123rd Patterson Cup: Day 2

Cowboy up: Stetson sweeps Patterson Cup, Silver Cross

PAOLI, Pa . – Hunter Stetson developed an affinity for fishing as a youngster growing up in Vermont. Wednesday at Waynesborough Country Club (par 71, 7,068 yards), the brawny ballstriker hooked a prized catch. Stetson reeled in the Joseph H. Patterson Cup, presented by Provident Bank, outlasting GAP’s 2025 master angler Drue Nicholas.

Stetson parred the third playoff (No. 2, par 4, 472 yards) hole in sudden-death while Nicholas made bogey. Nicholas was looking to make GAP history by becoming the first player to win the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship, Open Championship and Patterson Cup in one season.

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Stetson’s been grinding on his game looking to plant a flag in the GAP ground. His top prior Association accomplishment was a second-place tie in the 2023 Christman Cup, the junior stroke play championship.

“Winning this is a whole other level,” said Stetson, 19, of Newtown Square, Pa. and Aronimink Golf Club. “Just the feeling of knowing all the hard work has paid off. And knowing that I’m a good player and I can keep competing. Drue is an amazing player. I knew if I stuck to my gameplan and play the way I’ve been playing, the rest will be taken care of. All I can do is control what I can control at the end of the day.”

He is the seventh Aronimink member to capture the Patterson Cup, the first since R. Jay Sigel in 1986.

Stetson’s Patterson Cup performance resulted in another highly-regarded accolade: the Silver Cross Award. The Silver Cross is presented to the player with the lowest aggregate score in the qualifying rounds of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship and the Joseph H. Patterson Cup.

Ironically, the 1-2 finish mirrored the day. Stetson, a sophomore at North Carolina State University, finished at 3-under (352 total) with Nicholas checking in two shots behind.

In the Patterson Cup, Stetson, an Episcopal Academy graduate, entered the final two rounds of the 54-hole championship tied for the lead with Peyton Mussina of Williamsport Country Club at 3 under. Nicholas stood three shots back, tied for ninth.

“I was just happy to be in this position. If you told me coming into today that I would have had a shot, especially in a playoff, I would take it,” Nicholas, 23, of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. and Galloway National Golf Club. “I came up short, but I take it as a win considering where I was.”

Neither appeared destined for top billing after the first 27 holes of the day.

Mussina entered the last nine two strokes to the good.

Stetson and Nicholas were spinning their wheels.

But then …

Mussina started to falter. A few bad bounces and a few poor swings added up.

Stetson, in the same group, made a miraculous par save on No. 11 (par 4, 418 yards) canning a downhill, 24-footer from the back fringe. An easy double bogey turned into a par.

He followed that up by driving the green on No. 12 (par 4, 300 yards) and two-putting from 35 feet for birdie.

Mussina led Stetson by a shot.

Nicholas continued a sustained rally into the pacesetters. He birdied Nos. 10 (par 4, 455 yards), 11 and 13 (par 4, 440 yards). He added another on No. 16 (par 4, 431 yards) with a 6-iron from 170 yards to eight feet to get to 3 under.

Mussina bogeyed Nos. 14 (par 3, 153 yards) and 16.

Stetson knocked his third shot on No. 15 (par 5, 552 yards) from a minimal distance to a couple of feet for birdie. He moved out front at 4 under.

Nicholas, five groups ahead of Stetson, was 55 yards short, right of green in two shots on the closing No. 18 (par 5, 578 yards). A birdie pending. However, his pitch shot wasn’t crisp and the ensuing 25-footer up the hill dried up a couple feet short. Nicholas’ par put him in the clubhouse lead at 3 under.

Stetson rifled a boring 6-iron on No. 17 (par 3, 217 yards). It bounced into the left fringe and a murky lie.

Stetson poked at it with a putter only to watch it make a hard, right turn 20 feet from the hole. He made bogey to drop back to 3 under.

“It was an interesting play. I was in the first cut of rough up against the collar. If I take a lob wedge I’m either going to flub it short or end up all the way down the green,” said Stetson. “I thought I could pop it out and hit down on it but it came out so dead. I hit a good second putt, it just didn’t go in.”

The final hole provided Stetson with a chance at victory.

He had a similar distanced putt to Drue, albeit on a different line, and from the front collar. A few revolutions from going in, Stetson’s ball hit a pebble and came up a fraction short.

“Me and my caddie [Glenallen Thomas] picked out a good spot,” said Stetson. “I hit the spot so good, we picked out a pebble, and I rolled it right over the pebble. It slowed down the pace barely. Who knows what would have happened if I had moved that.”

Mussina, 22, of Muncy, Pa., a recent Penn College of Technology graduate, almost added his name to the playoff. He lipped out a chip from 20 yards for a would be eagle. His birdie tap-in placed him at 2 under.

In the playoff, both Nicholas and Stetson parred the first two holes, Nos. 2 (par 4, 472 yards) and 3 (par 4, 441 yards). The second time thru No. 2, both players found the fairway. But Nicholas blinked and flared a 3-iron from 218 yards into the right greenside bunker. Stetson knocked his 6-iron from 194 yards to 25 feet. Nicholas escaped the sand but his 12-footer for par rolled past the edge. Stetson jarred a championship three-footer ensued by clapping spectators and an emphatic fist pump.

“There were two things I was thinking heading into the playoff,” said Stetson. “One was, at the beginning of the day, if you told me I was going to be in a playoff, I was going to be super happy with that. Second, either way, I’m going to be part of history. Either Drue’s going to capture the Drue-slam or the other was I was going to win. So I came in knowing that I can play free and knowing that I can just play my game. Whatever the result is, it is. At the end of the day golf is fun.”

It’s a little more fun when you win, though.

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 130,000 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.

Provident Bank
Founded in Jersey City in 1839, Provident Bank is the oldest community-focused financial institution based in New Jersey and is the wholly owned subsidiary of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS). With assets of $24.05 billion as of December 31, 2024, Provident Bank offers a wide range of customized financial solutions for businesses and consumers with an exceptional customer experience delivered through its convenient network of 140 branches across New Jersey and parts of New York and Pennsylvania, via mobile and online banking, and from its customer contact center. The bank also provides fiduciary and wealth management services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Beacon Trust Company, and insurance services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Provident Protection Plus, Inc. To learn more about Provident Bank, go to www.provident.bank or call our customer contact center at 800.448.7768.