19th Brewer Cup: Stroke-Play Qualifying

Frazier, Slonis take Senior top seeds

PINE HILL, N.J. – A public service announcement to the Brewer Cup Senior Match Play field: Be ready to bring it.

Senior stalwarts Jeff Frazier and Jamie Slonis, both on scorching heaters of late, co-medaled in the Senior Division of the 19^th Brewer Cup Monday at Trump National Golf Club – Philadelphia (par 71, 6,363 yards) with even-par 71s. By virtue of a blind draw, Jamie Slonis is seeded No. 1 and Jeff Frazier is No. 2.

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The cutline fell at 7-over 78 with a 3-for-1 playoff for the final match play spot. Brian Groff of Lancaster Country Club birdied the first playoff hole, No. 1 (par 5, 509 yards), to advance. He faces Slonis at 8 a.m. to open the first round of match play Tuesday. The quarterfinals will follow. The semifinals and final are slated for Wednesday.

The Brewer Cup was originally schedule for July 6-8 but torrential rains on Day One forced a reschedule.

The Senior circuit remained a trendy tribe. Frazier, last week, secured a second straight GAP Senior Amateur Championship and third consecutive Senior Silver Cross Award. He also clinched a third GAP Senior Player of the Year. Slonis has kept pace in a couple different venues. He advanced to match play of the U.S. Senior Amateur in late August. He followed that up with a victory in the New Jersey Golf Senior Amateur. He finished two strokes behind Frazier, and in third place, in the GAP Senior Amateur.

Slonis, 57, of Sewell, N.J., has been in rhythm since drawing into the U.S. Senior Amateur as an alternate.

“It is easier to keep [the momentum] when you are playing decent. I’ve had a good mind set,” said Slonis. “You keep going from one after the other. There hasn’t been a lapse. It’s been practice or golf for the last month.”

Slonis matched three birdies with three bogeys to finish level par on a day in which persistent, and at times gusty, winds wreaked havoc. His final birdie came on No. 15 (par 4, 405 yards) with a 5-iron from 191 yards stopped inches from the cup.

“I’ve played enough match play to draw on some good and bad experiences,” said Slonis. “Here it’s fairways and greens. It’s hard and you have to keep thre ball in play. The greens are soft and receptive so if you hit a good shot you re going to get rewarded.”

Slonis was also Brewer Cup medalist last year at LedgeRock Golf Club. He’ll look to amend for an early exit last year when he lost to Groff, 2-up, in the quarters.

Frazier enters the fray as defending champion and a three-time winner (2020-21, 2025). He’s also looking to make history as the first player to win all four GAP Senior Majors (Warner Cup – Senior, Chapman Cup – Senior, Brewer Cup, Senior Amateur Championship) in the same calendar year.

“If I’m teeing it up I’m trying to win and thinking I can win,” said Frazier, 61, of Mechanicsburg, Pa. “I love that pressure and trying to play your best under that pressure. It’s about trying to put pressure on them. They are trying to put pressure on you. Pressure is tough.”

He knows his name carries a little cache in these parts. “They know they have to bring it. That’s the way I look at it. Hopefully, I can bring it,” said Frazier, who also shared Brewer Cup medalist honors in 2021. “I’m looking forward to the challenge. This is a grind.”

Frazier, too, like Slonis carded three birdies and three bogeys. Highlights came on No. 9 (par 5, 493 yards) with a gap wedge from 101 yards to two feet for a birdie and on No. 14 (par 5, 510 yards) when he lifted a 54-degree wedge from 102 yards to three feet.

Smeraglio takes Super-Senior medal

Glenn Smeraglio’s trophy case is robust.

The steely competitor’s resume includes pairs of Joseph H. Patterson Cups (2008, 1998), Francis B. Warner Cups (2018, 2016), three Silver Cross Awards (2008, 2001, 2000) and a Senior Amateur Championship (2017). He’s also the reigning Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Super-Senior Player of the Year. 

On Monday, the LuLu Country Club member reminded the field of his pedigree. He carded a 1-over-par 72 to earn medalist honors in the Super-Senior Division of the 19th Brewer Cup at Trump National Golf Club – Philadelphia (par 71, 5,901 yards).

“I’m happy that I performed. I knew I was playing well,” Smeraglio, 66, of Oreland, Pa., said. “I wanted to make the Top 8 because there’s stuff on the line still. To be medalist is a bonus.”

The cutline stopped at 4-over-par 75. By nature of his medalist performance, Smeraglio assumes the No. 1 seed.

Trump Philly tested players with its parkland-style layout and demanding landing areas. The field scoring average was 82.44. 

“I drove it well all day,” Smeraglio said. “It set me up to score.” 

Smeraglio went out in even par. A pair of early birdies helped keep his card steady. On No. 1 (par 5, 470 yards), he hit a 9-wood from 203 yards to set up a 2-putt birdie. On No. 3 (par 4, 407 yards), he hit a 6-iron from 170 yards to three feet. 

A 10-footer for birdie coming in on No. 14 (par 5, 487 yards) by way of a 54-degree from 98 yards, got him to his final number. 

“I haven’t done well in the Brewer Cup at all,” Smeraglio said. “I know Mr. Brewer from playing in the Crump Cup. He’s such a quality gentleman and a great player. It would be inspiring to see if I could move forward [in match play.]” 

Smeraglio is closing in on the end of an exciting season. Earlier this summer, he captured the Senior Club Championship at LuLu. Later on, he finished tied for fifth in the Super-Senior Amateur Championship. A T3 finish in last week’s Senior Amateur Championship put Smeraglio in a position with additional implications. 

“I’m still trying for (Super-Senior) Player of the Year,” Smeraglio said. “Don [Donatoni] is in [match play]. I’m going to have to win some matches now.”

Such an honor has eluded him.

“I was second in Player of the Year, I don’t know how many times, to Mike McDermott for a long time. I wouldn’t mind getting one,” Smeraglio said.

Smeraglio currently leads the Super-Senior Player of the Year race. He’s ahead of nine-time Super-Senior Player of the Year award winner Don Donatoni of Hershey’s Mill Golf Club by 147.87 points. 

Ironically, Smeraglio will face No. 8 seed Donatoni in the first Super-Senior Round of 8 match Tuesday at 9 a.m. 

The steely competitor’s game is on the upswing within the last couple of years. In November of 2024, Smeraglio underwent a double knee replacement. Reluctant at first, severe pain in both knees eased his decision. 

“For five years I lived around bone on bone and everybody saw it, but I could still play golf. I wasn’t 100% committed to doing it,” Smeraglio said. “It was really hurting going up steps. It was really affecting my life.”

New knees didn’t keep him off the golf course long. He was playing again four months later. Smeraglio said new found strength in his left knee has led to more stability and stronger iron play.

“I love it,” Smeraglio said of still competing. “We all want to win, and I hate to loose as much as everyone else.” 

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 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.