handicap Index of 7.0 or lower.

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

Callaway Golf
Callaway Golf was founded in 1982 by the late Ely Callaway, a visionary entrepreneur who operated under a simple but profound business promise: Deliver Demonstrably Superior, Pleasingly Different products and services. That philosophy turned what was originally a boutique manufacturer of high-quality wedges and putters into the world's largest maker of premium, performance golf products. The Callaway mission and vision has remained the same; we passionately pursue advanced, innovative technologies that help golfers of all abilities find more enjoyment from the game. Under the Callaway and Odyssey brands, Callaway manufactures and sells golf clubs and golf balls, and sells golf apparel, footwear and accessories in more than 110 countries worldwide.

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.