Sean Seese (center) is congratulated by a pair of caddies following his round at Huntingdon Valley.

Huntingdon Valley enjoys return to BMW GTM prominence

  When BMW GAP Team Matches Playoff action ended at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, Liam McGrath didn’t follow his fellow competitors into the clubhouse. He shook hands, offered the appropriate congratulations and walked from the 18th green to the driving range.

  “Got to keep practicing,” the 18-year-old said with a smile.

  McGrath’s ethic is typical of a youth regime that boosted Huntingdon Valley into the Playoff for the first time in six years. He and brother Conor, 16, represented the club’s first time. Huntingdon Valley also received key contributions from Ben Cooley, 22, and Kyle Martin, 22, to reach the final.

  “It’s been a great mixture of experience and the young guys coming up the ranks. They’re fearless and hit it a long way,” team member Michael Gregor, 53, of Ambler, Pa., said. “We love to compete obviously at Huntingdon Valley. It’s been fun to see and great to have.”

  Huntingdon Valley is the BMW GAP Team Matches gold standard. It holds a record 32 overall titles — the last coming in 2010. That pedigree isn’t lost on youngsters like Liam McGrath, a senior at the Academy of the New Church Secondary Schools.

  “It’s really special to be asked and play for the team,” Liam, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., said. “It’s been a great learning experience.”

  In the Playoff, Liam, playing the final group at Huntingdon Valley, grabbed three points to bring his team’s total to 28. Teammate Sean Seese swept all three of his matches, carding an even-par 70 with the usual match play concessions.

  “I played pretty well. I knew the guys I was playing against were going to be tough,” Seese, 32, of Rydal, Pa., said. “Anytime you’re playing a college kid (Little Mill’s Blaine Lafferty) is tough. Andy (Latowski of Philadelphia Cricket Club) is very good. I thought if I could get a point or two off him it’d be a success. Joe (Kerrigan, Jr. of Llanerch Country Club) was steady and kept it in play. The course was tough.”

  Seese closed with a brilliant birdie on the par 4 18th hole. Facing a middle right hole location, he hit a 7-iron 160 yards to 12 inches. He stood 1-up on the back nine against Kerrigan and Lafferty at the time.

  “It was nice to have a walk-off birdie,” Seese said. “I didn’t have a great record coming into today; I won one match and lost two.”

  Huntingdon Valley finished third in the Playoff with 50.5 points — 10 shy of Little Mill. The team’s 2016 run reaffirmed its place among the BMW GAP Team Matches elite.

  “It’s been great. I feel like we haven’t really been in the mix for a while,” Seese said. “We have some older guys on the team who are veterans. You never want to play them in a match because they’ll always fire a good number. We have four or five really top-tier players. You got to always hope they do their best.”

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 153 Full Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. 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.