Bartolacci, Brookreson sit atop Sr. Amateur leaderboards

  NEW HOPE, Pa.–Thomas Bartolacci, Jr. of Saucon Valley CC and David Brookreson of Huntingdon Valley CC share the lead in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 39th Senior Amateur Championship. Both players carded a 1-under-par 71 in Tuesday’s opening round at Jericho National GC (par 72, 6,706 yards).

  Bartolacci, Jr. entered the opening round of his Senior Amateur Championship title defense hoping to put himself in a position for a run at a second straight crown. Eighteen holes later, Bartolacci exceeded those expectations and more.

  “You don’t want to embarrass yourself. You want to be competitive. I was hoping to just play fairly decent today and make an attempt to defend the title. That would have been nice,” said Bartolacci. “I’m very pleased. Maybe someone will shoot lower than that but I should be kind of in it and with 18 holes tomorrow anything can happen.”

 Last year, Bartolacci won a tightly contested Senior Amateur at The Springhaven Club. He edged five other players by a shot. If Bartolacci repeats, he would be the first to successfully defend his title since Allan Sussel of Squires GC, whom the Senior Amateur trophy is named in honor of, did in 1985-86.

  Bartolacci opened his round with a birdie on No. 1 (par 5, 559 yards) when he knocked a gap wedge from 100 yards to four feet but bogeyed two of the next three holes, No. 2 (par 3, 201 yards) with a three putt and No. 4 (par 4, 383 yards) after pushing his drive right, to fall back to 1 over. Bartolacci got a little fortunate on No. 7 (par 5, 520 yards) when he knocked a 6-iron from 160 yards to two feet for birdie and then added another birdie on No. 8 (par 4, 298 yards) with a gap wedge from 85 yards that stopped 15 feet away. Bartolacci made the turn in 1 under.

  “I got a couple of breaks on the front nine and got to 1-under par and kind of hung on,” said Bartloacci, 58, of Washington Crossing, Pa. “I got a good break on the seventh hole. I pushed my drive into the right bunker and you don’t want to go there. I didn’t hit a very good bunker shot and had 160 yards to the hole. I hit a good shot, but where that pin is, it hit perfectly on the green and released down to the hole. That’s one of the toughest pins on the course. It was a really a good break to get it that close. On No. 8, I pulled my drive but I stayed out of the bunker and made birdie.”

  On the back side, Bartolacci registered nine pars and hit eight greens in regulation to finish at 71. Bartlacci’s lone brush with a bogey came on No. 15 (par 3, 212 yards) where he drained a 10 footer to save par.

  Seeing Bartolacci’s name atop an event at Jericho National isn’t too surprising.

  He was a member at Jericho from 1999-2002.

  “It’s a great golf course. It’s a fair golf course,” said Bartolacci. “It’s gotten better over the years. They’ve done some great things with the bunkers and fescue. It’s a true links course. It’s supposed to play hard and fast. The vistas are great and it’s got some challenging shots.”

  Bartolacci will tee off alongside Brookreson in tomorrow’s second round. Brookreson, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., experienced a transformation in his play Tuesday, so to speak.

  “I haven’t been playing well. I started hitting the irons more solidly,” he said. “I made a couple of long putts, but still all four bogeys that I made were just off the edges of the green. I drove the ball extremely well.”

  Five birdies propelled Brookreson, 61, into red figures. His downhill 15-footer on No. 3 (par 4, 343 yards) found the base of the cup. Five holes later, he guided in a 3-footer after knocking a sand wedge 83 yards.

  After his drive put Brookreson 97 yards from the No. 10 (par 4, 434 yards) flagstick, the 2008 Brewer Cup Champion drilled a gap wedge to 61 feet and chipped in for birdie.

  “When I hit it, I thought it was perfect,” Brookreson said of the approach. “But I guess it was a little downwind, and I didn’t calculate that.”

  Brookreson sunk a strenuous 30-footer on No. 12 (par 3, 135 yards) after his 9-iron put him behind the flagstick. On the monstrous par 5, 517-yard 17th hole, he stuck a pitching wedge 60 yards to six feet and drained the ensuing birdie putt. Ultimately, Brookreson seemed to feel energized by his performance.

  “I just haven’t been hitting the ball solidly for a year and a half,” he said. “Something clicked (today), and all of a sudden, I started hitting irons the way I used to hit them. It might only be here for a day, because I don’t exactly know what happened. But it feels good. It always feels good.”

  Roc Irey of Lookaway GC trails both Bartolacci and Brookreson by a stroke. Gary Daniels of Saucon Valley CC, Robin McCool of Saucon Valley CC and Raymond Thompson of Overbrook GC each sit two strokes back. The second round begins at 8 a.m.

  Super Senior

  Jay Howson, Jr. of St. Davids GC leads the Super-Senior Division after carding a 1-over-par 73.

  “I missed one fairway off the tee, and that helped a lot,” Howson, of Malvern, Pa., said. “My putting was suspect. I missed two 3-footers and I had two 3-putts.”

  One of those 3-footers came on No. 2 (par 3, 170 yards). Howson nuked his tee shot a two-putted for bogey. But Howson, who currently leads the Super Senior Player of the Year standings, recovered by draining birdies on Nos. 12 (par 3, 109 yards) and 14 (par 5, 564 yards). His tight pitching wedge on No. 12 left Howson, 71, four inches shy of the cup. He sunk a 25-footer on No. 14 after sticking his pitching wedge 96 yards. Though he felt good about the way he competed, Howson aspires to “play a little better” tomorrow.”

  “You always leave a few out there,” he said. “I’m going to get to play with my good friend Charlie (McClaskey of Wyncote GC) tomorrow. We’re going to battle it out for about everything.”

  Howson and McClaskey, who registered a 2-over-par 74 Monday, are both vying for the Super Senior Silver Cross.