24th Stroke Play Championship

The Gill Thrill: Fox Hill youngster triumphs

DALLAS, Pa. — Liam Gill, at age 15, is a guppy in the GAP pond.

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Not only did he swim with the sharks Thursday; He surpassed the shiver. Gill carded a 3-under-par 69 to win the 24^th GAP/AGA Stroke Play Championship at a hazy and humid Huntsville Golf Club (par 72, 6,846 yards).

Past champions David Mecca (2023, 2025) of Country Club of Scranton and Eric Williams of Honesdale Golf Club (2016, 2020-22) finished a shot back at 70.

The Stroke Play Championship is the premier individual competition in the Anthracite region.

“It means a lot. I got a little nervous at the end, heart rate got up a little bit,” 15, of Swoyersville, Pa., said. “I tried to stay as cool as I could, take a couple of deep breathes.”

Gill’s pride hides under serious eyes. The emotion, though bubbled, is evident. Notes of congratulations— from friends, fellow competitors and his grandfather Bob, who introduced Gill to golf — flow as he relaxes on Huntsville’s back patio. Gill accepts each with grace and the occasional smirk. It’s a teenage thing.   

Three straight birdies made Gill a thing early. On No. 2 (par 4, 363 yards), he knocked a 50-degree wedge 115 yards to six feet. Gill’s 9-iron on the par 3, 163-yard No. 3 landed in the rough, only to be regurgitated to five feet. A birdie break of sorts. On No. 4 (par 4, 353 yards), Gill hit a 54-degree wedge 95 yards to 10 feet. He moved to under following a birdie on No. 11 (par 4, 430 yards), where Gill choked up on a 50-degree wedge from 118 yards and landed it 20 feet short of the putting surface. His golf ball rolled out to three feet.

Two shots clear of the field, five holes to go.

All of a sudden, disaster rises like a performing dolphin on No. 14 (par 5, 502 yards). Gill’s drive draws a funky lie in the right rough. He attempts to muscle a 4-iron, but inadvertently accelerates his posture through the downswing. His golf ball pays the price, detouring toward the trees. Haze from the Canadian wildfires prohibits a clear view on this day. Gill and his groupmates search. They find his golf ball, surrounded by fescue, with 30 seconds to spare.

Gill extricates to the green’s onramp. His chip spins out, but leaves Gill with a calming tap-in par.

Crisis averted. Momentarily.

On No. 15 (par 3, 196 yards), Gill somehow lets his 5-iron throw a tantrum, leaving the Fox Hill Country Club member behind a rock some 50 yards short of the green. He punches out. With 30 yards to cover, Gill flips onto the green, but the distance is dispiriting at 20 feet. His bogey putt drips over the edge.

“My short game has improved dramatically,” Gill, a rising sophomore at Holy Redeemer High School, said. “Holes that I think I am out of, I can hit a good chip shot, a good putt and they’re just saving me in these tournaments. I’m able to put good scores up.”

With Mecca and Williams lurking in the clubhouse, Gill tempted fate by pulling driver on Huntsville’s closer (par 4, 438 yards). The slightest miscue leaves one lost in the trees left or jailed by the trees right. Gill, however, executed his “best drive of the day.”

“I knew where I stood,” Gill, who also holds membership at Huntsville, said. “I’ve been hitting it better this summer. I just trusted, teed it low and hit a low draw.” Gill then hit a pitching wedge 110 yards to 12 feet and two putted for par.

Add the Stroke Play Championship to Gill’s summer achievements. He won the junior club championship at Fox Hill and gained the Round of 16 in the Junior Boys’ Championship, falling to Paul Reilly of Galloway National Golf Club in 19 holes. Gill teamed with his grandfather to win the 80^th John A. Allan Championship at Fox Hill.

“I knew my game was in a good spot. I was trying to keep playing well and try to go out there and put as low of a score out there as I can,” Gill said. “This will hopefully give me a lot more confidence to keep playing well.”

By virtue of his victory, Gill earned exemptions into the 2026 BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship and Joseph H. Patterson Cup.

Watch out, sharks.

Senior & Super Senior
Bill Ianieri retained his Senior Division (par 72, 6,366 yards) title. The Jack Frost National member carded a 2-under-par 70.

“I put in a lot of hard work, a lot of time on the range and the course,” Ianieri, 57, of Weatherly, Pa., said. “Every tournament, I am trying to get better.”

Ianieri, who spends three hours a day focusing on his golf game, cites a seven-hole stretch — Nos. 9-15 — as the day’s highlight. It included an eagle on No. 12 (par 5, 503 yards), where he launched a 7-wood from 210 yards to 12 feet.  

]As Joseph Weiscarger prepares for a 15-foot birdie putt, Richard Berry, his friend of 40 years, quips.

“He’s playing darts. I’m playing golf.”

A reference to Weiscarger’s pinpoint accuracy Thursday. The two-time reigning GAP/AGA Super-Senior Player of the Year carded a 5-under-par 67 to capture the event’s Super-Senior Division (par 72, 5,443 yards).

“I did hit a lot of good shots,” Weiscarger, 68, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., said. “I played conservative off the tees, hitting a long iron as often as I could to get within 150 yards. I relied more on my short irons and putting instead of getting in trouble with the driver.”

Weiscarger, a Wyoming Valley Country Club member, inked 30 (6 under) on his outward tour. On No. 1 (par 5, 477 yards), he knocked a wedge 50 yards to seven feet for birdie. He tallied three consecutive circles on Nos. 5-7: a pitching wedge to three feet on No. 5 (par 3, 110 yards), a 7-iron 147 yards to seven feet on No. 6 (par 4, 319 yards) and a 56-degree wedge 78 yards to seven feet on No. 7 (par 4, 333 yards). On the par 5, 454-yard No. 9, Weiscarger trimmed the distance with a drive that covered a nosey left fairway bunker. He then drilled a 5-iron 190 yards to 15 feet; Weiscarger canned the ensuing downhiller for eagle.

“Welcome Back” by John Sebastian played as Weiscarger secured the title. The sound serendipitous; Weiscarger previously won the Super-Senior Division in 2024.

Trophies, yes. Darts, no. Not yet anyway.

“Being that I’m retired and for the sake of socializing, I may get into a couple of dart leagues. But I’m not good at darts. I wish I was.”

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.