PINE HILL, N.J. – Each year Oscar Mestre saw the Brewer Cup on the GAP schedule, and his mind would start to race. The anxious overthought began. What if.
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The past GAP President (2021-23) has won a GAP Middle-Amateur (2002), Frank H. Chapman Cup (2018), Francis B. Warner Cup and Senior Silver Cross (2019), Super-Senior Amateur and Delaware Super-Senior (2025). But the Brewer Cup was the one he wanted most.
Not because it was missing. But because of the tournament namesake, O. Gordon Brewer, Jr.
Mestre claimed his white whale Wednesday at Trump National Golf Club – Philadelphia (par 71, 6,037 yards) in a 2&1 victory over 2022 Senior titlist Joe Roeder of Merion Golf Club. He wins the Super-Senior Division of the 19th Brewer Cup.
“This one is the tournament I didn’t want to go without winning,” Mestre, 66, of Berwyn, Pa., said. “It means so much because I have had a wonderful relationship with Gordon for a number of years. I started to think that I wanted to win this event too much. I have had chances to win this tournament, and not winning hurt me a little bit. Winning this tournament means the world to me.”
But Mestre wasn’t even supposed to make the final day. He was 4-down with six to play against Joe Russo of Wedgwood Country Club in the Quarterfinals. He won five of the last six holes to win 1-up. It was meant to be.
Wednesday, Brewer and his wife Gail followed competitors in the morning and afternoon. The stately GAP Hall of Famer greeted Mestre with a firm handshake after he closed out Roeder.
“The last few years we have played a match when I was in Florida at Bonita Bay Club, where he is a member,” Mestre said. “We have some friends in common. I still watch him grind. He is a wonderful example of a guy who cares. When he is your partner, you don’t want to let him down. I have a tremendous appreciation for who he is and what he has done in the game of golf.”
For nine holes, it looked like Mestre was going to chase Roeder to the parking lot early. The Overbrook Golf Club one-of-a-kind shot a bogey-free 2 under on the front to seize a 3-up lead. On No. 10 (par 4, 410 yards), Mestre completed the most unlikely Mongolian reversal from the depths of the Pine Hill pines. In jail, Mestre punched out with an 8-iron and executed a pitching wedge from 122 yards to four feet to win the hole. Roeder failed to save par from the right greenside bunker.
“I’m like every half-brained superstitious golfer in the world,” Mestre said. “If I get up big early, I hate it because all you can see in the back of your mind is the press release of your victory. When you have a big lead, the first thought is to not blow it. There’s fragility in all of us as human beings, which is why not all of us play golf for a living. I felt really good about my game. I was hitting really good shots. My ball striking was on point.”
His lead fell to 1-up after he bogeyed No. 16 (par 3, 176 yards). But after Roeder didn’t clear the waste area off the tee on No. 17 (par 4, 404 yards) all Mestre had to do was two-putt from 10 feet for victory.
“Any time you are competing for a trophy with Mr. Brewer’s name on it, it is special,” Roeder, 65, of Millsboro, Del., said. “I am lucky to already have my name on it. I would’ve liked to do it again. I love match play. I haven’t had my best in stroke-play events this year. It was a lot of fun to play Oscar. He exemplifies all of the great things Mr. Brewer represents. He’s a gentleman. He played great and made some ridiculous saves. I thought I was turning the match around but wasn’t able to get it done.”
Mestre stays young by mentoring the next generation of Overbrook youth at the club. He said there are times where the ages of the three kids he plays with on the weekends don’t add up to his age. But he’s grateful for the chance to offer guidance. Chris Lange, Andy and Ray Thompson, among others did that for him.
“There are mornings where you wake up and don’t have the energy,” Mestre said. “A lot of the guys I have played with throughout my life are still competing. We can enjoy each other’s company now as opposed to trying to run businesses and darting home from tournaments. I made myself a promise because of Ray Thompson. Ray died in 2017. I would always tell him I was done competing because I was weathered. Then every time at Overbrook he and Andy Thompson were practicing. I didn’t want to be the sissy man who stopped too early.”
It doesn’t look like Mestre is stopping any time soon.
Semifinals
Roeder knocked out No. 1 seed Glenn Smeraglio of LuLu Country Club, 1-up. He canned a seven-footer on the last (par 4, 355 yards) to advance to the Final.
“I definitely wanted to make it to the end, but sometimes that is the way the cookie crumbles,” Smeraglio, 66, of Oreland, Pa., said. “We gave each other holes back and forth. I didn’t make as many putts as I would have liked. Joe came down the last and made a birdie. All credit to him. He deserved it.”
Mestre made a second nine charge to take a 4&3 victory over No. 6 seed Doug Fedoryshyn of Applecross Country Club. Mestre closed out the match with an eight-footer on No. 15 (par 4, 401 yards). The pair halved the first eight holes with pars.
“It is such an honor to play in the Brewer Cup,” Fedoryshyn, 66, of Downingtown, Pa., said. “Losing to Oscar is disappointing but not surprising. When I three-putted No. 11 that got me off the game and then it was hard to come back from that. I am proud of how I played this week.”
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.
Final
7. Mestre d. 4. Roeder, 2&1
Semifinals
4. Joe Roeder, Merion GC d. 1. Glenn Smeraglio, LuLu CC, 1-up
7. Oscar Mestre, Overbrook GC d. 6. Doug Fedoryshyn, Applecross CC, 4&3
