51st Four-Ball Stroke Play Championship - The Golf Association of Philadelphia

Aug 31, 2022

51st Four-Ball Stroke Play Championship

Towson alums Baloga, Mandel prevail at Philmont

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. — Marc Mandel became the second individual to win the Four-Ball Stroke Play Championship three times Wednesday.

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The Philadelphia Cricket Club member paired with Chris Baloga to take the event’s 51st edition at Philmont Country Club (par 70, 6,407 yards). The team carded a 7-under-par 63.

Mandel and fellow Cricketeer Ryan Gelrod won the Four-Ball in consecutive years (2014-15). Blaise Giroso teamed with Davis Sezna to win the Four-Ball in 1985 and 1988. He and Jeff Stoneberger prevailed in 1983.

“Wow. That is cool,” a smiling Mandel said. “And [Gelrod] didn’t want to play with me anymore.”

A Baloga union made sense. Sure, the two teamed in last year’s Four-Ball Stroke Play Championship and finished a shot off the lead. Motivation spilled over. But the venue enticed, too.

“When I saw it was scheduled for Philmont, I was really looking forward to it. The first event Marc and I ever played in together was the North/South [a two-day better-ball event] they had here. We won that three years in a row,” Baloga, 39, of Towson, Md., said. “I hadn’t been here since [winning in 2010]. I was really looking forward to coming back and playing in it.”

Baloga channeled that enthusiasm into an opening birdie. He hit a wedge 85 yards to 20 feet on No. 1 (par 4, 383 yards). Baloga, the men’s golf coach at Loyola University Maryland, closed the team’s outward tour with a birdie as well: an up-and-in from 40 yards following a coolly cut 4-iron on No. 9 (par 5, 563 yards). Mandel sprinkled in a birdie on the par 3, 154-yard No. 3, where he left an 8-iron 15 feet above the flagstick.

The Baloga and Mandel team trailed clubhouse leaders Michael Boslet and Shane Edwards of Hawk Pointe Golf Club by two at the turn. Mandel quickly erased the deficit. On No. 10 (par 4, 329 yards), he hit a wedge 60 yards to 10 feet for birdie. Mandel’s 5-wood settled 15 feet below the hole location on No. 11 (par 3, 218 yards). He buried the uphill putt. On the gettable 13th hole (par 4, 283 yards), Mandel reached the green with a 3-wood and rolled two putts from 15 feet for birdie. He added insurance on No. 17 (par 3, 181 yards). Both Mandel and Baloga attacked a back hole location with crisp 7-irons. Baloga’s golf ball stopped two feet outside of Mandel’s. He narrowly missed a 12-footer. Mandel, gleaning a hint, made his 10-footer.

“I had a feeling [we were leading]. I just figured leave a bogey off the card,” Mandel, 40, of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., said.

Baloga and Mandel met at Towson University, where they both competed on the men’s golf team. Mandel graduated in 2004, Baloga in 2005. The two remained in touch and enhanced their golf bond over the years.

“Chris is coming up and playing in more GAP events,” Mandel said. “We’re both very similar. Chris is a better driver of the golf ball I’d say. We both have a really good mindset on the course. We’re both very comfortable playing golf with one another. The biggest thing is mentally, we complement each other very well.”

“I play with another friend of mine, Jeff Castle. For whatever reason, i’m not as comfortable playing golf with him. I feel like I’m going to let him down,” Baloga, a Briarwood Golf Club member, added. “With Marc and I, if we bogeyed the last two holes, we know we tried our best. There’s definitely a comfort level there.”

Their best was good enough Wednesday.

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 Association’s 330 Member Clubs and 90,000 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.

Gross results
Name, clubScore
Marc Mandel/Chris Baloga, Philadelphia Cricket Club/Briarwood Golf Club63
Michael Boslet/Shane Edwards, Hawk Pointe Golf Club65
Jonathan Wilson/Thomas Weir, Irem Country Club/Honeybrook Golf Club66
Liam Hart/Jack Larosa, Spring Mill Country Club/Yardley Country Club66
Ben Cooley/Billy Reube, Huntingdon Valley Country Club67
Ryan Richardson/Sean Flanigan, Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association/Sakima Country Club67
Voltaire Escalona/Nelson Hargrove, Philadelphia Cricket Club/Merion Golf Club67
Sean Torpey/Neil Gordon, Doylestown Country Club68
Carlos Ochoa/Adam Armagost, Little Mill Country Club68
Daniel Galbreath/Evan Galbreath, Huntingdon Valley Country Club/Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association68
Nick Madden/Christopher Pitts, LuLu Country Club/Tavistock Country Club68
Cory Meyer/Dicky Rhoads, Huntingdon Valley Country Club68
Jake Fazio/Stewart Rickenbach, Huntingdon Valley Country Club69
Kevin Maguire/Matt Normand, Laurel Creek Country Club69
Kyle Hutnik/Kyle Wambold, Lehigh Country Club/Allentown Municipal69
Michael Johnson/Kevin Davis, LuLu Country Club/Pinecrest Country Club70
Ari Flaisher/Greg Jarmas, Llanerch Country Club/The 1912 Club70
Larry Benedetto/Cabot Williams, Concord Country Club70
Jake Brnich/Stephen Defrancis, LuLu Country Club71
Jim Muehlbronner/Michael Shoup, Sandy Run Country Club71
Joe Arrante/Robert Bechtold, Newark Country Club/Fieldstone Golf Club71
Jim Gavaghan/John Nottage, Commonwealth National Golf Club71
Justin Yaskowski/Kevin Robertson, RiverCrest GC & Preserve71
Tim Wetzel/Richard Moyer, RiverCrest GC & Preserve71
Mark Wachter/Michael R. Brown, Jr. , DuPont Country Club/LuLu Country Club71
Brad Sokol/Alexander Maguire, Green Valley Country Club/Brookside Country Club71
Patrick McCusker/Joseph Rueter, Sandy Run Country Club71
Matt Grossman/Greg Wasserson, Green Valley Country Club71
Christopher Bell/Kevin Turner, Radnor Valley Country Club/Llanerch Country Club72
Jeffrey Miller/Stephen Scott, Kennett Square Golf & Country Club/Legacy Club at Woodcrest72
Mike Schwartz/Steve Myers, Philmont Country Club73
Dan Agoglia/G. Patrick Dougherty, Philadelphia Cricket Club73
Dylan Henry/Brent Glah, Talamore Country Club/Commonwealth National Golf Club73
Patrick Gattis/Mike Lam, Five Ponds Golf Club/Yardley Country Club73
Steve Owens/Christopher Thude, Philmont Country Club/Union League Golf Club at Torresdale74
Bob Winter/Mark Monkhouse, Pilgrim’s Oak Golf Course/Makefield Highlands Golf Club75
Matthew McCloskey/Alex Mayernik, Galloway National Golf Club/USGA/GAP GC75
Justin Forman/Matt Kratchwell, Scotland Run Golf Club75
Matt Ebbecke/Chris Roberts, Philmont Country Club75
Ken Beard/Mark Lefkof, Ed Oliver Golf Club76
Rob Albanese/Troy McCloskey, Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club77
Terrance Schmidt/Gerard Schmidt, Talamore Country Club/Philmont Country Club77
William Cregar/Ed Kahn, Little Mill Country Club77
Nick Peters/Chandlir Pinkham, York County Amateur Golf Association/Royal Manchester Golf Links78
Thomas DiGiulio/Stephen DiGiulio, Wedgwood Country Club/USGA/GAP GC79
Jason Marie/Matthew Miller, Five Ponds Golf Club/Golf Tour Greater Philadelphia79
George Crouse/David Bulman, Ed Oliver Golf Club/Jeffersonville Golf Club79
John Robinson/Peter Hansen, Radley Run Country Club/Lederach Golf Club80
Richard Karolczak/Jerry Davies, Maple Dale Country Club80
Rick Ottenbreit/Gerry McCloy, Flourtown Country Club81
Jian Zhang/Matt Sanderson, Inniscrone Golf Club/Ed Oliver Golf Club81
Bill Woodis/Mark Bonifacino, Ed Oliver Golf Club81
Robert Barth/Shawn Gallagher, Five Ponds Golf Club/Commonwealth National Golf Club82
James Barlow/Greg Wedemeyer, Doylestown Country Club/Spring Ford Country Club82
Joe Dellose/Brian Kocher, Ed Oliver Golf Club83
Mick Dunphy/Malachy Duffin, Flourtown Country Club87
Ryan Anderson/Philip Cerami, Ed Oliver Golf Club87
Evan Stagliano/Tim Burrell, Burlington Country ClubNC
Andrew Stagliano/Michael Stagliano, Burlington Country Club/Medford Village Country ClubNC
Net results
Name, clubScore
Michael Boslet/Shane Edwards, Hawk Pointe Golf Club60
Marc Mandel/Chris Baloga, Philadelphia Cricket Club/Briarwood Golf Club63
Jim Muehlbronner/Michael Shoup, Sandy Run Country Club64
Liam Hart/Jack Larosa, Spring Mill Country Club/Yardley Country Club64
Patrick Gattis/Mike Lam, Five Ponds Golf Club/Yardley Country Club64
Ken Beard/Mark Lefkof, Ed Oliver Golf Club65
Jason Marie/Matthew Miller, Five Ponds Golf Club/Golf Tour Greater Philadelphia65
Matt Ebbecke/Chris Roberts, Philmont Country Club65
Sean Torpey/Neil Gordon, Doylestown Country Club66
Carlos Ochoa/Adam Armagost, Little Mill Country Club66
Michael Johnson/Kevin Davis, LuLu Country Club/Pinecrest Country Club66
Terrance Schmidt/Gerard Schmidt, Talamore Country Club/Philmont Country Club66
Nick Madden/Christopher Pitts, LuLu Country Club/Tavistock Country Club66
Daniel Galbreath/Evan Galbreath, Huntingdon Valley Country Club/Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association66
Jian Zhang/Matt Sanderson, Inniscrone Golf Club/Ed Oliver Golf Club66
Cory Meyer/Dicky Rhoads, Huntingdon Valley Country Club66
Ari Flaisher/Greg Jarmas, Llanerch Country Club/The 1912 Club67
Ben Cooley/Billy Reube, Huntingdon Valley Country Club67
Joe Arrante/Robert Bechtold, Newark Country Club/Fieldstone Golf Club67
Ryan Richardson/Sean Flanigan, Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association/Sakima Country Club67
Jonathan Wilson/Thomas Weir, Irem Country Club/Honeybrook Golf Club67
Mike Schwartz/Steve Myers, Philmont Country Club68
Dan Agoglia/G. Patrick Dougherty, Philadelphia Cricket Club68
John Robinson/Peter Hansen, Radley Run Country Club/Lederach Golf Club68
Justin Yaskowski/Kevin Robertson, RiverCrest GC & Preserve68
Bob Winter/Mark Monkhouse, Pilgrim’s Oak Golf Course/Makefield Highlands Golf Club68
Jim Gavaghan/John Nottage, Commonwealth National Golf Club68
Tim Wetzel/Richard Moyer, RiverCrest GC & Preserve68
Brad Sokol/Alexander Maguire, Green Valley Country Club/Brookside Country Club68
Thomas DiGiulio/Stephen DiGiulio, Wedgwood Country Club/USGA/GAP GC69
Dylan Henry/Brent Glah, Talamore Country Club/Commonwealth National Golf Club69
Kevin Maguire/Matt Normand, Laurel Creek Country Club69
Mark Wachter/Michael R. Brown, Jr., DuPont Country Club/LuLu Country Club69
Patrick McCusker/Joseph Rueter, Sandy Run Country Club69
Larry Benedetto/Cabot Williams, Concord Country Club69
Jeffrey Miller/Stephen Scott, Kennett Square Golf & Country Club/Legacy Club at Woodcrest69
Kyle Hutnik/Kyle Wambold, Lehigh Country Club/Allentown Municipal69
Matt Grossman/Greg Wasserson, Green Valley Country Club69
Voltaire Escalona/Nelson Hargrove, Philadelphia Cricket Club/Merion Golf Club69
Jake Brnich/Stephen Defrancis, LuLu Country Club70
Jake Fazio/Stewart Rickenbach, Huntingdon Valley Country Club70
Rick Ottenbreit/Gerry McCloy, Flourtown Country Club70
Steve Owens/Christopher Thude, Philmont Country Club/Union League Golf Club at Torresdale70
Justin Forman/Matt Kratchwell, Scotland Run Golf Club70
Christopher Bell/Kevin Turner, Radnor Valley Country Club/Llanerch Country Club70
Joe Dellose/Brian Kocher, Ed Oliver Golf Club70
George Crouse/David Bulman, Ed Oliver Golf Club/Jeffersonville Golf Club71
Richard Karolczak/Jerry Davies, Maple Dale Country Club71
James Barlow/Greg Wedemeyer, Doylestown Country Club/Spring Ford Country Club72
Matthew McCloskey/Alex Mayernik, Galloway National Golf Club/USGA/GAP GC72
Bill Woodis/Mark Bonifacino, Ed Oliver Golf Club72
Ryan Anderson/Philip Cerami, Ed Oliver Golf Club72
William Cregar/Ed Kahn, Little Mill Country Club72
Rob Albanese/Troy McCloskey, Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club73
Nick Peters/Chandlir Pinkham, York County Amateur Golf Association/Royal Manchester Golf Links73
Robert Barth/Shawn Gallagher, Five Ponds Golf Club/Commonwealth National Golf Club73
Mick Dunphy/Malachy Duffin, Flourtown Country Club75
Evan Stagliano/Tim Burrell, Burlington Country ClubNC
Andrew Stagliano/Michael Stagliano, Burlington Country Club/Medford Village Country ClubNC
NC – no card

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