#BMWPhillyAm Day One - The Golf Association of Philadelphia

Jun 13, 2012

#BMWPhillyAm Day One

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Miscellaneous

White Manor’s Colbert splashes to medalist honors at 112th Amateur

  HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa.–Brian Colbert of White Manor Country Club made quite the splash in his first-ever Golf Association of Philadelphia Amateur Championship. Battling all day intermittent, and at times steady, rains, the 2012 Villanova University graduate traversed a soggy 36 holes of the 112th Amateur Championship Qualifier at Huntingdon Valley Country Club (par 70, 6,807 yards)/Torresdale-Frankford Country Club (par 70, 6,359 yards) in 2-under-par 138. Brandon Dalinka of The Ridge at Back Brook and Nelson Hargrove of Merion Golf Club tied for second place at 2-over-par 142. Hargrove is the No. 2 seed. Dalinka is seeded third. Defending champion Michael Hyland of Little Mill Country Club finished with a 146 total. He is the No. 12 seed.

  The first two rounds of match play are set for tomorrow. The Round of 32 begins at 8 a.m. with the Round of 16 to follow.

  The cutline for the 112-player field fell at 152 with seven players competing for the final two spots.

  Colbert, a Chicago native, earned a spot in the Amateur Championship based on an exemption as a qualifier for the 2011 U.S. Publinks Championship.

  “Not to sound cocky, I’m a no name around here, but not back home,” said Colbert, 22, a business major. He lives in Bryn Mawr, Pa. “I’ve been around Philadelphia golf for four years at Villanova. To do this in my first, and probably last Amateur, is cool. I played steady all day. I made no big mistakes. It was fairways and greens pretty much.”

  The odds were stacked against Colbert adding his surname to the regal list of Amateur qualifying medalists on a few fronts. Start with the weather. Add a dash of he’s never seen Torresdale-Frankford before and was playing Huntingdon Valley for the first time in “I can’t tell you when.” And mix in the fact he carried his own bag for 36 holes in the rain.

  “The weather was inconvenient,” said Colbert. “I had my rain pants, jacket, glove and umbrella and that’s all I needed. I did wish I had a caddie.

  “I just wanted to make match play. That was the goal. Obviously I wanted to shoot the lowest score I could and it just happened to be the best score of the day.”

  Colbert, the No. 2 player at Villanova this year, opened the Amateur at Torresdale-Frankford in the morning. He carded four birdies against two bogeys.

  On No. 6 (par 4, 420 yards), Colbert smacked a sand wedge 115 yards to 15 feet and drained the birdie putt before exerting his power on a pair of back nine par 5s (Nos. 10, 484 yards and 13, 557 yards). On the first, he hammered a 3-iron into the front left bunker, splashed out to six feet and sunk the birdie try. Colbert’s 3-wood on No. 13 caught the front bunker, but a superb sand shot stopped within 15 feet of the jar. Colbert also birdied the 18th hole (par 4, 394 yards), knocking a wedge 125 yards to eight feet below the flagstick.

  At Huntingdon Valley, Colbert kept the mojo flowing.

  He opened his second round, starting on the back nine, with a birdie on No. 10 (par 4, 399 yards) courtesy of a 7-iron from 155 yards to 10 feet. He added another circle to the scorecard on No. 15 (par 5, 573 yards) with a 60-degree wedge that stopped a foot away. A bogey on No.16 (par 4, 397 yards) curtailed his push slightly, but Colbert responded on No. 4 (par 4, 366 yards) by draining a 30-foot, big left-to-right breaker for a 3. He finished with bogeys on No. 6 (par 4, 435 yards) and No. 9 (par 4, 437 yards). He pulled his driver on No. 6 when the rains intensified and knocked a 6-iron into the greenside bunker on No. 9 and failed to get up-and-down.

  “I got a text from my teammate from last year, Brendan Kelly. When I told him it was going to rain today, he said ‘don’t worry about it, you’re a mudder’,” said Colbert.

  A thumbnail of Colbert’s résumé is as follows. He qualified for the 2010 and 2011 U.S. Publinks championships; the 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay and finished in the Top 10 of the Illinois State Amateur in 2010.

  “I think I probably turned some heads,” said Colbert. “I’ll definitely look back and show kids. That’s cool.”

  The Amateur Championship Qualifier also serves as the first two rounds of the Silver Cross Award. 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.

  Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional golf association in the United States and serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. Its 145 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.

NOTES–There was a seven-for-two playoff at Huntingdon Valley for the final match play positions. Brian Gillespie, 37, from Wayne, Pa. and St. Davids Golf Club birdied the first hole, No. 10, with a 6-iron from 172 yards that stopped a foot from the cup to take the 31st seed. Dan Charen, 23 of Langhorne, Pa. and Makefield Highlands Golf Club, parred No. 10 to outlast the other five competitors. He is seeded No. 32.

Name, clubScores
Brian Colbert, White Manor Country Club68T-70H–138
Nelson Hargrove, Merion Golf Club70H-72T–142
Brandon Dalinka, The Ridge at Back Brook72H-70T–142
Christopher Ault, Yardley Country Club71H-73T–144
Stephen Dressel, St. Davids Golf Club73H-71T–144
Ben Feld, Blue Bell Country Club70H-74T–144
Chip Lutz, LedgeRock Golf Club72H-72T–144
Sean Fahey, Overbrook Golf Club68H-76T–144
Michael Hyland, Little Mill Country Club75H-71T–146
Jeff Osberg, Llanerch Country Club72H-74T–146
Glenn Smeraglio, Mercer Oaks Golf Course73H-73T–146
Robert Galbreath, Jr., Philmont Country Club76T-70H–146
P. Chet Walsh, Philadelphia Country Club74H-73T–147
Greg Jarmas, Philadelphia Publinks GA76T-71H–147
Brandon Matthews, Fox Hill Country Club74T-73H–147
James Kania, Jr., Overbrook Golf Club76T-71H–147
Christopher Fuga, Phoenixville Country Club74H-74T–148
Robert Cunningham, Overbrook Golf Club71T-77H–148
JD Dornes, Meadia Heights Golf Club73H-76T–149
David Liotta, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club75T-74H–149
Travis Gahman, Philadelphia Publinks GA73T-76H–149
Grant Skyllas, Moselem Springs Golf Club76H-74T–150
Benjamin Smith, Little Mill Country Club76H-74T–150
Thomas Hyland, Little Mill Country Club71H-79T–150
Michael Johnson, Talamore Country Club76T-74H–150
Mike Meisenzahl, Little Mill Country Club75T-75H–150
Zach Allinson, Lehigh Country Club74T-77H–151
Vince Boyle, Torresdale-Frankford Country Club74T-77H–151
Dan Bernard, Aronimink Golf Club72T-79H–151
Raymond Thompson, Overbrook Golf Club77T-74H–151
*Brian Gillespie, St. Davids Golf Club78H-74T–152
*Daniel Charen, Makefield Highlands Golf Club77T-75H–152
 
Failed to qualify
*Robert Bechtold, Loch Nairn Golf Club76H-76T–152
*Blayze DiPasquale, Makefield Highlands Golf Club74H-78T–152
*Alexander Hicks, Wildwood Golf & Country Club77T-75H–152
*Stephen Seiden, Llanerch Country Club73H-79T–152
*Michael Kania, Overbrook Golf Club76T-76H–152
John Brennan, Philadelphia Cricket Club72H-81T–153
Jimmy Wolfe, Bellewood Golf Club76H-77T–153
Mike Owsik, Philadelphia Publinks GA79H-74T–153
Michael Carr, Plymouth Country Club75T-78H–153
Joseph Fabrizio, Jr., Aronimink Golf Club75T-78H–153
James Bea, Spring Mill Country Club77T-76H–153
Matthew Teesdale, Commonwealth National Golf Club77H-76T–153
Daniel Pinciotti, Jr., Huntingdon Valley Country Club77H-77T–154
Sean Seese, Huntingdon Valley Country Club74H-80T–154
Sean Coyle, Llanerch Country Club77T-77H–154
Joseph Russo, Running Deer Golf Club74T-80H–154
Dave Fardon, Philadelphia Publinks GA76H-79T–155
Benjamin Cooley, Huntingdon Valley Country Club79H-76T–155
Simon Hagger, Fieldstone Golf Club81T-74H–155
Eric Slawter, St. Davids Golf Club84T-71H–155
Thomas Bartolacci, Jr., Saucon Valley Country Club79T-76H–155
Marc Mandel, Philadelphia Cricket Club72H-84T–156
Troy Vannucci, Burlington Country Club76H-80T–156
Tucker Koch, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve79H-77T–156
Robert Good, Merion Golf Club76T-80H–156
Robert Savarese, Jr., Philadelphia Cricket Club78T-78H–156
Patrick Phillips, Philadelphia Publinks GA79H-78T–157
Gary Daniels, Saucon Valley Country Club77H-80T–157
Joe Viechnicki, Saucon Valley Country Club80T-77H–157
Stephen Hudacek, III, Glenmaura National Golf Club75T-82H–157
Tim Westfall, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve78T-79H–157
Byron Whitman, Berkshire Country Club80T-77H–157
Michael Gregor, Huntingdon Valley Country Club82T-75H–157
Ryan McCarty, Little Mill Country Club75H-83T–158
Rand Mendez, Fieldstone Golf Club79H-79T–158
Sean Torpey, Commonwealth National Golf Club81T-77H–158
Patrick Knott, Merion Golf Club80T-78H–158
Ryan Carroll, Chester Valley Golf Club83T-75H–158
David Shields, Philadelphia Publinks GA79H-80T–159
Michael Brown, Philadelphia Publinks GA80H-79T–159
Rodney James, Golden Oaks Golf Club79T-80H–159
Jeffrey Huntzinger, Five Ponds Golf Club77T-82H–159
Patrick Ross, Glenmaura National Golf Club82H-78T–160
Billy McCrossan, White Manor Country Club80T-80H–160
Scott McNeil, Philadelphia Publinks GA76T-84H–160
Kevin Kramarski, Riverton Country Club76T-84H–160
Gary Schoeman, Stonewall82T-78H–160
Steve Lubin, Five Ponds Golf Club79H-82T–161
Scott McLaughlin, Commonwealth National Golf Club80H-81T–161
Oliver White, Manufacturers Golf & Country Club77H-85T–162
Matthew Finger, Woodcrest Country Club82T-80H–162
Paul Kovalcheck, Kennett Square Golf & Country Club79T-83H–162
Ryan Felpel, Honeybrook Golf Club82T-80H–162
Kyle Martin, Commonwealth National Golf Club76T-86H–162
Sam Pancoast, Radley Run Country Club82H-81T–163
Matthew Crescenzo, Philmont Country Club78H-85T–163
Ryan Siegler, Mercer Oaks Golf Course80T-83H–163
Matthew Walsh, Overbrook Golf Club82T-81H–163
Tim Anderson, Philadelphia Publinks GA81H-83T–164
Stewart Rickenbach, Commonwealth National Golf Club84H-80T–164
Jake Murphy, Mercer Oaks Golf Course83T-81H–164
William Jeremiah, Bidermann Golf Club79T-85H–164
Robert Beck, Lehigh Country Club81T-83H–164
Kevin Davis, Talamore Country Club86T-79H–165
William Breskman, Rolling Green Golf Club86H-80T–166
James Braunsberg, Blue Bell Country Club77H-89T–166
Reilly Erhardt, Yardley Country Club85H-82T–167
Scott Storck, Philadelphia Cricket Club82H-85T–167
John Fasy, Wilmington Country Club78T-89H–167
Dwight Diorio, Rolling Green Golf Club88H-80T–168
Daniel Minger, Brookside Country Club86T-82H–168
Joseph Jasinski, Northampton Country Club85T-84H–169
Matt Maurer, Bent Creek Country Club86H-84T–170
Richard Marabella, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club91H-88T–179
Matthew Kreuter, Philadelphia Cricket Club91H-WDT–WD
Geoffrey Cooper, Links Golf Club85H-WDT–WD
Jamie Slonis, Tavistock Country Club81H-WDT–WD
G. Patrick Dougherty, Philadelphia Cricket Club85H-WDT–WD
Bryan Ott, Silver Creek Country Club84H-WDT–WD
Greg O’Connor, Huntingdon Valley Country Club84H-WDT–WD
 
Denotes: H-Huntingdon Valley Country Club; T-Torresdale-Frankford Country Club
WD-withdrawal
*-determined in playoff

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