Roc Irey studies the No. 17 (par 5, 522 yards) green at White Manor Country Club.

Lookaway’s Irey stars in U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifier at White Manor

  MALVERN, Pa. — Five years ago, Roc Irey, at age 58, qualified for his second U.S. Mid-Amateur at White Manor Country Club. So when the Golf Association of Philadelphia administered a U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifier at the same venue (par 71, 6,668 yards) Monday, one may assume that Irey felt comfortable with his chances of advancing.

  That wasn’t the case whatsoever. Irey did, however, erase any signs of self-doubt with his performance. The Lookaway Golf Club member carded an even-par 71 to earn medalist honors.

  Fellow GAP staples Don Donatoni of the host club, Mark Ellinger of Whitford Country Club, Kenneth Phillips of Lancaster Country Club, Glenn Smeraglio of Mercer Oaks Golf Course and Raymond Thompson of Overbrook Golf Club also advanced. John O’Malley of Mantoloking, N.J. rounded out the qualifying group Monday.

  The U.S. Senior Amateur will take place Sept. 26-Oct. 1 at Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

  “I have played bad all year. I’ve been swinging too hard and out of sync,” Irey, 63, of Furlong, Pa., said. “Every time I played this week, I made a concerted effort to play the shot, not the distance. Today I only mishit three balls period because I was trying to press it.”

  Irey certainly impressed Monday, finishing 10 strokes less than the field scoring average. He registered 14 greens in regulation on the day.

  “It’s a hard golf course. You have to play well or you’re not going to score well,” Irey said. “The greens have a lot of undulation, but fortunately I didn’t miss too many of them.”

  Irey foreshadowed his leaderboard position by emerging as the lone player to ink red on his outward tour. He snuggled in a 40-footer for a 2 on the demanding par 3, 214-yard No. 3 following a crisp 4-iron. He soon fired back-to-back birdies to move to 2 under. On No. 5 (par 4, 423 yards), Irey knocked a 7-iron 165 yards to eight feet and received a line assist from playing partners Bob Beck and Robert Billings.

  “Both guys were right behind me, and we all would have read it right-to-left,” Irey said. “Both of their putts went right, so I played it left edge. If I hadn’t seen their putts, it wouldn’t have gone in.”

  A pair of textbook golf shots on No. 6 (par 5, 543 yards) left Irey 30 yards from the hole location. He bumped a wedge into kick-in birdie range. Irey points to the par 3, 180-yard 12th hole as a round-saver. Electing to tee off with a 5-iron, he watched his golf ball land left of the flagstick and trickle into the bunker. The extrication attempt didn’t leave the typically jovial Irey enthused.

  “When I hit it, I caught all of that netting. I didn’t know it was there,” Irey said. “It just barely got out of the trap, and then I chipped it in. It probably saved me from a double bogey.”

  Two of Irey’s three aforementioned mishits did — naturally — result in bogeys. On No. 14 (par 3, 180 yards), he pummeled a 6-iron over the green and left a 20-footer for par on the lip. Irey attacked an unfriendly lie in the right rough on No. 2 (par 4, 407 yards) with an 8-iron, only to catch the left greenside bunker.

  Irey will compete in his second straight U.S. Senior Amateur. He’s also played in the U.S. Amateur (1973) and U.S. Mid-Amateur (1991, 2010).

  “I’m thrilled. I wanted to make it,” Irey said. “This is a big event. I had a wonderful time at a beautiful venue last year. [Five-time reigning GAP Senior Player of the Year] Chip Lutz and I played a practice round, and the two other guys in our group were two of my college teammates.” Irey is an Eastern Kentucky University alum.

  Donatoni, who holds 30 club championships (19 Men’s, 11 Senior) at White Manor, carded a 2-over-par 73 to qualify for his third U.S. Senior Amateur in the last four years. He is the two-time reigning GAP Super-Senior Player of the Year.

  “There’s a certain amount of pressure playing on your home course,” Donatoni, 67, of Malvern, Pa., said. “You want to do it for the membership. You want to do it for the club. You know a lot of the members are rooting for you.”

  An uphill six-footer for birdie on No. 7 (par 4, 330 yards) eased Donatoni’s nerves. He posted a 36 coming in to secure a qualifying spot.

  In his first year of U.S. Senior Amateur eligibility, Smeraglio, 55, of Newtown, Pa., advanced to the Championship proper with a score of 72.

  “It’s awesome. I really wanted this one. It’s good to get the job done,” he said. “I made some important putts today to keep the round going early. It could get away from you when you miss a few four, five-footers for pars. It’s nice to feel like you’re still in it early.”

  Smeraglio, a Golf Association of Philadelphia Magazine Player to Watch in 2015, will make his fifth appearance in a USGA championship, the previous all being U.S. Mid-Amateurs. He’s never gained match play but hopes that history changes once he sets foot on Hidden Creek.

  “That will be a goal for this year,” Smeraglio said. “I think it’s a good-size course for me, so I’ll feel like I’ll have a little bit of an advantage.”

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.