41st Middle-Amateur Championship: Round One

Hughes and Kramarski out in front, 36-hole final day awaits

HORSHAM, Pa. – Sean Hughes and Kevin Kramarski, two New Jersey natives with differing GAP experiences, now have one thing in common.

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They share the Round One lead of the 41st Middle-Amateur Championship presented by NJM Insurance Group after rounds of 68 Tuesday at Commonwealth National Golf Club (par 71, 6,755 yards).

John Lalley, a 2023 BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship Semifinalist from Llanerch Country Club, sits in solo third after a round of 69.

Defending champion Dave Mecca of Wemberly Hills Golf Club is not in the field.

A total of 51 players made the cut. On Day Two, players will go off in twosomes. There will be no re-pair for the third round.

Kramarski, a long-time GAP competitor, and Hughes, playing in his first GAP Major, didn’t try to do too much at Commonwealth National. They kept the ball in play and made limited mistakes. 

“This was my first bogey-free round in competition,” Hughes said. “I didn’t find myself in too many precarious situations. I take it one shot at a time. The most stressful part of my round was having to make a five-footer for par. I was lagging a lot of putts close.”

The USGA/GAP GC member kicked it into gear on No. 4 (par 4, 370 yards) when he hit a gap wedge from 112 yards to inside three feet for his first red-figure of the day.

Back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 (par 4, 381 yards) and 8 (par 3, 103 yards) would get him to 3 under. He hit a gap wedge from 125 yards to eight feet on No. 7 and hit a 56-degree wedge to 20 feet on No. 8.

“I played a practice round last week,” Hughes, 26, Washington Township, N.J., said. “Commonwealth National really suits my eye. You are hitting a lot of fairway woods off the tee and I am quite confident with those clubs. If you hit the ball in play here, you have a chance to score.”

Hughes played collegiately at Rutgers University-Camden. His squad made the Division III National Championship in 2019, his senior year, by winning the North Eastern Athletic Conference.

Hughes’ skills have evolved since graduation. His scoring average in college was 80.3. His scoring average in GAP Majors: 68.

He said he owes a lot of his improvement to caddying at Pine Valley Golf Club the last four years.

“Caddying has really helped my ability to read greens and understand sightlines,” Hughes said. “You start to really learn what is important on the golf course.”

Kramarski has a long journey in GAP events. A mainstay since he was a junior, Kramarski has started to find his footing the last few years. Highlighted by a T7 in the 2022 Joseph H. Patterson Cup at St. Davids Golf Club and his first Compher Cup team appearance this year.

“I have never played Commonwealth before,” Kramarski, 27, of Moorestown, N.J., said. “I did a lot of prep work based on the GAP course flyover. I felt like I was able to do a good job of keeping my head on straight all day. I felt like my club selection off the tee was strong. I generally hit the ball straight and out here being in play is a must. Commonwealth tests your mental strength on each shot.”

Four birdies mixed with a bogey on No. 7 summed Kramarski’s scorecard. His bogey didn’t feel like one. 

“I’ve noticed that I have been keeping my blow up holes to a minimum,” Kramarski said. “Today on No. 7 I hit what I thought was a great 5-wood but it ended up in the penalty area. I scrambled from over the green to save bogey. In the past, I would have let that get to me. I hit the shot I wanted. It just didn’t work out.”

New this year, the Middle-Amateur Championship and the Joseph H. Patterson Cup expand from 36 to 54 holes. Each event will be listed on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and eligible for points.

The following GAP events already receive points in the WAGR Men’s Ranking: Brewer Cup (senior), BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship, Delaware Amateur Championship, Delaware Open Championship and Junior Boys’ Championship (junior).

“I am a huge fan of the changes to the tournament,” Kramarski said. “I don’t remember what my best WAGR rank was. I think it was in the 1500s. But then after a bit your ranking goes away when people pass you. I am hoping I have a good finish so I can get back to being listed in the WAGR rankings.”

Kramarski, a history buff, will look to make his own history Wednesday at Commonwealth National. He would be the first player from Moorestown Field Club to hoist a GAP Major title.

“The difference for me is being able to have more fun playing the game,” Kramarski said. “It’s bad to say that I don’t have any expectations, I just have tried to not put any pressure on myself. I want to enjoy it.”

Chris Lange of Overbrook Golf Club won the last time Commonwealth hosted the Middle-Amateur in 2006.

The Middle-Amateur Championship is open to individuals 25 years of age or older. 

A William Hyndman, III Player of the Year points event, the Middle-Amateur started in 1984, three years after the USGA created the U.S. Mid-Amateur as a formal championship for post-college amateurs. GAP followed suit with the USGA in creating a Middle-Amateur, but initially differed in its administration of the tournament in a couple of respects.

The most obvious difference was the age requirement. Prior to 2001, the GAP Middle-Amateur was only available to players 30 years of age or older.

The GAP Executive Committee reviewed and revised that age requirement in 2001 to match the USGA’s guidelines of 25 years of age or older for eligible individuals. It also, as previously mentioned, changed the format of the event to a two-day stroke play tournament with a cut to the low 70 players and ties after the first round. Furthermore, GAP lowered the handicap index requirement from 7.0 to 5.0 in 2023.

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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.