21st Stroke Play Championship - The Golf Association of Philadelphia

Jul 15, 2024

21st Stroke Play Championship

Huntsville’s Werner wins in Scranton debut

CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. — What Nick Werner saw for the first time Monday, he clearly liked.

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Werner carded a 3-under-par 69 to capture the 21st Stroke Play Championship at the Country Club of Scranton (par 72, 6,785 yards). Quite the debut.

“I love it. The course is in really good shape,” Werner, 17, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., said. “It’s really beautiful here. It’s also very difficult. The greens, I heard from other people, that they’re very tricky, and I found that to be very true.”

Nick Werner

In four days, Werner, a rising senior at Wyoming Seminary College Prep School, will travel to Michigan to compete in his first national championship: the U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills. He viewed Monday as a tune-up.

“Just by looking online, I saw that [Country Club of Scranton] plays very similar to [Oakland Hills] in terms of the greens being difficult, the shaved edges. I figured I could work on hitting those tour shots around the greens,” Werner, a Huntsville Golf Club member, said. “Middle of the green isn’t always the worst spot to be. That’s what I’m taking away from this. I was playing smart golf in my opinion. I wasn’t playing too conservative. I wasn’t taking dumb lines off the tee.”

Werner’s Scranton orientation started as textbook. After splitting the fairway with a towering drive, the long-hitting lefty lifted a wedge 50 yards to four feet for birdie on No. 1 (par 4, 402 yards). The Scranton sight lines strained Werner’s momentum halfway through his round. A clean pick from the right fairway bunker on No. 9 (par 4, 353 yards) put Werner in peril — a swale some 70 feet from the flagstick. He three putted for bogey. Thinking more space existed left on No. 10 (par 4, 406 yards), Werner instead found fescue. He escaped with a 60-degree wedge, only to then miss a 15-footer for par.

A pair of par 5s granted Werner subpar salvation. A two-putt birdie unfolded on No. 12 (par 5, 484 yards) after Werner reached the green in two strokes with a 9-iron from 170 yards. Perhaps No. 14 (par 5, 530 yards) yielded his shot of the day. Well, Werner snapped a photo to memorialize it anyway.

Standing behind an imposing tree, Werner grabbed an 8-iron. High lie in the rough, hit it short of the green and hope it rolls. Maximum swing power initiated. Werner’s 8-iron from 220 yards stopped six feet from the hole location. He buried the eagle putt.

Werner capped his Scranton debut in style. As he approached No. 18 (par 5, 530 yards), Werner exclaimed, “This is awesome. Gorgeous hole.” The drive not so much. He steered it into right fairway bunker. Following extrication, Werner knocked a 50-degree wedge 135 yards to eight feet. Scranton’s contours, the 18th green a perfect case study, can either cripple or christen. It did the latter on this day. Werner buried the right-to-left breaker for birdie, which proved to be the decisive stroke.  

“I’ve been putting a lot of hard work in through the spring and summer. I’m happy with how my game is feeling going into next week,” Werner said.

Even though his USGA debut is days away, Werner doesn’t plan to rest. For starters, he teamed with Michael Lugiano, who will also compete in the U.S. Junior Amateur, in Huntsville’s Partners Championship over the weekend. The young guns, giving 10 shots back to the field, placed third. Werner plans on 18 holes at Huntsville the next three days.

Then the Michigan caravan embarks on the near nine-hour road trip. He and his father Joe will take turns behind the wheel.

“I will be studying [Oakland Hills] no doubt. That’s what I’ll be looking at [when I’m the passenger], doing prep,” Werner said.

By virtue of his Stroke Play Championship victory, Werner earned exemptions for the 2025 BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship and Joseph H. Patterson Cup.

Senior & Super Senior
A pair of Wyoming Valley Country Club members prevailed in playoffs.

Art Brunn, Jr. & Joseph Weiscarger

Art Brunn, Jr. defeated Jack Frost National Golf Club’s Bill Ianieri on the fourth playoff hole (No. 4, par 5, 490 yards) to capture the event’s Senior (par 72, 6,372 yards) title. Joseph Weiscarger edged Fox Hill Country Club’s Bob Gill to win the Super-Senior Division (par 72, 6,032 yards). Gill was unavailable for the playoff.

Brunn and Ianieri finished regulation tied at 1-over-par 73.

“It’s always nice to win. It was a long day,” Brunn, 57, of Hanover Township, Pa., said. “For me, I have a really bad [right] hip, a sciatic nerve injury. I’m hoping it gets better. It’s funny. For being injured, I’m playing better golf for when it’s not injured.”

On No. 4, Brunn, who also won the Senior title in 2017, faced a hanging lie on the precipice of the left fairway bunker. He laid up with a marvelous 5-iron to 25 yards short of the green. A crafty wedge left Brunn with a two-footer for birdie. Ianieri’s 20-footer to match drifted right.

A night to celebrate for the Brunn family. His daughter Arden won the Girls’ Division in the Lawler Junior Tour event at Elmhurst Country Club earlier in the day.

Playing in the penultimate group, Weiscarger, 66, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., managed to match Gill at 1-under-par 71.

“I’m very happy to do well enough to beat a talented field of Super-Senior golfers,” Weiscarger said. “Anytime you can come to the Country Club of Scranton and shoot near par, you feel fortunate. My hat’s off to Superintendent Aaron Girodano for doing a great job with the golf course. You had to respect the golf course. The greens were super but treacherous if you were out of position.”

The Stroke Play Championship is the premier individual championship in the Anthracite Golf Association arm of GAP. Country Club of Scranton has hosted the event for three consecutive years.

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 110,000 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
Amateur Division
Name, clubScore
Nick Werner, Huntsville Golf Club69
Mike Lynch, Country Club of Scranton70
Patrick Mitchell, Glenmaura National Golf Club70
Ryan Laudeman, Schuylkill Country Club73
Tyler McGarry, Huntsville Golf Club73
A.J. Donatoni, Fox Hill Country Club74
David Mecca, Wemberly Hills Golf Club75
Kevin Rossi, Green Pond Country Club75
Mike Bonavoglia, Elmhurst Country Club75
Cade Kelleher, Country Club of Scranton76
Doug Nardella, Elmhurst Country Club77
Thomas Murray, Country Club of Scranton77
Michael Ashcraft, Steel Club78
Eric Williams, Honesdale Golf Club78
Matt Crilley, Steel Club78
Juliano Nieto, Glenmaura National Golf Club79
Jonathan Wilson, Irem Country Club79
Cory Reighard, Honeybrook Golf Club79
Matt Mecca, USGA/GAP GC79
James Gardas, Glenmaura National Golf Club80
Christopher Haggerty, Country Club of Scranton80
Michael Grimes, StoneHedge Golf Assn.80
Will Gronlund, Bucknell Golf Club80
Grant Morse, Bala Golf Club81
Mark Novis, Lancaster Country Club81
Eric Farris, RiverCrest GC & Preserve81
Luke Morgan, Schuylkill Country Club81
Gus Steiger, Glenmaura National Golf Club82
Gershom Spengler, Country Club of Scranton82
Bart Tizio, Olde Homestead Golf Club82
Jason Considine, StoneHedge Golf Assn.82
Michael Lynch, Country Club of Scranton83
Gavin June, StoneHedge Golf Assn.83
James Egan, Glen Oak Country Club83
Alec Weisensee, Scotland Run Golf Club83
Chris Merce, USGA/GAP GC83
Michael Turano, USGA/GAP GC83
Tak Yoo, Glenmaura National Golf Club83
Kyle Foster, Schuylkill Country Club83
Mark Coassolo, Brookside CC of Allentown83
Michael Mitchell, Huntsville Golf Club83
Bryan Ranallo, StoneHedge Golf Assn.85
Damien LaRue, StoneHedge Golf Assn.85
Kyle Johnson, Honesdale Golf Club85
Cory Calvert, Country Club of Scranton85
Chris Esbenshade, Bent Creek Country Club85
Thomas Lynch, Country Club of Scranton86
Brett Garrison, Ed Oliver Golf Club86
Bill Mecca, French Creek Golf Club86
Brian Sokolowski, Mercer Oaks Golf Course86
Michael Warnitsky, LuLu Country Club86
Brett Herman, Bucknell Golf Club87
Connor Matteo, Blue Ridge Trail Golf Club87
Matt Bartkowski, Pocono Farms Country Club87
Peter Shamieh, Eagle Rock Resort87
Ryan Orcutt, Green Pond Country Club87
Leo Kollar, Amateur Golf Society87
Mike Haley, Fox Hill Country Club87
Scott Wullbrandt, USGA/GAP GC87
Brad Flickinger, Country Club of Scranton89
Benjamin Galko, Country Club of Scranton89
Steve Latos, The 1912 Club90
Josh Zelinsky, USGA/GAP GC90
Evan Carrubba, Country Club of Scranton90
Peter Walters, Talamore Country Club91
Robert Carris, Amateur Golf Society91
John Gower, USGA/GAP GC92
Conner Abel, Glen Oak Country Club92
Henry Ritchie, Philadelphia Cricket Club96
Baden Hancock, Country Club of Scranton96
Jackson Beers, St. Davids Golf Club97
Isaiah Caldwell, Royal Manchester Golf Links98
Karl Straw, Fairview Golf CourseWD
Eamon Evans, Glenmaura National Golf ClubWD
Senior Division
Name, clubScore
*Art Brunn, Wyoming Valley Country Club73
Bill Ianieri, Jack Frost National Golf Club73
Ken Bolcavage, Elkview Country Club74
Joe Jasinski, Steel Club74
Bob Andrejko, StoneHedge Golf Assn.76
David Blichar, Olde Homestead Golf Club76
Brian Hoban, Elmhurst Country Club77
Mark Bartkowski, Pocono Farms Country Club77
Joseph Orsulak, Olde Homestead Golf Club78
Harry Heck, Elkview Country Club79
Todd Vonderheid, Saucon Valley Country Club79
Rick Herman, Huntsville Golf Club80
Fran Hamm, Country Club of Scranton80
John Giori, Mercer Oaks Golf Course81
Alan Baglivo, Steel Club81
Robert Klem, Wemberly Hills Golf Club83
Kenneth Nestor, Sr., Country Club of Scranton88
Paul Gruzeski, Elkview Country Club89
Terrance Schmidt, USGA/GAP GC92
Manny Goncalves, Eagle Rock Resort98
Super-Senior Division
Name, clubScore
*Joseph Weiscarger, Wyoming Valley Country Club71
Bob Gill, Fox Hill Country Club71
Michael Vassil, Country Club of Scranton73
Tim Holland, Pocono Farms Country Club77
Jerry Dougherty, Scranton Canoe Club78
Tom White, Elmhurst Country Club79
Kerry Maloney, Country Club of Scranton79
Brian Corbett, Country Club of Scranton81
Michael Heck, Elkview Country Club82
Barry Westington, Scranton Canoe Club83
Walter Mikucki, Elkview Country Club85
Richard Berry, Wyoming Valley Country Club85
Walter Savitts, Wemberly Hills Golf Club85
Matthew Smith, Regents’ Glen Country Club86
Steve Mazur, StoneHedge Golf Assn.87
Ken Beard, Ed Oliver Golf Club93
Stanley Cuneo, Woodloch Springs95
Gordon Kent, Woodloch Springs98
David Rosso, USGA/GAP GC101
* — won in playoff
WD — withdrawal

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