Top 10 Headlines of 2015

  To complete the 2015 scrapbook, the Golf Association of Philadelphia will unveil its Top 10 headlines. Whittling down a year’s worth of activity into a small bundle of thoughts wasn't easy, but we gave it a try.

1.

Three semifinal appearances and two match play berths later, Chip Lutz finally earned a coveted U.S. Senior Amateur title. The LedgeRock Golf Club member defeated Tom Brandes, 5&3, in the Final at Hidden Creek Golf Club. The win launched Lutz to the top of the GAP Senior Player of the Year standings for the sixth straight year.

2.

Turning in top Major tournament finishes all season long, Jeff Osberg captured his first William Hyndman, III Player of the Year Award in a tight race against friend and five-time winner Michael McDermott. The Huntingdon Valley Country Club member equaled a BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship Qualifier scoring record with a 6 under performance, broke a competitive course record at Chester Valley Golf Club, site of the Joseph H. Patterson Cup, and secured a second Silver Cross Award with a 275 total. Osberg also qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur and seized runner-up honors in the GAP Middle-Amateur Championship presented by Callaway Golf.

3.

The Dawn to Dusk Golf Marathon has developed into the premier day of giving for the J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust. In only its sixth year, Dawn to Dusk already eclipsed the $1 million mark in total donations. All dollars go directly to the Platt’s general fund to assist young men and women in their pursuit of higher education. The event last August at North Hills Country Club generated more than $300,000, a one-year record total. Representatives from 21 Golf Association of Philadelphia Member Clubs played more than 4,000 holes. Club representatives solicit donations based on holes played or other criteria.

4.

Super-Senior supremacy stayed with Don Donatoni. The White Manor Country Club member earned a third straight Super-Senior Player of the Year Award by composing yet another commanding campaign. He won the Francis B. Warner Cup (Gross), Frank H. Chapman Memorial Cup (Gross) and the Brewer Cup presented by Callaway Golf. To top it off, Donatoni earned a third straight Super-Senior Silver Cross Award, pushing thru a hand injury sustained during the Senior Amateur Championship to do so.

5.

Philadelphia Cricket Club beckoned the cameras by hosting the PGA Professional National Championship. A week later, the national spotlight shifted to Lancaster Country Club for the U.S. Women’s Open, which welcomed a record 131,298 spectators. Next came the U.S. Senior Amateur at Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. Lights and cameras will lead to action in 2016 with a pair of USGA Championships and a Champions Tour event coming to the area.

6.

The Golf Association of Philadelphia announced BMW of North America and the Delaware Valley BMW Centers as its exclusive automotive partner in March. A first for the Association. BMW served as the presenting partner of the BMW GAP Team Matches and the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship while also supporting the J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust. BMW offered members various Member benefit programs throughout the year, including an opportunity to win a trip to the BMW Championship in September. The Association looks forward to another successful year with BMW in 2016.

7.

A new version of the GAP App brightened the mobile experience for all users. Enhancements included full scoring results of the BMW GAP Team Matches and on-the-go access to the popular scouting report feature. Golfers can also set Favorite Courses, and when posting a score, can select from those Favorite Courses to expedite the score posting process.

8.

Max Siegfried followed in the footsteps of best friend and former Haverford School classmate Cole Berman by earning the Junior Player of the Year Award. He never finished outside of second place in the Association’s Junior events. Siegfried won the Christman Cup and finished as runner-up in the Junior Boys’ Championship, Jock MacKenzie Memorial and Harry Hammond Award standings. He plans on returning in 2016 for his last year of Junior eligibility. The aforementioned Berman is a three-time Junior POY (2012-14).

9.

The Association continues to strengthen its social media presence. In 2015, it added Periscope, Twitter’s livestreaming video feature, to its repertoire. By using the app, users watched action unfold live during the season’s four Majors. The Association also doubled its Instagram followers (689) and stands within an earshot of 3,000 followers on Twitter. It also uses Facebook and YouTube as platforms, both of which underwent content expansion in 2015.

10.

The Association mourned the loss of a number of dedicated supporters: former Executive Committee members Glenn Hertzler and E. Gerald Hurst, Philadelphia golf historian James Finegan, Sr., tournament player and reigning BMW Philadelphia Amateur semifinalist Christopher Fuga and 2014 Volunteer of the Year Tom Naughton. Rest in peace.

Honorable mentions

Mike Mayock of the NFL Network served as the guest speaker for the annual J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust’s Annual Brunch held at Philadelphia Country Club on Dec. 19. Mayock spoke to the crowd of nearly 200 attendees about growing up in the Philadelphia region, which included caddying gigs along the way to his path to the NFL, where he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1981. His career also included time with the New York Giants and in the Canadian Football League before moving to the broadcast booth. He has been with the NFL Network since 2005 and served as the color commentator for NBC's coverage of Notre Dame football from 2010-14.

For the second time in three years, Philadelphia Cricket Club swept the team scene, seizing the BMW GAP Team Matches and the Philadelphia Team Championship. It defeated Llanerch Country Club, Aronimink Golf Club and Overbrook Golf Club in a Playoff for the first and Commonwealth National Golf Club, Huntingdon Valley Country Club and Mercer Oaks Golf Course for the latter. Furthermore, Philadelphia Cricket’s second team advanced to Division AA for 2016. It marks the first time in GAP history that two teams from the same club will participate in the BMW GAP Team Matches’ top-tier.

The Association hosted the Williamson Cup, regarded as one of the nation’s most prestigious Junior golf events featuring 40 junior players from 10 state and regional golf associations, at Saucon Valley Country Club’s pristine Weyhill Course. Evan Brown of Hartefeld National, Jack Melville of Lu Lu Country Club, Max Siegfried of Aronimink Golf Club and Kyle Vance of the GAP Junior Players Club represented Team GAP. The foursome finished in a tie for third place with the Pennsylvania State Golf Association. Both teams posted a two-round total of 456. The highly-regarded event makes its way to the Philadelphia region once every 10 years.

Ryan Gelrod and Marc Mandel etched their names in Golf Association of Philadelphia history. The Philadelphia Cricket Club members became the first tandem to win back-to-back Four-Ball Stroke Play Championship titles. Gelrod and Mandel carded a 9-under-par 62 to take the tournament’s 44th edition at Fieldstone Golf Club. The duo also prevailed in 2014 at Metedeconk National Golf Club.

For the fifth year in a row, a Temple Owl brought home the winning hardware in the GAP Philadelphia Open Championship. Brandon Matthews, who won his first Open title in 2013 at Waynesborough Country Club, raised the trophy again in 2015 at Philadelphia Cricket Club. Andrew Mason (2011-12) and Matthew Teesdale (2014) are the other Owls to have won the prestigious event, which features the region’s top amateurs and professionals.

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 Full 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.