MOHNTON, Pa. — The 18th Brewer Cup semifinals resemble a scene from an episode of “Fixer Upper.”
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Hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines see a room full of old-fashioned charm. As in two-time Brewer Cup Champion (2020-21) Jeff Frazier and 2024 medalist and semifinalist Neil Gordon. Another room, however, needs a fresh coat of paint. Bring in Senior Division rookie Ed Brown and relative GAP newcomer Brian Groff.
The figurative “Fixer Upper” guest stars posted two victories apiece Tuesday at a steamy and stormy LedgeRock Golf Club (par 72, 6,527 yards). Brown, who hails from Rehoboth Beach Country Club, and Groff, a Lancaster Country Club member, will square off at 7:30 a.m. The Frazier and Gordon match, a renewal of the 2024 Brewer Cup Quarterfinals, will follow.
“I’m a guy trying to find my place in the regional, national senior amateur rankings. I’m trying to find my way and see how far I can climb. This was a good step today,” Groff, 59, of Lancaster, Pa., said.
Groff dispatched Chris Storck, a two-time men’s champion (2021, 2024) at LedgeRock, in the Round of 16 before eliminating Jamie Slonis of Tavistock Country Club, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, in the quarterfinals, 2-up.
“I knew I had a tough match against Chris. He and I played together in the [2023 Pennsylvania Golf Association] Senior Amateur,” Groff said. “I was really happy to win, but I knew I didn’t have any time to rest. I thought, ‘I’m going to have to get it going here [against Slonis].’”
He sure did with victories on Nos. 10-12. Groff stuffed a gap wedge to two feet on No. 10 (par 3, 122 yards) and a 9-iron 138 yards to two feet on No. 11 (par 4, 397 yards). Both he and Slonis launched their drives into the right greenside bunker on No. 12 (par 4, 280 yards). Groff’s third shot — a nippy wedge from rough above the bunker — stopped at four feet. He cleaned up the par putt. A three-putt bogey for Slonis gave Groff a 2-up lead.
A pair of bad breaks forced a fumble. Groff’s 6-iron on No. 14 (par 3, 171 yards), despite calculated selection and exceptional execution, flew the green. A chiseled drive on No. 16 (par 4, 240 yards) appeared bound for the green. It ricocheted off the sidehill instead, leaving Groff with a challenging lie in the right greenside bunker. He and Slonis now stood tied, but not for long.
On No. 17 (par 4, 406 yards), Groff hit a choke-down hybrid from 185 yards to eight feet. Slonis missed the green with his approach and failed to get up-and-down for par.
“For me to hit that shot on No. 17, I think it took the wind out of him a little bit,” Groff said.
The wind that lifted Groff’s GAP sail came from good friend and fellow Lancaster member John Barry, the 2023 Senior Player of the Year. Not to mention a former Brewer Cup finalist (2021).
“He was instrumental in helping me find events, not just in GAP but state and national events. He said, ‘You’re good enough to do this.’ Am I? I don’t know because it’s been a while,” Groff, who fell in the Round of 16 in the Brewer Cup a year ago, said. “I wasn’t feeling like I was in that position to be competitive enough. My work required a lot of my attention. I found it was really hard for me to do. When I retired, I was like, ‘Let me set my mind to it.’ I’m trying to play better golf.”
Groff retired in November 2024 following a 31-year career at Trout CPA, where he was a partner. Competitive golf is now a full-time focus. It is an environment Groff knows well in Lancaster County. He is a former Lancaster County Golf Association Amateur (1986), Open (1997, 2005) and Senior (2022) Champion. He was that organization’s Golfer of the Year in 1997.
“This is kind of getting back in the flow, getting the juices flowing again. I want to find what it’s like to win again. It’s not like I forgot, but it would feel better if I had a couple more,” Groff said.
Brown, too, seeks a GAP breakthrough. He may find one at LedgeRock partly because of a putter change. He swapped a shiny L.A.B. putter for an Odyssey last gripped in 2020.
“During qualifying, I was lights out. Everything I looked at was going in,” Brown, 55, of Rehoboth Beach, Del., said. “I got uncomfortable because it’s been a while since I played that well. I was 5 under through 12, and that was good to feel. But I bet you I haven’t felt that in 15 years. It’s been a struggle bus.”
LedgeRock begs to differ. Brown defeated Olde Homestead Golf Club’s David Blichar, the 2022 Pennsylvania Senior Amateur Champion, 3&2 in the quarterfinals. He took Nos. 12 and 13 (par 5, 533 yards) with pars to move 2-up. Brown secured victory with a birdie on the 16th hole (par 4, 240 yards), where he hit a wedge 50 yards to two feet.
“Everybody I’ve talked to goes through purgatory, which is that 45 to 50-year-old range. You’re playing against the kids, playing 6,800 yards and beating your head against the wall,” Brown said. “I’ve been playing since college, but nothing formal, just [Delaware State Golf Association] events. I’ve really been looking forward to [golf in the Senior Division].”
Brown tied for 17th in the Francis B. Warner Cup and tied for 45th in the Frank H. Chapman Memorial Cup. The Warner Cup prompted another equipment change that’s paid dividends. Brown moved to a TaylorMade driver and 5-wood, clubs critical to success at LedgeRock.
Brown served as Rehoboth Beach Country Club’s superintendent from 1995-2006. He started there as an assistant in 1991. Brown today works in the insurance industry.
“I have to keep rolling it well, keep striking it well here. I have to stay out of the bunkers. They’re a one-shot penalty,” he said. “Whatever happens, happens. I like match play. It’s a more free game for me. The more I play, the more comfortable I get, especially in tournament conditions. And the golf course is great.”
In 2024, Gordon upended Frazier in 19 holes at French Creek Golf Club. He is responsible for one of the two losses (Joe Roeder, 2022) in Frazier’s Brewer Cup record (10–2).
“Obviously he’s a stud here in the city. I’ve played with Jeff a couple of times in the last year, so I’ve gotten to know him pretty well. I just know he’s a serious competitor, so I’ll just have to play my best,” Gordon, 57, of Warrington, Pa., said.
“This is awesome, even though my body is so run down right now. It’s a good feeling,” Frazier, 60, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., said.
Frazier downed P. Chet Walsh of Philadelphia Country Club, who medaled in the 1996 Philadelphia Amateur Championship, 2&1, in the quarterfinals. Gordon eliminated Thomas Gramigna of Tavistock Country Club, the 2010 GAP Middle-Amateur Champion, by the same margin.
“It’s a relief,” Frazier, a Carlisle Country Club member, said. “You should have seen what [Walsh] pulled on me down the stretch. He made a 40-footer on No. 15 to stay 1-down. He drove the green on No. 16, made a three-footer for birdie. I had to make a 15-footer to tie him.”
Frazier, a two-time Senior Player of the Year (2022, 2024), delivered the knockout punch on No. 17 (par 4, 406 yards). He and Walsh faced similar lines from the front portion of the imposing green. With honors, Frazier rolled his birdie attempt to eight inches. Walsh tallied three putts for bogey.
Gordon, too, saw his Brewer Cup fate sealed on Nos. 16 and 17. The former presented the perfect number — 240 yards — for his 4-wood.
“I typically hit the ball right-to-left. I aimed toward the fescue and tried to draw it back. I hit it right on. It came out [to eight feet],” Gordon, a Doylestown Country Club, said. He earned a conceded 2 after Gramigna hooked his tee shot into the fescue.
Then Mother Nature paused Gordon and his newfound 1-up advantage. Severe weather caused a 2 hour and 17-minute delay. Gordon waited. Thoughts of the 17th hole danced between glances at his phone.
“I know the ball isn’t going to go as far because it’s wet, so I just aim as far right as I could and tried to use the slope of the ground. [My tee shot] came out OK, and I had 194 yards, so I played it 210 uphill. I cut my 4-hybrid, and it came out great,” Gordon, the reigning Delaware Senior Amateur Champion, said.
Gordon rolled his ensuing birdie attempt from 16 feet to two inches. Gramigna, facing a 12-footer for par, then conceded Gordon’s 4, retrieved his ball mark and approached his opponent for a handshake.
“I just have to stay loose. If I can get through the semifinals, the final, it’s a matter of who can stay the most flexible and swing the best all day long. That’s how I look at it,” Gordon said.
NOTES
Play was suspended at 3:43 p.m. due to weather. It resumed at 6 p.m.
Round of 16
A Storck family reunion wasn’t among the tarot cards. Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Scott Storck succumbed to Gordon, 5&4. His brother Chris, a two-time men’s champion (2021, 2024) at LedgeRock, suffered a 1-up defeat at the hands of Groff, who hit a 54-degree wedge 89 yards to five feet for birdie on No. 18 (par 5, 557 yards).
Once GAP released the Round of 16 schedule, Bill Davis texted P. Chet Walsh: “Look forward to seeing you.”
“I didn’t look that closely because I didn’t have my glasses on. It wasn’t until I got home that I said, ‘Wait a minute. He and I are playing each other,’” Walsh, 60, of Wayne, Pa., said.
Davis and Walsh, lifelong friends and former Villanova University teammates, crossed paths in match play for the first time Tuesday. Walsh prevailed, 5&3.
From a golf standpoint, Davis (class of 1985) is different than his Wildcat days.
“He’s better today than he was in college because he was a hockey player playing golf,” Walsh said.
From a human standpoint, Walsh (class of 1987) is the same. “A hundred percent. Can’t get a word in,” Davis, 61, of Newtown Square, Pa., said. “He was really good then, and he stayed good.”
LedgeRock previously hosted the Brewer Cup in 2020. Carlisle Country Club’s Jeff Frazier defeated
Yardley Country Club’s Paul Rogowicz, 1-up, that year. A renewal occurred Tuesday. Same result.
Deadlocked on No. 18, Frazier roped a 4-hybrid 236 yards to four feet for eagle. Rogowicz’s 15-footer for birdie missed on the high side.
At the end of Day 2, the Semifinal matches for the Super-Senior Division of the 18th Brewer Cup at LedgeRock Golf Club (par 72, 6,154 yards) are set. A quartet of divisional debutants occupies the remaining bracket positions.
In morning matches Tuesday, No. 8 seed Bob Beck of Lehigh Country Club knocked off Stroke-Play Qualifying medalist and No. 1 seed David West of Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association, 2&1. It was a rematch of 2023 Brewer Cup Senior Final in which Beck was the victor. In a thrilling battle of Lancaster County, No. 5 seed Greg Osborne of Overlook Golf Course upended No. 4 seed Ron Weaver of Lancaster Country Club, 1-up.
On the south side of the bracket, No. 7 seed Steve Walczak of Wilmington Country Club bested No. 2 seed Joseph Weiscarger of Wyoming Valley Country Club, 2-up. Home-club hopeful, and No. 3 seed, Chip Lutz outlasted No. 6 seed Christopher Clauson of LuLu Country Club, 5&3.
Semifinal matches begin Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. with the Championship tilt to follow.
Beck, who won the Senior Division of the event in 2023 and 2016, is still settling into super-senior competition. He turned 65 in April.
“My body has changed a lot once I hit 64, and it started falling apart,” Beck, of Allentown, Pa., said. “I’m down 35 pounds and need to start getting used to it and feeling it.”
In his match against West, the only time Beck surrendered the lead was on No. 4 (par 3, 166 yards). He made a bogey to West’s par. He then answered with a par of his own on No. 5 (par 4, 412 yards) and back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6 (par 4, 375 yards) and 7 (par 5, 475 yards). On the former, he hit a 50-degree wedge from 95 yards to 12 feet. On the latter, he hit a 54-degree wedge from 86 yards to 15 feet.
“I was fortunate in the early part of the round to get a good enough lead,” Beck, who works for Stifel, a global wealth management and investment banking company, said. “I made a few putts early, and we kind of got sloppy with putts. If we had putted half decent, we could have had some real low scores.”
The beginning of the GAP Super-Senior season has been rough for Beck. He’s failed to break 80 in his past two GAP super-senior starts.
“I’ve been playing sloppy in pretty much everything,” Beck, who served on GAP’s Executive Committee from 2000-02, said. “On the driving range, I hit it the way I want to, and then the golf course changes my thought process.”
In Stroke-Play Qualifying Monday, he carded a 1-over-par 73. Having won the Brewer prior, perhaps a sense of tranquility has entered his mind.
“Somehow this event’s been taking care of me,” Beck said. “[I need to] try to go one hole at a time hitting good shots.”
Beck faces Osborne in the Semifinals at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Walczak found his way to the Super-Senior ranks after a conversation during his Round-of-16 match in the Senior Division of the Brewer Cup last year.
“I’m playing Jeff Frazier. Basically he said, ‘You need to play in the super-seniors, cause you need to play something you can win,’” Walczak, 68, who splits time between Greenville, Del. and Jupiter, Fla., said. “I said, ‘Alright, this is my fourth year I’m eligible for the super-seniors, I’ll give it a shot.’”
Heeding Frazier’s advice, he’s just two matches away from a Brewer Cup crown.
In his clash with Weiscarger, the reigning GAP/AGA Super-Senior Player of the Year, Walczak also abstained from giving up the lead. A Walczak par on the 394-yard, par-4 No. 17 was the turning point in the match. After teeing off with a 3-wood, he hit a 6-iron from 173 yards to 25 feet resulting in a 1-up lead. Weiscarger made bogey after missing the green with his approach. On No. 18 (par 4, 523 yards) Walczak hit the green in regulation with an eight-foot birdie putt remaining. Weiscarger’s downhill, 10-foot birdie attempt slid past the hole. He then conceded the match to Walczak.
“There weren’t a lot of halved holes, but there were a lot of birdies out there and a lot of good shots,” Walczak, who retired from his career in consumer marketing last year, said. “This could’ve gone either way. Joe is a very good player, I just happened to make some putts.”
Walczak is in no strange position as a semifinalist. He finished runner-up to Raymond Thompson of Overbrook Golf Club in the Senior Division of the Brewer Cup in 2018. He knows what it takes to go the distance.
“I think one of the challenges with match play is you still have to play your game,” Walczak said. “You still have to play each shot the best you can and not play the opponent. Then, whatever happens, happens. That’s the most important thing for me.“
Having already competed among the super-seniors for a few years, Walczak has amassed some divisional hardware. In 2023, he won Frank H. Chapman Cup Super Senior and the GAP/DSGA Super-Senior Championship.
“This is a really good golf course for me because I still have some length, and you can hit driver here,” Walczak said. “The best thing about playing the super seniors is the guys are competitive. They’re all pretty good, but they don’t take it too seriously. It’s a friendly competition.”
Walczak faces off against GAP Hall of Famer and two time Brewer Cup senior champion Chip Lutz (2014, 2011) at 7:52 a.m.
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 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.
Senior Division
Quarterfinals
8. Brian Groff, Lancaster CC d. 1. Jamie Slonis, Tavistock CC, 2-up
5. Ed Brown, Rehoboth Beach CC d.4. David Blichar, Olde Homestead GC, 3&2
10. Neil Gordon, Doylestown CC d. 15. Thomas Gramigna, Tavistock CC, 2&1
6. Jeff Frazier, Carlisle CC d. 3. P. Chet Walsh, Philadelphia CC, 2&1
Round of 16
1. Jamie Slonis, Tavistock CC d. 16. Joe Roeder, Merion GC, 2&1
8. Brian Groff, Lancaster CC d. 9. Chris Storck, LedgeRock GC, 1-up
4. David Blichar, Olde Homestead GC d. 13. Don Uhrig, LedgeRock GC, 4&3
5. Ed Brown, Rehoboth Beach CC d. 12. Kevin Kelly, Philadelphia Cricket Club, 1-up
15. Thomas Gramigna, Tavistock CC d. 2. Oscar Mestre, Overbrook GC, 20 holes
10. Neil Gordon, Doylestown CC d. 7. Scott Storck, Philadelphia Cricket Club, 5&4
3. P. Chet Walsh, Philadelphia CC d. 14. Bill Davis, Merion GC, 5&3
6. Jeff Frazier, Carlisle CC d. 11. Paul Rogowicz, Yardley CC, 1-up
Super-Senior Division
Quarterfinals
No. 8 Bob Beck, Lehigh Country Club, d. No. 1 David West, Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association, 2&1
No. 5 Gregory Osborne, Overlook Golf Course, d. No. 4 Ron Weaver, Lancaster Country Club, 1-up
No. 7 Steve Walczak, Wilmington Country Club, d. No. 2 Joseph Weiscarger, Wyoming Valley Country Club, 2-up
No. 3 Chip Lutz, LedgeRock Golf Club, d. No. 6 Christopher Clauson, LuLu Country Club, 5&3.
