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| Cole Berger of White Manor Country Club finished in second place at the Berkshire Country Club Open Qualifier to advance to the 114th Open Championship July 18-19 at St. Davids Golf Club. |
Little Mill's Kwon medals in #GAPOpen Qualifier at Berkshire
READING, Pa.–Vince Kwon loves to take an easy stroll with his dog, Mickey, as much as he possibly can.
Wednesday in a #GAPOpen Qualifier at Berkshire Country Club (par 71, 6,381 yards), Kwon smoothly sauntered to a round of 4-under-par 67 and his first Golf Association of Philadelphia medalist honor.
| Scorecards
| History
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The Championship Proper, the 114th edition, takes place on July 18-19 at St. Davids Golf Club.
“I love to walk my dog Mickey and just stroll around,” said Kwon, 24, of Marlton, N.J. “He calms me down and is very enjoyable. Each time I come home, he always wants to do something. Whenever I have a bad round I will go home and he will make me happy. He is like my best friend.”
A total of 35 players qualified with the cutline ultimately finishing at 75.
Kwon got off to a sizzling start on No. 1 (par 5, 485 yards) after splitting the fairway with his driver. He then hit a 6-iron flag-high from 190 yards and converted a five-footer.
He then used his 54-degree wedge from 100 yards in the left fairway bunker on No. 2 (par 4, 314 yards) and rolled in another six-footer. Making those short putts was key throughout the day for Kwon.
“I have been working hard on my putting specifically between four and six feet,” said Kwon. “When I am out there practicing, I am grinding for three hours working on putts inside six feet that are straight and break both left to right and right to left. I hit 50 putts from each of those areas around the cup.”
Kwon added birdies on Nos. 8 (par 4, 302 yards) because of a smooth 54-degree wedge to 10 feet; 12 (par 5, 552 yards) as a result of tremendous touch around the green with his 54-degree wedge and 13 (par 4, 460 yards) after hitting a tight draw with a 9-iron from 160 yards in the left rough to seven feet.
Kwon’s final two circles on the card came on Nos. 15 (par 4, 460 yards) and 18 (par 4, 320 yards). After blistering a drive down the center on 15, Kwon hit 7-iron from 180 yards to four feet on the third tier of the green. Kwon said No. 15 was the highlight of the day for him.
Kwon continued his strong touch around the greens on 18 after hitting a driver just short of the green in the right rough. He then played a bump-and-run with his 54-degree wedge to seven feet. He rolled it in center cut to post 4 under.
But for Kwon this round, which included a total of six birdies and two bogeys, was unexpected. Especially with the struggles he has had off the tee with his driver recently. But at Berkshire, his driver was pure and reliable.
“Today, everything felt stress-free for some reason,” said Kwon, of Little Mill Country Club. “I’ve been struggling with my swing and I haven’t been striking the ball well at all. My driver was viciously hooking on me. But last week I found something and I have continued to grind and work on it.
“But when I had no confidence in it, I kept hitting it. I just powered through it and tried to double-cross it by trying to fade it. But today my driver was working beautifully.”
Kwon found something in the hands of Indian Spring Golf Course Director of Instruction Steve Sieracki. Kwon said Sieracki just simplified his thoughts and they mostly worked on his fundamentals.
“Shooting a score like this gives me a ton of confidence,” said Kwon. “Especially since I really wasn’t striking it solid or playing well. Being the medalist means a lot. It shows I can compete and play with these guys again. This puts my confidence back to where it usually is and I am excited to keep playing this summer.”
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Qualifiers
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Name,
club
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Score
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(a)
Vincent Kwon, Little Mill Country Club
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67
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(a)
Cole Berger, White Manor Country Club
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69
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Zack
Kempa, Chester Valley Golf Club
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70
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(a)
Kevin Kramarski, Riverton Country Club
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70
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|
(a)
Zachary Barbin, Loch Nairn Golf Club
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71
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|
(a)
John Foley, Raven's Claw Golf Club
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71
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(a)
Ryan Cass, Merchantville Country Club
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72
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Terry
Hatch, Hickory Valley Golf Club
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72
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(a)
Brock Kovach, LedgeRock Golf Club
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72
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Zac
Oakley, Waynesborough Country Club
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72
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(a) P.
Chet Walsh, Philadelphia Country Club
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72
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(a)
Oliver White, Stonewall
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72
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(a)
Ronald Yanoski, III, Glen Oak Country Club
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72
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(a)
Kyle Henofer, Indian Valley Country Club
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73
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(a)
William Howard, V, Applebrook Golf Club
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73
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Joseph
Kogelman, GOLFTEC Moorestown
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73
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Tom
Michaels, Berkshire Country Club
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73
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(a) Ron
Nattle, Jr., Philadelphia Publinks GA
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73
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Michael
Paukovits, St. Davids Golf Club
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73
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(a)
Steve Skurla, White Manor Country Club
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73
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(a)
Jason Wilson, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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73
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(a)
John Buliga, Yardley Country Club
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74
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(a)
Steve Cerbara, Jericho National Golf Club
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74
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(a)
Lukas Clark, Jericho National Golf Club
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74
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(a)
Michael Moffat, Lu Lu Country Club
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74
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(a)
Richard Riva, Bent Creek Country Club
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74
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(a)
David West, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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74
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(a)
R.J. Wren, LedgeRock Golf Club
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74
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(a)
Brett Brenner, Green Valley Country Club
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75
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(a)
Wills Montgomery, Bala Golf Club
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75
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Anthony
Napoletano, Golf Course at Glen Mills
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75
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(a)
Regan Papariello, St. Davids Golf Club
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75
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(a)
Ryan Rucinski, Fieldstone Golf Club
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75
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William
Sautter, Philadelphia Cricket Club
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75
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(a)
Eric Williams, Honesdale Golf Club
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75
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Failed
to qualify
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(a)
Jason Barkley, Moselem Springs Golf Club
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76
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John
Esher-Hagel, St. Davids Golf Club
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76
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(a)
Nicky Marrollo, Whitford Country Club
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76
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(a)
Ross Pilliod, LedgeRock Golf Club
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76
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(a)
Rocco Sgrillo, Philmont Country Club
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76
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Nathaniel
Short, Union League National Golf Club
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76
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(a)
Sumeet Arora, Honeybrook Golf Club
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77
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(a) Dan
Bernard, Aronimink Golf Club
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77
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(a)
Michael Cook, Applebrook Golf Club
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77
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(a)
Geoffrey Cooper, North Hills Country Club
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77
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Doug
Delaney, Union League National Golf Club
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77
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(a)
Matt Graeff, Manufacturers'Â Golf &
Country Club
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77
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(a)
Blake Hinckley, Wilmington Country Club
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77
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Eric
Kennedy, Overbrook Golf Club
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77
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(a)
Matt Kristick, Blue Bell Country Club
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77
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(a)
Peter Moran, Whitford Country Club
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77
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(a) Ed
Brown, Wild Quail Golf & Country Club
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78
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(a)
Alexander Butler, Bluestone Country Club
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78
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Scott
Chisholm, Rolling Green Golf Club
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78
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(a)
Michael Fagan, Philadelphia Publinks GA
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78
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(a)
Brian Isztwan, Huntingdon Valley Country Club
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78
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(a)
Conor Kerins, Rolling Green Golf Club
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78
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(a)
Mariano Medico, Fox Hill Country Club
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78
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(a)
Ryan O'Donnell, Rolling Green Golf Club
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78
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Eric
Schultz, Sunnybrook Golf Club
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78
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(a)
Brad Sokol, Green Valley Country Club
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78
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Andy
Watters, Talamore Country Club
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78
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(a)
Joseph Dulka, DuPont Country Club
|
79
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(a)
Shawn Lavin, Rolling Green Golf Club
|
79
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(a)
Greg Welsh, Talamore Country Club
|
79
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(a)
Jordan Cook, Waynesborough Country Club
|
80
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(a)
Hank Kovalcik, Trenton Country Club
|
80
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(a)
Robert Olseski, III, Applebrook Golf Club
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80
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(a)
Rich Thon, The Springhaven Club
|
80
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(a)
William Thornton, Jr., LedgeRock Golf Club
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80
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(a)
Brett Wallace, Kennett Square Golf & Country Club
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80
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Mark
Anderson, Philadelphia Cricket Club
|
81
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(a)
Scott Niggli, White Clay Creek Country Club
|
81
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(a)
Patrick Serfass, St. Davids Golf Club
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81
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(a)
Tianlin Zhang, White Clay Creek Country Club
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81
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(a)
Dylan Audi, LedgeRock Golf Club
|
82
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(a)
Charles Bernard, Aronimink Golf Club
|
82
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(a)
Dave Landau, Berkshire Country Club
|
82
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(a)
Andrew Simpson, PineCrest Country Club
|
82
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(a)
Mark Wachter, DuPont Country Club
|
82
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(a)
Kevin Maguire, Trump National Golf Club - Philadelphia
|
84
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|
(a)
Dominick Mancinelli, Glenmaura National Golf Club
|
84
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(a)
Logan Fuglestad, Jericho National Golf Club
|
86
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(a) Dan
Rudershausen, Kennett Square Golf & Country Club
|
86
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(a)
Tyler Ulrich, LedgeRock Golf Club
|
86
|
|
(a) Owen
Brown, Coatesville Country Club
|
87
|
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(a) Jh
Park, Blue Bell Country Club
|
88
|
|
(a)
Larry Gauger, Radnor Valley Country Club
|
89
|
|
(a)
Reed Huntzinger, Golden Oaks Golf Club
|
93
|
|
(a)
Mark Benevento, Jr., Greate Bay Country Club
|
WD
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(a)
Brandon Cassidy, Commonwealth National Golf Club
|
WD
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(a)
Andrew Wallace, Green Valley Country Club
|
WD
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(a)
Andreas Aivazoglou, Rolling Green Golf Club
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WD
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(a)
John Bradbeer, Merion Golf Club
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NS
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NS-no show; WD-withdrawal
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