17th Brewer Cup: Stroke-Play Qualifying

Little Mill’s Hyland takes Super-Senior medal

ELVERSON, Pa. – A total of 25 years have passed since Neil Gordon became a GAP Major champion.

His triumph at Indian Valley Country Club in the 1999 GAP Middle-Amateur Championship is still prevalent in his mind just like the imprint the game of golf has on his life.

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“I practice much more it seems these days than I did when I was younger,” Gordon, who is a managing partner of Secure Planning Group, a financial planning company, said. “Now golf pretty much encompasses my life. I take it very seriously. I try to have fun but love the competition. I enter every tournament I can and I am fortunate my job allows flexibility. My office is close to the club so if I can get there for 20 minutes, I will.”

Gordon made his foray into the GAP senior circuit just a year ago. Tuesday at French Creek Golf Club (par 71, 6,169 yards), Gordon channeled his past prowess.

His round of 69 earned him medalist honors and the No. 1 seed in the Senior Division of the 17th Brewer Cup. He will take on No. 16 seed Mike Sanfrancesco of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club in the Round of 16 at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Play was halted for 2 hours due to dangerous weather in the area.

“I have been feeling good,” Gordon, 56, of Warrington, Pa., said. “It’s funny, my wife has been getting lessons so I go and listen to what she is being taught. So you remember certain things and it has been helpful for my game. Going back to my old putter has helped my game on the greens. She was learning about hinge in the golf swing and ever since I heard the tip, I have been striking the ball a lot better.”

Gordon put on a ball-striking clinic on a layout he hasn’t seen before. The Gil Hanse design packs a punch with its sloped greens and elevation changes. 

“I am a visual player,” Gordon, of Doylestown Country Club, said. “So I am using my rangefinder on each hole just plodding along. I bring my driver, 4-wood and 2-hybrid to each tee and decide from there. Not knowing where the trouble sometimes is helpful because you are focused on making a good swing and not about the negative. I play my best when I just focus on each shot and go from hole to hole.”

Gordon got off to a hot start and went out in 1 under. He stung a 4-hybrid from 220 yards to 12 feet on No. 4 (par 5, 485 yards) for an easy two-putt birdie. He canned a 25-footer for a red figure on No. 8 (par 3, 164 yards).

His highlight of the day came on No. 11 (par 5, 460 yards). Gordon launched a lovely 7-iron from 175 yards over the infamous rock wall fronting the green to 15 feet. He would bury the eagle putt. 

A bogey on No. 15 (par 4, 287 yards) pushed Gordon to his magic number. Wednesday, the format will change and so will his attitude.

“When I am playing well, I make a lot of pars and not a lot of birdies,” Gordon said. “In the last few weeks, I have started making more birdies. Heading into match play, I know I can be more aggressive because I am making solid contact. If you don’t give away holes in match play, there’s a good chance you’ll win the match.”

Gordon finds solace in where he’s come in the game. What he’s pushing for is another GAP Major. If he wins the Brewer Cup this week, he would be the third player to win the GAP Middle-Amateur and the Brewer Cup. LedgeRock Golf Club’s Chip Lutz and Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s David Brookreson are the others.

“In reality, I am afraid of getting old,” Gordon said. “I don’t want to lose what I have. I know that it is coming, but I just want to keep playing as much as I can. Technology has made the game much easier for everyone. Back in the days of persimmons and balata balls, getting to the top of the hill at the first at Doylestown was an accomplishment. Now it is reachable in two. As long as I am having fun, I don’t know what else I would do.”

Super-Senior Division

Tom Hyland has had an unconventional source of income. Since 1978, he’s made his living playing blackjack professionally in casinos all over the country.  

“I thought I would do this to make a little money and then get a job,” Hyland, 67, of Marlton, N.J., said. “I thought I might be a teacher or something and then it just snowballed and I kept going.”

Since starting, Hyland has experienced good and bad days at the table. Presently, he averages between five and six hours a week at the casino in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

“People think you win all the time. It’s a real roller coaster with big losses and big wins. You only have a real small edge,” Hyland said. “I’ve stuck with it [and] it’s been good. It supports my golf habit.”   

On Tuesday, the Little Mill Country Club member chose grass over felt and beat the field with a 1-under-par 70 to take medalist honors in the Brewer Cup Super-Senior Division (par 71, 5,886 yards) Tuesday at French Creek.

“The setup is good for me. If they set the course up short enough, sometimes I play a decent round,” Hyland said. “It’s great [to be medalist]. I figure I’m not going to have too many more highlights in my golf career, so I’ll take anything. This was a total surprise.” 

In addition to the day’s medalist performance, Hyland has had success within GAP’s Senior and Super-Senior ranks. His résumé includes wins in the Senior Division of the 2018 Tournament of Champions, which was also held at French Creek, as well as making the semifinals in the Super-Senior Division of the 2022 Brewer Cup.

“I just play a lot of tournaments. If I play badly in a tournament there’s always another one coming up, so I try to keep getting better and not get worse,” Hyland said. “I like the Brewer Cup, it’s one of my favorite events. I’ve played it virtually every year.” 

Hitting the ball on line and staying out of trouble have been aspects of Hyland’s game he feels keep him competitive. 

Hyland said his game struggled in the early part of the season. The perennial possessor of two putters in his normal collection of clubs, including a left-handed one, has changed his strategy to feature a single right-handed one.

“I got really bad with the left one. I used to putt a lot of short ones left-handed, but I got really bad with the left hand in the last year or so,” Hyland said. “I’ve abandoned that for now.”

Hyland went out in even-par 35, a single bogey on No. 7 (par 4, 343 yards) occluded an otherwise perfect card. The Hyland highlight reel featured an “unforgettable” par on No. 14 (par 4, 349 yards) after falling backward into the fescue while hitting a recovery shot. After regaining his footing, he went on to stripe a 6-iron from 159 yards to four feet. He got to the magic number with a birdie on No. 16 (par 5, 490 yards) after his 40-foot putt from the fairway jingled the bottom of the cup.

Hyland agrees that golf and blackjack both require focus and patience.

“I don’t really get upset out on the course,” Hyland said. “You might have 25 hands in a row and the dealer beats you every time. You can’t get upset, so that’s something that is similar. I’m usually fairly even-keeled out there [on the golf course].” 

Hyland assumes the No. 1 seed heading into the Quarterfinals. He will face No. 8 seed Gary Daniels of Applebrook Golf Club at 9 a.m. Wednesday. 

“I’d love to do well in this event,” Hyland said. “There’s a lot of good players. I don’t expect to win, but it would be nice to win.”  

The Brewer Cup is named in honor of O. Gordon Brewer, Jr., the former president of Pine Valley Golf Club. He is a two-time U.S. Senior Amateur Champion and veteran of 42 USGA Championships. He’s captured two Golf Association of Philadelphia Amateur Championship titles (1967, 1976), a GAP Senior Amateur Championship crown (1997) and a Senior Player of the Year (1997) as well as countless invitational titles. He is a recipient of the USGA’s Bob Jones Award and a member of the GAP Hall of Fame.

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.