NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Joe Tigani has been working on his GAP Major audition for a number of years.
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Flashes of relevance and keys of disappointment outline his composition.
“A cool story is my dad got me into golf when I was about seven years old,” Tigani said. “Then my mom wanted to say the same thing so she got me playing piano. I don’t play as much as I did in high school when I was playing recitals but I still do it for fun and it is a stress reliever.”
Tigani, the Fieldstone Golf Club member, finds himself in front of a new crowd. After a 36-hole war of attrition, Tigani is a quarterfinalist in the 125th BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Aronimink Golf Club (par 72, 7,016 yards).
“It is pretty cool,” Tigani, 29, of Hockessin, Del., said. “I don’t really feel I have done anything differently this year than year’s past. My game really has clicked this week. Once you get to match play, I feel that anything can happen. You only need to worry about one guy and not the entire field. I’ve just been sticking to my routine and seeing what happens.”
Tigani rallied with four birdies in his final six holes to oust The 1912 Club’s John Barone 2-up in the Round of 32. He birdied his final hole, No. 9 (par 5, 605 yards), to defeat Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Ben Cooley in the Round of 16, 1-up.
“A 36-hole day like this is something I haven’t experienced,” Tigani said. “The biggest challenge was having a huge adrenaline dump after winning my first match and then having to come back out and still be motivated to hit each shot really well. My second nine in the Round of 16 was not pretty but I managed to hang together and make it through. It’s knowing I have the shots and channeling that energy as much as I can.”
Tigani finished third in last year’s Delaware Open at Fieldstone, tied for sixth in the Joseph H. Patterson Cup and tied for ninth in the Silver Cross Award standings. His performances last year earned him the 19th position on the William Hyndman, III Player of the Year standings.
But in the Philadelphia Amateur, Tigani hasn’t had success. Coming into the Round of 32, Tigani was winless. He doubled that total Tuesday.
“How I measure success is whether I am giving it my all out there,” Tigani said. “You have good days and bad days out on the golf course. As long as I didn’t get in my head and beat myself up mentally out there, I consider that a good performance. That’s all you can do in the end.
“I feel like a little bit of an underdog especially since I don’t have the record in this event others may have. I know I can hit the shots and compete with pretty much anyone if my game is on.”
Fieldstone has pushed Tigani to better himself. After challenging into the AA division of the BMW GAP Team Matches this year, Fieldstone is becoming a sight of steady players. Blake Micholas, who is a Fieldstone member but also plays out of Kings Creek Country Club, made the Round of 16.
“I think my driving is the biggest strength of my game and Fieldstone plays a part of that,” Tigani said. “You have to be straight out there or you aren’t breaking 80. If you lock in off the tee there you can play better at more open courses. But still, being in the fairways here at Aronimink is so important.”
After squandering a 2-up lead with three to play heading to No. 9, his final hole, after starting the match on the back. He faced a 10-footer to win after Cooley left his birdie putt short. After reaching the 18th hole of the match in both instances, Tigani knew this might be his best shot to advance.
He’s another two wins away from playing for the shiny J. Wood Platt Trophy.
“It is so tough out here,” Tigani said. “After 35 holes, it is so easy to lose focus on one shot or putt and slap a putt six feet by. I was giving it everything I had on that putt. I didn’t want to keep going. I knew making that putt was important.”
Butler and Zerfass battle for Villanova pride
When Villanova University is brought up there are a couple things that come to mind. The Main Line and men’s basketball, to name a few things. Tuesday at the 125th BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Aronimink Golf Club (par 70, 7,016 yards) golf was the first thing that came to mind because former Wildcat Andy Butler and current Wildcat Matthew Zerfass faced off in the Round of 16 for a spot in the Quarterfinals.
Going into the matchup, the two gentlemen hadn’t met but did have something in common, they are both products of Villanova’s Head Golf Coach James Wilkes.
“It was cool to see Coach Wilkes on the putting green,” Butler said. “He came up and talked to both of us about the Nova connection and it was a nice moment.”
Butler is a mainstay on GAP’s Major circuit. He has been competing since his junior days. He defeated Cole Berman, 4&3, in the Round of 32 to advance.
“I chose Villanova because it was the right fit,” Butler, 29, of Philadelphia, Pa., said. “They wanted me and it is a great area for golf so it really worked out.”
On the flip side, Zerfass defeated Jeremy Wall in the Round of 32 to advance. He is going into his senior year at Villanova and is a finance major. Although academically he is going into his senior year, this past season was his first year at Villanova after transferring from St. Joseph’s University.
“[Villanova] was always a dream school of mine,” Zerfass, 21, of Macungie, Pa., said. “I loved the campus and I knew some of the coaches already, and when I got the opportunity to be in the business school and play golf it was one of the highlights of my life and I really wanted to go.”
When the two teed off, Butler started out ahead and was 3-up through the first eight holes.
“I was cruising along to start and was feeling really good,” Butler, a 2018 Villanova graduate, said. “But then I started missing some fairways and greens and this course gets really difficult when you can’t do those things and [Zerfass] came charging back.”
By the time they got to No. 12 (par 4, 466 yards), Zerfass had cut the lead to 1 down.
“Getting it back to one was big for me and I felt like I gave myself a chance,” Zerfass said. “Unfortunately on No. 12, I missed a short putt. That was demoralizing. Putting has been a struggle for me all week and it’s something I’m trying to improve on.”
After No. 12, Butler started to pull away and defeated the fellow Wildcat, 4&3.
“Putting was the strongest part of my game today,” Butler, who works in consulting for ZS, said. “I was visualizing my putts and really figured out where to aim. I was just trusting my lines and the ball was rolling great for me. It feels good to make it into the Quarterfinals, I haven’t gotten past this round the last couple of years, so coming into the match I knew I wanted to change that.”
These two represented Villanova golf in strong fashion and it won’t be the last time they meet. As it turns out, the two are playing together again next Thursday at DuPont Country Club in the U.S. Amateur Local Qualifying.
“I had an absolute blast playing with him today,” Zerfass said. “He’s a fantastic player, he putted phenomenally and he is very tough to play in a match play setting. I am looking forward to DuPont with him next 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 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.
