BMW GTM: Division AA newcomers hope to prove their placeFour clubs will taste Division AA for the first time when the BMW GAP Team Matches begins Sunday, April 10. Makefield Highlands Golf Club, a public venue located in Yardley, Pa., joins the likes of private facilities Applebrook Golf Club, LedgeRock Golf Club and Wyoming Valley Country Club in the event’s upper bracket.
Applebrook Golf ClubDan Arison joined Applebrook in late 2012 after relocating from Cleveland, Ohio. Since then, the club’s moved from Division C to AA.Now Arison’s presence isn’t the sole reason for Applebrook’s ascension, though it does help having a player who qualified for a national championship (2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur) in your corner. The team’s relied on a mesh of experience and youth to earn a spot in the top bracket for the first time. “The track that we’ve taken is definitely a lot quicker than I expected,” Arison, who assumed team captain duties from Chuck Dowds, said. “It’s a combination of guys who have been here for a while like Gary Daniels and Chuck Dowds and a new influx of younger members like Chris Lawler, who is our club champion, Steve Minnick and myself. There’s definitely excitement.” Applebrook defeated Huntsville Golf Club, 30–24, in a 2015 Challenge to advance. It occupies Section IV alongside former BMW GAP Team Matches titleholders Aronimink Golf Club, Huntingdon Valley Country Club and Tavistock Country Club. “Each of those clubs has established players. We’re the newbies,” Arison, 29, of Norristown, Pa., said. “Our goal is to compete, and if we can come within a few points of first place, I would consider that a success. We’re sort of the underdog, and I think that’s a good position for us. Nobody really expects us to do well, and if we do, I think it will be good for the players that are on the team. We can become one of the better playing clubs in the area.”
LedgeRock Golf ClubInteresting is a word Christopher Storck uses to describe LedgeRock’s first team. Age is the reason.Chip Lutz, reigning U.S. Senior Amateur Champion, six-time reigning GAP Senior Player of the Year and a LedgeRock founding member, is the oldest player at age 61. Subtract 44 years to calculate Nate Menon’s age. Menon is the reigning PIAA Golf Boys’ AA Champion. Both Lutz and Menon represent part of the firepower LedgeRock brings to the Division AA range. “Through our current membership and a couple of new additions, we’ve been able to field a team that I feel will be competitive,” Storck, captain of the club’s first team, said. “Being in this top level is a big reason why there is a lot of excitement for LedgeRock and our first team, with the prospects of playing against the best players in GAP. We look forward to it.” LedgeRock joins former BMW GAP Team Matches Champions Commonwealth National Golf Club and Llanerch Country Club, as well as AA returnee Lancaster Country Club, in Section II. “The golf courses themselves are excellent courses, and all three of them have great memberships,” Storck, 49, of Sinking Spring, Pa., said. “To be able to come out with more points than Commonwealth is a difficult task. Llanerch is the gorilla of our Section. They were in the Playoff last year and always do well at home. Lancaster’s had a strong team building up through the divisions and into AA. Hopefully, that Week Three match [against Lancaster] comes down to something special.” Storck, a Golf Association of Philadelphia Magazine Player to Watch in 2015, joined LedgeRock last year. He assumed captaincy of its first team during the winter, taking over for Larry Schultz, Jr. “I have a good understanding of the current members at LedgeRock and a lot of the players,” Storck said. “It’s been awesome to go through the various stages of building a team, deciding who should play with whom and where they should go. That’s probably the toughest part. I hope this is the first of many years I can do it. As long as everybody’s having fun and we put our best effort forward, it should be good to be a captain. “Hopefully we can be successful and provide some LedgeRock glory to the (BMW) GAP (Team) Matches. We’d like to get LedgeRock involved somewhere on that plaque in the years to come.”
Makefield Highlands Golf ClubExcitement permeated through Makefield Highlands following its victory over Fox Hill Country Club in a Challenge last year. Advancing just felt right to the team.“We felt that we belonged in AA,” Adam Reiss, Makefield Highlands’ team captain, said. “Most of the guys at Makefield were private members at other places. We feel that we can compete. Once the tees are in the ground, no matter what anyone’s handicap is, you still have to go out there and play.” The thrill of a much-anticipated Division AA presence is tempered a bit by schedule. Makefield Highlands sits in Section 1 with defending champion and on-paper favorite Philadelphia Cricket Club as well as Scranton-area titans Glenmaura National Golf Club and Wyoming Valley. “Once I figured out the formula and realized who we were going against, it was like, ‘OK, let’s get off of the cloud for a minute,’” Reiss said. “There are probably going to be some bumps and bruises. Nobody’s a cupcake when you’re at this level. There isn’t a cream puff match. At the end of the day, all of the teams deserve to be there. Obviously they all played good golf to get there.” Makefield Highlands will open its 2016 campaign against Philadelphia Cricket. With a mixture of Golf Association of Philadelphia veterans such as Ed Erickson, Michael Minter and Andy Strock, the team is accustomed to a high level of competition. Reiss points to its youngest player — 25-year-old Patrick Welsh — as another key contributor. “He has been playing some really good golf so far this season. I’m looking forward to seeing how he does,” Reiss said. “We have a lot of guys on our team who have been playing in GAP for a long time. We sort of know what we’re up against, but at the same time I wouldn’t say that there’s fear. We’re looking forward to the challenge to see how we stack up.”
Golf Association of Philadelphia
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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.
