| Media guide| History | Applebrook flyover |
The conjunctive Applebrook hints at what golfers hope to find come Aug. 7-8: a stream of red (figures, not fruit).
That’s when the 117th Joseph H. Patterson Cup presented by Callaway Golf unfolds at the Malvern, Pa. venue. It is GAP’s premier stroke-play championship and the final Major of the 2019 tournament season. The Patterson Cup is a two-day, 36-hole event.
Applebrook previously hosted the Patterson Cup in 2002, when both rounds took place in one day at two sites; Aronimink Golf Club served as the second host site. Tavistock Country Club’s Michael Tash won his second of three titles that year (1997, 2004).
Coincidentally, Pine Valley Golf Club’s Jeff Osberg, who currently leads the William Hyndman, III Player of the Year race, enters Applebrook seeking a third Patterson trophy (2010, 2016). If ambition comes to fruition, then he would join Tash and a trio of GAP Hall of Famers in Howard Everitt, W.B. McCullough, Jr. and Harold McFarland on a select list. William Hyndman, III holds the most Patterson Cup titles with 10.
“To win any GAP Major is an unbelievable accomplishment but to have a chance to win my third Patterson Cup would be extremely special,” Osberg, 35, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., said. “It would also mean another Silver Cross Award and put me in a pretty secure position for Player of the Year. All of those things are important to me and I will try to not get ahead of myself — just keep playing good golf and hopefully that takes care of those other things.”
The Patterson Cup also serves as the final two rounds of the Silver Cross Award., which is presented to the player with the lowest aggregate score in the qualifying rounds of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship and the Patterson Cup. Osberg leads RiverCrest Golf & Preserve’s Andrew Cornish and Loch Nairn Golf Club’s Zachary Barbin by three strokes. He won the Silver Cross Award on three occasions (2010, 2015-16).
To date, Osberg’s 2019 campaign is remarkable. He won the GAP Open Championship at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, earned runner-up honors in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Stonewall and posted a Top-10 finish in the Middle-Amateur Championship at Rolling Green Golf Club.
Now Osberg, a two-time William Hyndman, III Player of the Year (2015-16), will set foot on familiar and favorable turf. He garnered medalist honors in a 2012 U.S. Amateur Qualifier and qualified for the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Applebrook.
“I’m very excited for the Patterson to be at Applebrook, a venue I absolutely love,” Osberg said. “It is always in great shape. The greens are as pure as anywhere in Philly, and it’s a place I have had success in the past. I have my goals set high for the week and am looking to add another win to this season.”
Michael R. Brown, Jr., the Patterson Cup’s defending champion, wants to harvest those Applebrook vibes.
“Applebrook is one of my favorite courses in Philadelphia, no doubt. I love Applebrook, but I’ve never played well there,” Brown, 46, of Maple Shade, N.J., said. “Visually, the lines are a little off-putting to me, but I’m just going to try and keep it in front of me. I’ll play conservative and try to do things with the putter. That’s my plan.”
Brown is looking to become the first back-to-back Patterson victor since current Korn Ferry Tour professional Brandon Matthews (2012-13). He will tee off at 8:10 a.m. alongside Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Ben Cooley and LedgeRock Golf Club’s Grant Skyllas, runner-up in the 2014 Patterson Cup.
“There is an endless number of good players in this event. It’s going to be very difficult to repeat,” Brown, a Lu Lu Country Club member, said. “Thirty-six holes is a sprint, so there isn’t a lot of time for mistakes. I’m hoping that, like last year, I can hang around long enough for something good to happen.”
Other former titleholders in the Patterson Cup field include Peter Bradbeer of Merion Golf Club (2017), Cole Berman of Philadelphia Cricket Club (2014), Andrew Mason of Huntingdon Valley Country Club (2011), Tug Maude of Merion (2005), Jamie Slonis of Tavistock (2001), Greg O’Connor of Bellewood Country Club (2000), and Brad McFadden of Overbrook Golf Club (1992).
The second oldest Championship in the Golf Association of Philadelphia, the Joseph H. Patterson Cup memorializes a man who fostered the game in its infancy. Joseph Henry Patterson, a Philadelphia Cricket Club member, competed in the first out-of-town match played by a team of Philadelphians. Friends of Patterson donated the Cup, designed by J.E. Caldwell & Co., to the Association in 1900.
As always, both the public and media are welcome to attend.
Aside from offering live scoring on its website, the Association will provide Joseph H. Patterson Cup updates via its social media outlets. Follow @GAofPhilly on Twitter and Instagram. Use the #PattersonCup hashtag when posting.
Callaway Golf
Callaway Golf was founded in 1982 by the late Ely Callaway, a visionary entrepreneur who operated under a simple but profound business promise: Deliver Demonstrably Superior, Pleasingly Different products and services. That philosophy turned what was originally a boutique manufacturer of high-quality wedges and putters into the world’s largest maker of premium, performance golf products. The Callaway mission and vision has remained the same; we passionately pursue advanced, innovative technologies that help golfers of all abilities find more enjoyment from the game. Under the Callaway and Odyssey brands, Callaway manufactures and sells golf clubs and golf balls, and sells golf apparel, footwear and accessories in more than 110 countries worldwide.
GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The Association’s 274 Full Member Clubs and 75,000 individual members are spread across the Eastern half of Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey and Delaware. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
