Chris Fuga, now cancer-free for almost 300 days, reached the BMW Philadelphia Amateur semis.

NOTEBOOK: Overbrook’s Fuga is all smiles after lost season

  HAVERTOWN, Pa. — Losing a semifinal contest to Cole Berman in the 115th BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship pales in comparison to Chris Fuga’s trials of a year ago.

  Fuga missed last year’s Amateur, and most of the golf season, after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in May 2014.

  He was competing in a U.S. Open Local Qualifier at Laurel Creek Country Club, and was 1-under through seven holes, when his body started to shut down. Fuga lost feeling in his hands and toes; became lightheaded and almost passed out. He withdrew a few holes later.

  “I thought I was tired and fatigued coming back from school and all that,” said Fuga, who at that time just finished up his junior year at Coker College in Hartsville, S.C.

  On Aug. 19, He received the necessary bone marrow transplant. He’s been on the road to recovery ever since.

  “It was a journey,” said Fuga, 24, of Phoenixville, Pa. “Yeah, it was tough, but I’m standing here today. I had a great doctor and great support from my family and friends. I’m just glad to be here.”

  Fuga has enjoyed almost 300 days of being cancer-free.

  He’ll return to Coker this fall as a red-shirt senior after missing all of last year. Fuga is a sports management major.

  Known for his ability to power the golf ball before his health issue, Fuga said he seems to have a found a bit of a greenside touch.

  He opened the BMW Philadelphia Amateur with a 36-hole score of 142 in Tuesday’s Qualifier, good enough for the No. 3 seed heading into match play. He then won his first three matches, before falling to Berman Thursday afternoon.

  “I really can’t complain too much,” said Fuga. “I took it one day at a time and kept a positive attitude. I give all the credit to my doctor, Henry Fung, he was definitely my savior.”

  Fuga is still required to make frequent doctor visits every three to four weeks for a check-up.

Smith’s Scotty Cameron comes alive on Day Three

  Ben Smith’s Scott Cameron mallet putter is not usually his game’s strength. But on Thursday at Llanerch, Smith and his Scotty Cameron had the magic touch.

  “The putter was working today, which is ironic because typically, I rely on my straight driver swing. This week, it happened that I lost the driver a little bit, but I made up for it with the putter,” said Smith, 28, of Philadelphia, Pa. “I just got into a pretty good routine with it.”

  In his quarterfinal match, the five-seeded Smith upset Spring Mill Country Club’s Chris Crawford, the No. 4 seed, 1-up. Although he eventually fell, 1 down, in his semifinal match-up with Aronimink Golf Club’s Michael Davis, it wasn’t his putter that failed him.

  “I made a putt on No. 18 to win the match in the quarterfinals, a 20-footer up the hill, right to left and made it for the win,” Smith said. “On the back nine of the semis, I made some really, really good putts. I made a clutch putt in that match on 14 as well. I made a clutch putt on 15.”

  His victorious competitor was also impressed.

  “Ben made some clutch putts today,” Davis said. “On 13, he rolled one in for birdie when I was already in for birdie. Then on 15, he rolled in a 20-footer from above the slope to halve me. Clutch putts.”

  His most essential putt of the day came at No. 17 (par 3, 144 yards), when Smith needed a birdie to bring the match versus Davis to No. 18. He did just that.

  “Quite honestly, it was the biggest putt of the day. I was reading the greens well all week. I saw all the breaks. It was just whether or not I could hit it hard enough,” said Smith, who recently tied for ninth in the Association’s Middle-Amateur Championship presented by Callaway Golf at St. Davids Golf Club. “I was getting the ball to the hole, and there I just picked my line and just committed to the stroke and just let it go. Fortunately, it hung on and went in.”

  Smith believes his game will be better in the long run knowing that his driver will revert to form. In the meantime, his putting skills have improved.

  “Quite honestly, my goal was to win two matches and make it to today. I’ve always went home early,” Smith, a Huntingdon Valley Country Club member, said. “The furthest I’ve ever gotten was making it to the Round of 16 twice, and I’ve always lost that afternoon. Obviously, I was thinking about playing on Saturday but my goal was to make it to Thursday. Fortunately, I made it to the semis.”

Day Three's Hare-raising performance

  Names synonymous with Philadelphia golf — Hyland, McDermott, Osberg — occupied the match play bracket in the 115th BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship.

  A foreign name also held rank.

  Five Ponds Golf Club’s Justin Hare, playing in his first GAP event, turned heads en route to becoming a quarterfinalist at Llanerch this week.

Cricket club championship

  Berman’s victory in the 115th BMW Amateur Championship meant defeat in the Philadelphia Cricket club championship.

  Berman will not make his scheduled quarterfinal match against Scott Storck on Saturday, for obvious reasons.

  Winning the J. Wood Platt Trophy, presented to the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Champion, would make a nice “consolation” prize.