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| Michael Moffat eyes his tee shot on No. 1 (par 4, 413 yards). |
Commonwealth’s Moffat tops Mid.-Am. Qualifier at Meadowlands
BLUE BELL, Pa. — Michael Moffat of Commonwealth National Golf Club represents everything the competitive middle-amateur golfer is: talent equipped with a busy life schedule.
| Scorecards | Photo gallery |
The father-of-two displayed that talent at Meadowlands Country Club (par 71, 6,484 yards) on Monday during the third and final Middle-Amateur Championship Qualifier presented by Callaway Golf. Moffat carded a 1-over-par 72 to take medalist honors on a day that featured plenty of sunshine and green speed.
The medalist, teeing off in the morning, came out on top of the leader board consisting of 128 players hoping to grab one of 30 qualifying spots and ties. The day’s cut line stopped at 8-over 79.
Moffat’s round, which began on the back nine, included two birdies, two bogeys and a highlight-reel putt on No. 1 (par 5, 527 yards) from 15 feet off the green to save par. His first birdie came at No. 11 (par 4, 402 yards), where he hit a pitching wedge 130 yards to 30 feet. Moffat then stuck an 8-iron on No. 16 (par 3, 157 yards) and holed the 15-footer for his other red figure of the day.
“The rough was tough today,” he said. “Luckily I hit a lot of fairways, greens, and two putts all day — pretty standard type stuff.”
The 48-year-old doesn’t play a whole lot of competitive golf anymore and says his “season” starts in April and ends in July. His family has owned a bathroom remodeling business for 30 years, and most of his free time is devoted to coaching his younger son’s club ice hockey team.
“Everyone’s got kids and families and everything else that they are doing, so the last five, six, seven years, that’s been my schedule,” Moffat said. “I’m just getting started this season. I’ve played all of our GAP Team Matches and played a couple of rounds with some guys at the club just trying to get back underway.”
Moffat, a Warrington, Pa. resident, is no stranger to Mid.-Am. competition. He shot a 1-over 72 on Day One of last year’s championship at Gulph Mills Golf Club, followed up by a 79 on Day Two. In 2006, he finished 5th at his home course.
This year, he will arrive at St. Davids Golf Club on May 20-21 for the Championship proper equipped with an open mindset and little-to-no expectations.
“I’m going to take this event by event. I’m hoping to play the best I can and make that first day cut and see where I am,” Moffat said. “If I’m playing pretty well, I could advance. I don’t think my game is strong enough to hold up for the whole thing, but we will see. I haven’t played enough golf, but golf is a crazy game and everywhere is a little different.”
If Monday’s round was any indication, Moffat’s short season couldn’t have started any better.
The Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Middle-Amateur Championship started in 1984, three years after the USGA created the U.S. Mid-Amateur 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. The field begins with 132 players.
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 151 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.
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Qualifiers
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Name, club
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Scores
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Michael Moffat, Commonwealth National Golf Club
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72
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Bo Maguire, Brookside Country Club
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73
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David West, Whitford Country Club
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73
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Buddy Aiken, St. Davids Golf Club
|
75
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Edward Kelly, Jr., Old York Road Country Club
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75
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Geoffrey Cooper, North Hills Country Club
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75
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Kevin McDermott, Llanerch Country Club
|
75
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Robert Gill, Fox Hill Country Club
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75
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Thomas Humphrey, Wilmington Country Club
|
75
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Christopher Thude, Union League Golf Club
at Torresdale
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76
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Jeff Klagholz, Aronimink
Golf Club
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76
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Jimmy Taylor, RiverCrest Golf Club &
Preserve
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76
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Mark Peterson, Waynesborough Country Club
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76
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Miguel Biamon, Whitemarsh
Valley Country Club
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76
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Robert Harrington, Merion Golf Club
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76
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Serge Hogg, RiverWinds Golf & Tennis
Club
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76
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George Steinmetz, Spring Ford Country Club
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77
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Kevin Cahill, Merion Golf Club
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77
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Ryan Orcutt, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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77
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Shawn Lavin, Rolling Green Golf Club
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77
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Bob Beck, Lehigh Country Club
|
78
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Gerard Rosato, Plymouth Country Club
|
78
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John Nottage, Commonwealth National Golf Club
|
78
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Tom Spano, Llanerch
Country Club
|
78
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Andy Achenbach, RiverCrest Golf Club &
Preserve
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79
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Brad George, Aronimink Golf Club
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79
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John Grove, Chester Valley Golf Club
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79
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John Kopacz, Five Ponds Golf Club
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79
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Jon Lavin, Rolling Green Golf Club
|
79
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Stephen Hudacek, III, Glenmaura
National Golf Club
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79
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Failed to qualify
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Adam Bracy, Rancocas Golf Club
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80
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Brendan Young, North Hills Country Club
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80
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Brian Fisher, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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80
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David Shields, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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80
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Ed Chylinski, Chester Valley Golf Club
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80
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Greg O'Connor, RiverCrest Golf Club &
Preserve
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80
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John Barry, Lancaster Country Club
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80
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John Cyb, Makefield
Highlands Golf Club
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80
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John Weber, Conestoga Country Club
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80
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Kirk Larsen, St. Davids Golf Club
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80
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Mike Cavanaugh, Jericho National Golf Club
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80
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Mitch Vanzandt, Rolling Green Golf Club
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80
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Patrick McCusker, Jr., Plymouth Country
Club
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80
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Duane Pinnock, RiverCrest
Golf Club & Preserve
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81
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Jeff Scharf, Downingtown Country Club
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81
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Joseph Dulka, Bellewood Country Club
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81
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Pat Pasquariello, Philadelphia Country Club
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81
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Patrick Conroy, Llanerch Country Club
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81
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William Curran, Gulph Mills Golf Club
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81
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Alexander Maguire, Jr., Brookside Country Club
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82
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Eric Palumbo, Rolling Green Golf Club
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82
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Gregory Buliga, Yardley Country Club
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82
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Luis Diaz, Rancocas Golf Club
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82
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Peter Kyriakodis, Commonwealth National
Golf Club
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82
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John Gosselin, Kennett Square Golf & Country Club
|
83
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Mark Coassolo, Brookside CC of Allentown
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83
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Robert Loftus, Overbrook Golf Club
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83
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Scott Young, Overbrook Golf Club
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83
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Timothy Anderson, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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83
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Bradley Bernosky, Broad Run Golfer's Club
|
84
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James Loftus, Jr., Overbrook Golf Club
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84
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Joe Kerrigan, Jr., Llanerch Country Club
|
84
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John Robinson, Commonwealth National Golf Club
|
84
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Kenneth Croney, Jr., Applebrook
Golf Club
|
84
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Paul Liebezeit, Aronimink
Golf Club
|
84
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Pete Zollers, Spring Ford Country Club
|
84
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Robert Dziak, The Springhaven
Club
|
84
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Steve Wentzel, Woodstone
Country Club
|
84
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Michael Boden, Aronimink
Golf Club
|
85
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Patrick Cahill, III, Whitemarsh Valley
Country Club
|
85
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Richard Atcavage, Whitemarsh
Valley Country Club
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85
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Robert Craven, Philadelphia Country Club
|
85
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Robert Dietrich, Loch Nairn Golf Club
|
85
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Russell Loue, Mercer Oaks Golf Course
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85
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Todd Baron, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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85
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William Gamgort, DuPont Country Club
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85
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Adam Puskar, Middletown Country Club
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86
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Butch Silknitter, Bellewood Country Club
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86
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David Sirolly, Country Club of York
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86
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Gary Yeager, Philadelphia Cricket Club
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86
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James Prendergast, Bellewood Country Club
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86
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Jim Simmons, Stonewall
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86
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Jonathan Kruse, Bala Golf Club
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86
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William Dalton, Jr., Overbrook Golf Club
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86
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Daniel Mahoney, Lu Lu Country Club
|
87
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Michael Brady, Jericho National Golf Club
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87
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Michael Shoup, Sandy Run Country Club
|
87
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Rob Lawson, RiverCrest Golf Club &
Preserve
|
87
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Stephen Guertler, Laurel Creek Country Club
|
87
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Greg Bender, Chester Valley Golf Club
|
88
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Justin Pak, Penn Oaks Golf Club
|
88
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Mark Lafond, Blue Bell Country Club
|
88
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Matthew Yorgey, Golden Oaks Golf Club
|
88
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Nicholas Lukow, Woodstone
Country Club
|
88
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Nick Kirkpatrick, Bellewood Country Club
|
88
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Bill Holsten, III, Aronimink
Golf Club
|
89
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Brian Keane, Mercer Oaks Golf Course
|
89
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Dan Clark, Old York Road Country Club
|
89
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Keith Olinick, Skippack Golf Club at Evansburg State Park
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89
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Edward Benatti, Hartefeld
National
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90
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George Connell, Jr., Gulph Mills Golf Club
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90
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Jonathan Shevlin, North Hills Country Club
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90
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Todd Cappelli, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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90
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Brad Sokol, Green Valley Country Club
|
91
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Chuck Kraatz, Talamore
Country Club
|
91
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David Justi, RiverCrest
Golf Club & Preserve
|
91
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Michael Zieg, Kennett Square Golf &
Country Club
|
91
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John Mullins, Five Ponds Golf Club
|
92
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Michael DiGiandomenico, French Creek Golf
Club
|
92
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Drew Panebianco, Five Ponds Golf Club
|
93
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Dan Brown, Llanerch Country Club
|
94
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Michael Flatley, Merion Golf Club
|
95
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Adam Shorey, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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97
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Andy Green, DuPont Country Club
|
98
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Vince Galzerano, Union League Golf Club at Torresdale
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109
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Adam Gelwarg, Green Valley Country Club
|
WD
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Bobby Kershner, Spring Ford Country Club
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WD
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Buddy Reed, Back Creek Golf Club
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WD
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Ed Kahn, Little Mill Country Club
|
WD
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G. Patrick Dougherty, Philadelphia Cricket Club
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WD
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James Kaiser, Tavistock Country Club
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NC
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Joseph Grad, Country Club of Scranton
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NS
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Keith Matt, Mercer Oaks Golf Course
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WD
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Michael Gradisek, Stonewall
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WD
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Peter Moran, Edgmont Country Club
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WD
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Ty Krieger, Lancaster Country Club
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WD
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William Rolli, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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WD
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NC - no card; NS - no show; WD - withdrawal
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