WILMINGTON, Del. – Kevin Lydon found himself with an hour drive to DuPont Country Club from his home in Doylestown, Pa. He reached a fork in the road.
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Blast his favorite tunes or get his mind right to play his best golf? Following his disappointing missed cut in the Philadelphia Amateur last week, he chose the latter.
As he put his car in drive, Dr. Bob Rotella’s audiobook version of “Golf is Not a Game of Perfect” like molasses, slowly soothed through his speakers.
“When I get into a funk, I try to remember all of the solid things I have done in golf and remind myself I can compete well in these events,” Lydon, 21, of Doylestown, Pa., said. “ I try to listen to that once and awhile. It helps me focus on how to control what I can control. It isn’t always perfect but for me the reminders help.”
Those key points of controlling controllables and mindset stuck with Lydon as he soared to medalist honors in U.S. Amateur Local Qualifying at DuPont Country Club (par 71, 7,055 yards) with a 66.
Play was suspended Thursday at 4:59 p.m. due to severe weather and course conditions. Play resumed at 10 a.m. Friday.
A total of 11 qualifying spots into Final Qualifying were available. The cutline stopped at even-par 71.
The 125th U.S. Amateur Championship will take place at The Olympic Club (Lake Course) in San Francisco, Calif. Aug. 11-17.
“I was just trying to stay in my own lane,” Lydon, of LuLu Country Club, said. “The last couple of rounds weren’t great. So I just threw out all expectations and I was trying to keep the ball in front of me. I wanted to hit a ton of greens and make pars.”
Starting on the back nine, Lydon made the turn in 3 under. His first trifecta of birdies started on No. 15 (par 4, 384 yards). He spun a gap wedge from 123 yards to 15 feet for his first red figure. He backed it up with a full-go lob wedge from 95 yards to three feet on No. 16 (par 4, 406 yards). He curled in a severe left-to-right slider from 12 feet on No. 17 (par 3, 213 yards) to round out his front nine.
A mixture of two bogeys and two birdies through his first six holes on his final nine left him feeling like he needed a little charge. He’d get it.
A canned 15-footer on No. 7 (par 5, 574 yards) that got him to 4 under. On No. 9 (par 4, 445 yards) Lydon was stymied by a steep lip in a left fairway bunker. He splashed a lob wedge from 86 yards to 20 feet. He capped off his 66 in style by knocking in the putt.
“I could really see the lines well,” Lydon said. “I was trusting the line and speed out there. I wasn’t trying to overthink it. I wanted to hit my lines and see what would happen.”
This is Lydon’s first time advancing through this multi-stage qualifier. Prior to 2024, U.S. Amateur qualifying required 36 holes in one day. It is now split up over Local Qualifying and Final Qualifying with two 18-hole events.
He is a rising senior at Drexel with a lot of motivation. He watched his teammate Drue Nicholas claim the Philadelphia Amateur at Aronimink Golf Club last Friday. Lydon said he will take his attitude and mindset to the next stage in hopes of reaching his first U.S. Amateur.
“Being at Drexel has been a huge help for me,” Lydon said. “It is so competitive there and you have to have a good mindset. There the mindset is to get after it. No time to hold back. You have to go. In these qualifiers you need to go for it. I felt I did that well.”
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.
Results | |
Name, city, state | Score |
Kevin Lydon, Doylestown, Pa. | 66 |
Hunter Stetson, Newtown Square, Pa. | 67 |
Daniel Suter, Gaithersburg, Md. | 68 |
Jackson Geyer, Havre De Grace, Md. | 69 |
Harry Dessel, Barrington, R.I. | 69 |
Eric Kim, Tenafly, N.J. | 70 |
Andy Butler, Philadelphia, Pa. | 70 |
David Colleran, Wayne, Pa. | 70 |
*Troy Vannucci, Marlton, N.J. | 71 |
*Joseph Wong, Porter Ranch, Calif. | 71 |
*Chris Vahey, Elkins Park, Pa. | 71 |
Alternates (in order) | |
*Joseph Morganti, Philadelphia, Pa. | 71 |
*Sean Shallat, Dix Hills, N.Y. | 71 |
Failed to qualify | |
*Caleb Taylor, Woodbine, Md. | 71 |
*Brandon Capone, Columbus, N.J. | 71 |
Rij Patel, Hunt Valley, Md. | 72 |
Paul Liebezeit, Berwyn, Pa. | 72 |
Brandyn Musser, Lancaster, Pa. | 72 |
Matthew Zerfass, Macungie, Pa. | 72 |
Casper Nerpin, Sweden | 72 |
Jackson Debusschere, Wallingford, Pa. | 72 |
Jake Rotelle, Honey Brook, Pa. | 72 |
Chris Waldmann, Malvern, Pa. | 72 |
Daniel Ayars, Millville, N.J. | 73 |
Nicolas Gaughan, West Chester, Pa. | 73 |
Jack Boyer, Greensboro, N.C. | 73 |
Julian Dugan, Cleveland, Ohio | 74 |
Liam Crowley, Wayne, Pa. | 74 |
Caleb Itzoe, Phoenix, Md. | 74 |
Charlie Barrickman, West Chester, Pa. | 74 |
Ward McHenry, Spring City, Pa. | 74 |
Matthew Homer, Wilmington, Del. | 74 |
Tim Carlson, Delmar, N.Y. | 74 |
Carter Nunez, South Orange, N.J. | 75 |
Robert Clemens, Aston, Pa. | 75 |
Ford Bennett, Boston, Mass. | 75 |
Tyler Debusschere, Wallingford, Pa. | 75 |
Jeffrey Homer, Wilmington, Del. | 75 |
Brian Isztwan, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. | 75 |
Jack Irons, Naples, Fla. | 75 |
Brandon Roche, Medford, N.J. | 75 |
Ian Lentz, Gainesville, Fla. | 75 |
Andrew Wallace, Narberth, Pa. | 75 |
Cole Berry, West Chester, Pa. | 75 |
Brock Kovach, Wyomissing, Pa. | 75 |
Zach Arsenault, Merchantville, N.J. | 75 |
Jackson Ketterson, Tewksbury Twp, N.J. | 75 |
Ian Larsen, Glenmoore, Pa. | 75 |
Matt Lafond, Blue Bell, Pa. | 76 |
Owen Love, Alexandria, Va. | 76 |
Andrea Birolini, Italy | 76 |
Daniel Mosher, North Canton, Ohio | 76 |
Brad McDermott, Wayne, Pa. | 76 |
Andrew Davenport, Haverford, Pa. | 76 |
Jack Crowley, Wayne, Pa. | 77 |
Travis Robertson, Tequesta, Fla. | 77 |
Connor Vanin, Philadelphia, Pa. | 77 |
Eddie Gebhardt, Swarthmore, Pa. | 77 |
Luca Rinaldi, Midlothian, Va. | 77 |
Samuel Feeney, West Chester, Pa. | 77 |
Matthew Barnes, Bethesda, Md. | 77 |
Samuel Mitchell, Pottstown, Pa. | 77 |
Robert Maguire, Pottstown, Pa. | 77 |
Mark Wachter, Wilmington, Del. | 77 |
Oliver White, Ambler, Pa. | 78 |
Alexander Hall, Schwenksville, Pa. | 78 |
Benjamin Saggers, West Chester, Pa. | 78 |
Mike O’Neil, Baltimore, Md. | 78 |
James Fooshe, Mclean, Va. | 78 |
Mario Battaglia, Latrobe, Pa. | 79 |
Paul Reilly, West Creek, N.J. | 79 |
Jackson Quinn, Leesburg, Va. | 79 |
Harrison Brown, Villanova, Pa. | 80 |
Luke Goldstock, N.Y., N.Y. | 80 |
Jonathan Breinich, Manheim, Pa. | 80 |
Beau Riviere, Philadelphia, Pa. | 80 |
Noah Schurman, Macungie, Pa. | 81 |
Nathan Guertler, Merchantville, N.J. | 81 |
James Spallone, Chevy Chase, Md. | 82 |
Tom Maguire, Hopewell, N.J. | 82 |
Ryan Sun, Morganville, N.J. | 82 |
Nate Gaeng, Crofton, Md. | 84 |
Corey Betham, Norristown, Pa. | 84 |
Peter Garno, Haverford, Pa. | WD |
Gregory Sadowski, Middle River, Md. | WD |
Marc Kunesch, Randolph, N.J. | WD |
Joshua Krumholz, Reading, Pa. | WD |
John Stevenson, Ambler, Pa. | NC |
Gerald Haftmann, Springfield, Pa. | NC |
John Curran, Philadelphia, Pa. | NC |
Wade Gaskins, Chevy Chase, Md. | NC |
Charlie Ferrise, Phoenixville, Pa. | NC |
Priyam Nayak, Iselin, N.J. | NC |
Andrew Hoagland, Philadelphia, Pa. | NC |
Quinn Egan, White Plains, N.Y. | NS |
Tyler Flagler, Sellersville, Pa. | NS |
Nicklaus Harrington, Chaplin, Conn. | DNF |
Matt Graeff, Blue Bell, Pa. | DNF |
Michael Lugiano, Jackson Township, Pa. | DNF |
Michael Keefe, Cleveland, Ohio | DNF |
Chase Forsyth, Youngstown, Ohio | DNF |
Tyler Mcgarry, Pittston, Pa. | DNF |
Milo Jezzeny, Furlong, Pa. | DNF |
Jaivir Pande, Houston, Texas | DNF |
Preston Devieux, Mountainside, N.J. | DNF |
Hank Kancher, Philadelphia, Pa. | DNF |
Jake Fazio, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. | DNF |
Thomas O’Neill, Oradell, N.J. | DNF |
Jake Micewski, Broomall, Pa. | DNF |
Aiden So, New York., N.Y. | DNF |
Jack Hamilton, Wayne, Pa. | DNF |
Alexander Kim, Conshohocken, Pa. | DNF |
Jimmy Wolfe, Pottstown, Pa. | DNF |
Stephen Cerbara, Langhorne, Pa. | DNF |
Mike Filler, Towson, Md. | DNF |
Adam Shorey, West Chester, Pa. | DNF |
P.J. Foley, Northfield, N.J. | DNF |
Anthony Bencardino, Newtown, Pa. | DNF |
* – determined in playoff | |
WD – withdraw | |
NC- no card | |
NS – no show | |
DNF – did not finish |