Bala’s McNeil finds comfort en route to 116th #PatCup lead

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.-Life has interrupted Scott McNeil’s golf game. As typical for anyone around McNeil’s age, 32, family and work have pushed golf down the priority list.

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 However, with those obligations under control, a quick swing lesson in tow and longtime friend Doug Havens on the bag after a health scare, a clear-minded McNeil returned to his former stomping grounds Wednesday – the top of a leaderboard.

  McNeil, winner of the 2015 Middle-Amateur Championship, carded a toasty 4-under-par 67 in the opening round of the 116th Joseph H. Patterson Cup at a sweltering Gulph Mills Golf Club (par 71, 6,501 yards).

  The long-hitting righty posted three birdies, an eagle and a bogey to land atop the scoreboard. A total of 12 players finished under par.

  The cut line fell at 75 with 68 players advancing to Day 2. The final group of McNeil, Joe Tigani and Campbell Wolf start at 11:30 a.m. Tigani of Fieldstone Golf Club, Wolf of Carlisle Country Club as well as Chris Ault of Yardley Country Club stand at 3 under. Defending champion Peter Bradbeer of Merion Golf Club missed the cut.

  “Today was very enjoyable,” McNeil, a member at Bala Golf Club and resident of Philadelphia, Pa., said. “To have Doug back on the bag and enjoy ourselves was all that mattered to me. He’s worried about me and I am worried about him when it is this hot. It helps that I am not worried about myself.” Havens is 73 years old.

  McNeil’s not worried, but his competition should be. His ability to get out of the house early for a quick lesson with Bala pro Chris Barletta resulted in better, sharper contact throughout his round.

  McNeil said Barletta noticed he wasn’t staying down through impact. That adjustment resulted in plenty of birdie opportunities today.

  On No. 1 (par 4, 422 yards), he converted a 30-foot birdie putt straight up the hill. Five straight pars followed before, on No. 7 (par 5, 498 yards), he blasted a 7-iron from 166 yards to three feet. He drained the downhill breaker. On No. 11 (par 4, 317 yards), McNeil’s drive landed next to the green. He chipped up to two-and-a-half feet for a 3. A bogey on No. 17 (par 3, 205 yards) came as the result of a poor tee shot before McNeil reached No. 18 (par 5, 430 yards) in two shots and two-putted from 30 feet.

  “I feel like it could get better tomorrow,” McNeil said of his swing. “My ball-striking has been average. Nothing terrible, nothing great. I had some good consistency and fewer mistakes today.

  “I had a lot of good looks that I wasn’t able to convert. The pins and greens are difficult. It is difficult to make everything you look at because the greens break so much. I got more looks than I have had recently and I don’t feel like there is a ton of trouble off the tee for me [here].”

  Ault, Tigani and Wolf are all a shot back.

  Wolf threatened McNeil’s top spot but double bogeyed No. 18 after sending his second shot long of the green. The 19-year-old from Mechanicsburg, Pa., who is heading to DePaul University in the days ahead, had six birdies, a bogey and that double. The Patterson also serves as the final two rounds of the Silver Cross (the Silver Cross is awarded to the player with the lowest aggregate score in the qualifying rounds of the Amateur Championship and the Patterson Cup.) Wolf stands one behind leader Ryan Rucinski of Hartefeld National.

  “I just wanted to make as many birdies as I could,” said Wolf, who like McNeil, has never played Gulph Mills before. “I’m trying to win the Silver Cross.”

  Tigani, 22, of Hockessin, Del., who was playing in his second ever Patterson Cup, had four birdies, an eagle and three bogeys. Ault, who made four birdies and a bogey, has good vibes at Gulph Mills. His last appearance in a Golf Association of Philadelphia Major at the club, the 2014 Middle-Amateur, resulted in a second-place finish.

  “I love this place,” Ault, 32, of Yardley, Pa., said. “It sets up well for me off the tee. It fits my eye really well because I like to fade the golf ball. It is fair but challenging. There is nothing I don’t like about it. Whenever I step on the course here I feel comfortable.”