Shane McNamara thought he secured a cool birthday gift for his brother Brian.
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A Saturday round at Huntingdon Valley Country Club. A favorable weather forecast of mid-70s and sunny. Perfect.
Or so it seemed. Shane, representing Huntingdon Valley 5, opposed Brian, representing Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club 5, in Week One of the BMW GAP Team Matches the following day.
Uh oh. A free practice round.
“I kind of shot myself in the foot on having the clear advantage,” Shane, a Huntingdon Valley member since 2023, said. “[The birthday round] was scheduled well before GAP was scheduled.”
The birthday gift didn’t sway Sunday’s outcome. Shane swept Brian in the singles portion. However, Manufacturers’ 5 defeated Huntingdon Valley, 27.5–26.5.
Brian’s birthday, ironically, nearly negated a brotherly battle. His status for Week One “was kind of up in the air” prior to the matchup reveal.
“I knew I would be having some fun with some of my friends. Sometimes showing up to Team Matches a little hungover isn’t enjoyable. Usually it doesn’t go too well,” Brian, a Manufacturers’ member of eight years, 31, of Ambler, Pa., said. “It wasn’t until my brother said something that I jumped in so that we could potentially have the opportunity to play each other. I knew this was too good of an opportunity to turn down.”
“There are so many guys at Huntingdon Valley who play in the Team Matches. It’s very competitive, so up until the week before, you really don’t know where you’re going to fall in the ranks,” Shane, 28, of Abington, Pa., added. “I was planning to play for Team 4, but too many guys were better than me so I was bumped to Team 5. I had no idea they were playing Manufacturers’. I just knew I was playing first off at Huntingdon Valley. He said, ‘I’m the first off at Huntingdon Valley.’ It’s crazy how it happened.”
The McNamaras convene for one or two rounds a month during the typical season. The two team more often than not; the McNamaras most recently competed in the 2025 George W. Hoffner Memorial Invitational at Sandy Run Country Club.
The BMW GAP Team Matches marked the first meeting in an official competition.
“My brother and I are very competitive with one another. It’s shaped me into who I am today,” Shane, 28, of Abington, Pa., said. “I like to say they are blood matches because that’s how competitive we get with one another. Being together for so long, we know how to push each other’s button and dig under each other’s skin, but at the end of the day it’s all love.”
The McNamaras grew up at North Hills Country Club, where parents Brian and Andrea hold membership. Golf is family for the McNamaras; sisters Lauren and Natalie also play.
In celebration of Brian’s birthday, the McNamaras gathered for a family dinner Sunday night.
Wonder what topic headlined the table talk …
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 140,000 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.
