The BMW GAP Team Matches Playoff is becoming a playground for a powerhouse trio.
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For the sixth straight iteration, LuLu Country Club 1 (3–0, 131.5 points), Huntingdon Valley Country Club 1 (3–0, 117.5 points) and Philadelphia Cricket Club 1 (3–0, 102 points) will be three of the final four teams to clash for the championship. The 1912 Club 1 (3–0, 113.5 points) is the new kid on the Playoff block
For the aforementioned trio, the titles alternated during that six-year span: Huntingdon Valley (2019, 2023), LuLu (2021, 2024) and Philadelphia Cricket (2023). The COVID-19 pandemic canceled the BMW GAP Team Matches in 2020.
The Playoff & Challenges is set for Saturday, May 10. Through the Challenges, teams have an opportunity to move from Division A to Division AA, and from Division B to A. A few Challenge Matches are delayed due to inclement weather. See below.
The BMW GAP Team Matches Playoff includes teams from Division AA, the event’s top tier. Three players of each participating club play at each venue. There is a catch here. Philadelphia Cricket Club will host the Truist Championship May 8-11. As a result, the Philadelphia Cricket team will use nearby Sunnybrook Golf Club as its home course for the Playoff, during which each player competes in a four-way match against one foe from another team.
It is the first appearance for The 1912 Club. It secured a Playoff berth with a 30–24 victory over Bent Creek Country Club (1–2, 70.5 points) in Week Three.
“There’s a lot of excitement amongst the team to have made it this far. Every year we go into the Team Matches with the hope of winning our Section and getting to the Playoff. To actually get there is a sense of accomplishment, but also a sense of the challenge ahead,” Gerard Rosato, The 1912 Club’s captain, said. “All three of those teams being in the final the last six years … it’s impressive those three clubs have been able to do that, knowing how competitive Division AA is. It always impresses me each and every year that Cricket, LuLu and Huntingdon Valley are there in the end.”
The 1912 Club advanced to Division AA in 2022. It finished the past two seasons with a 1–2 record, rallying at the end to retain AA status.
A hurrah of sorts nudged The 1912 Club past Bent Creek. On the road, team rookie John Barone won the back nine and ultimately his singles match against reigning GAP Middle-Amateur Champion Zak Drescher. Home heroes Scott McNeil and Erik Reisner continued their dominance of the first group. The duo swept the better-ball portion, giving it nine of nine better-ball points through three weeks.
“We wanted to get to the Playoff. We want to be competitive in the Playoff,” Rosato, 55, of Jeffersonville, Pa., said. “Yes, it was a goal to get there. If you asked all of the guys, it was not their end goal in the back of their mind. 1912 has a very talented group of players who have all had success on an individual level. It’s going to take every bit of it to play against those three teams. They are all loaded from 1-12.
“Our thought process throughout the matches has been everybody play as hard as they can, and let the chips fall. It will be the same in the Playoff. But again, three powerhouses is an understatement. It seems like every year those teams get deeper and deeper.”
Evidence is in the Playoff pudding.
Start with LuLu, the defending BMW GAP Team Matches champion. Given its unblemished record and sizable points advantage entering Week Three, a Playoff berth appeared all but official. LuLu made sure of it by dispatching Glenmaura National Golf Club (0–3, 60.5 points), 43.5–10.5.
“The title defense started a couple of months ago when you’re trying to kick the rust off and see who’s playing well,” Jim Sullivan, Jr., who heads LuLu’s captains committee for both its first and second teams, said. “It’s great to make it to the Playoff. We expect to get there, but you never really know. To be able to do it is a relief. It gets your mind really turned on.”
The LuLu team is on fire. It totaled the most points in Division with 131.5. Its average margin of victory: 33.6 points. The LuLu lineup included 16 individuals through three weeks. Depth and dominance.
“I know we rolled up the points this year, but I look at Huntingdon Valley’s lineup and think they’re very good from top to bottom,” Sullivan, 50, of Glenside, Pa., said. “[LuLu Country Club 2] played 1912 in Week Two. They beat us up pretty good. They’ll be a tough competitor. With Cricket playing at Sunnybrook, it takes away a little bit of their homefield advantage.”
Huntingdon Valley and Philadelphia Cricket both faced win-and-you’re-in scenarios in Week Three. Both took care of business. Huntingdon Valley defeated Merion Golf Club (2–1, 81.5 points), 37–17 while Philadelphia Cricket knocked off LedgeRock Golf Club (2–1, 95.5 points), 31.5–22.5.
“Everybody is so good on their team that regardless of how good our players are, things could go either way. You had to play well regardless of where you’re seeded. We happened to play better Sunday,” Andrew Mason, Huntingdon Valley’s captain, said.
Playing in the Nos. 3 and 4 spots at home, Andy Butler and Kyle Martin won all nine points for Huntingdon Valley. Ben Cooley, Stewart Rickenbach and Sean Seese swept their respective singles matches at Merion. For one week only, Huntingdon Valley benefited from the return of Patrick Isztwan, the 2024 BMW Philadelphia Amateur runner-up and reigning Silver Cross Award winner. He played in the No. 1 spot at home and grabbed 2.5 singles points in a match against Mike Davis, the 2015 Amateur runner-up. Isztwan will be unavailable for the Playoff; he is graduating from the University of Richmond.
“Everybody is really excited. We have a lot of guys playing really well right now. We’ve been hanging around the hoop and want to get another one across the line. We’re excited to go compete in the Playoff,” Mason, 36, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., said.
For Philadelphia Cricket, returning to the Playoff reflects a sigh of relief and releases a chance at redemption.
“I think we were all surprised and elated that we won on Sunday. That was a really good LedgeRock team,” Conrad Von Borsig, Philadelphia Cricket’s captain, said. “Knowing their lineup and knowing ours, I think the words were, ‘We’re going to have our hands full. It was good to see the victory. We’re very excited to get to the Final.”
Gregor Orlando and Andrew Curran, playing in the first group at home, set the tone with a clean nine-point haul. Marty McGuckin and Mark Benevento, Jr., playing in the last group at LedgeRock, assured a victory by combining for 5.5 singles points and three better-ball points.
Next comes a chance at reclamation.
“We finished last in the Playoff by a pretty wide margin, and it was pretty disappointing,” Von Borsig, 38, of Fort Washington, Pa., said. “Our team is good. I think we have more cohesion this year. We don’t necessarily have any more talent, so we have to mix things up to perform better. We’re going to get pretty wild with the lineup here. We’re going reverse psychology in a way. It’s a race to 50-plus points. It’s more of an underdog mentality than years past.”
More of a wrench, too, without its warm Wissahickon confines. But Philadelphia Cricket is prepared to play Sunnybrook as its home site.
“We have a Sunnybrook specialist hopefully coming in,” Von Borsig said. “We have a ton of experience there. I was happy we were able to secure it as a site. I think it will be great. I’m excited for everyone to play there.”
Challenge Matches
AA A
Overbrook 1 1-2 75.0 Manufacturers’ 1 1-2 77.5
Bent Creek 1 1-2 70.5 Waiting for seeding
North Hills 1 1-2 68.5 Waiting for seeding
Tavistock 1 1-2 67.5 Waiting for seeding
Glenmaura 1 0-3 60.5 Fieldstone 1 3-0 93.5
Saucon Valley 1 0-3 59.5 Scranton 1 3-0 96.0
Little Mill 1 0-3 59.0 Laurel Creek 1 3-0 97.5
Llanerch 1 0-3 50.0 Fox Hill 1 3-0 103
Teams waiting for seeding – Bellewood 1, Carlisle 1; Huntingdon Valley 2 or Greate Bay 1
A B
Huntsville 1 0-3 53.5 Riverton 1 3-0 126
Harrisburg 1 0-3 58.0 Blue Bell 1 3-0 117.5
Dupont 1 0-3 62.0 White Manor 1 3-0 116
Old York Road 1 0-3 68.5 Lu Lu 3 3-0 111.5
Torresdale 1 0-3 70.5 Waynesboro 1 3-0 106
Waiting for Seeding Burlington 1 3-0 104.5
Waiting for Seeding Spring Mill 1 3-0 97.5
Waiting for Seeding Sakima 1 3-0 94.5
Waiting for Seeding Chesapeake 1 3-0 92.5
Waiting for Seeding Bluestone 1 2.5-.5 97.5
Waiting for Seeding St. Davids 1 2-1 102.5
Waiting for Seeding Indian Valley 1 2-1 95.0
Waiting for Seeding Hershey 1 2-1 94.0
Waiting for Seeding Concord 1 2-1 91.5
Waiting for Seeding Glen Oak 1 2-1 88.0
Waiting for Seeding Makefield 1 2-1 87.0
Teams Waiting for seeding – Cedarbrook 1, Mercer Oaks 1, Merion 2, Greate Bay 1, Medford Village 1, Wilmington 1, Whitemarsh 1, Lancaster 1, Kennett 1, Elmhurst 1, Green Pond 1, Trump 1
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 organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 110,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
