Merion takes Senior Club Team Challenge title
After just missing out on last year’s title, Merion Golf Club got its revenge by taking home this year’s edition of the Senior Club Team Challenge; a three-week competition for players 55 years of age or older with a handicap index of 36.0 or less. With a two-week total score of 128.5 points, the eight-man Merion team advanced to a four-team playoff, which was played on Saturday, Oct. 24. Merion edged out Bellewood Country Club (42.5 playoff points), defending champions Little Mill Country Club (30.5 playoff points) and Laurel Creek Country Club (22 playoff points) for the hardware. “We’re grateful because it’s always nice to win a GAP event,” said Carl Everett, who served as Merion’s captain for the second year in a row. “I was really happy with Mike Forgash, and all the guys who played in Pennsylvania. They all played very well for us.” In 2014, it was Little Mill (52.5 playoff points) who took home the inaugural Senior Club Team Challenge title over Merion (46 points). “We lost a lot of guys last year due to conflicts, with the Challenge being played in September, so we had a depleted squad. This year, we’re quite happy about the victory,” said Everett, 68, of Harleysville, Pa. Open to Golf Association of Philadelphia Member Clubs, the event features teams of eight; format is singles match play (gross only). Matches are scored as a Nassau with one point awarded for each of the nines. Participating clubs each host a pair of foursomes on Saturdays in October. Those foursomes are slotted in a four-team bracket, with the winners of each section competing in the Senior Club Team Challenge Playoff. Brackets are regionalized.
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 gam |
A Walk Through Time
GAP is the oldest state or regional golf association in the country. It started courtesy of a friendly competition – the Team Matches – and has grown into the preeminent golf association in the country. Along the way, golf history has been made.
