| History |
The 2024 GAP Major championship season will kick off with Commonwealth National Golf Club hosting the 41st Middle-Amateur Championship presented by NJM Insurance May 21-22.
It last hosted the Middle-Amateur in 2006, won by Overbrook Golf Club’s Chris Lange. It was his second consecutive title. Lange is the only player to win back-to-back Middle Amateur titles.
“For us, we are excited to get back into the arena of hosting GAP Majors,” Commonwealth National’s Director of Golf Kevin Duffy, 39, of Hatboro, Pa., said. “Commonwealth National will provide a great test of golf and show how challenging the golf course is even for the best mid-ams in Philadelphia. To help promote great championships and Commonwealth National is a win-win for us.”
How big of a challenge?
The 148 total shot by Lange in 2006 and Merion Golf Club’s Michael McDermott in 2001 at Coatesville Country Club remains the highest 36-hole total by a winner in event history. McDermott holds the most titles of all-time with four (2001, 2004, 2008, 2013).
“In the post-COVID world, everyone is quite busy at their home club, and members are anxious to play golf whenever they can,” Duffy, who spent the previous 10 years as the head golf professional at Riverton Country Club, said. “To be able to give back to golf in Philadelphia by hosting GAP events is important for us.”
Commonwealth National also hosted the Joseph H. Patterson Cup in 2000 alongside Huntingdon Valley Country Club (HVCC). HVCC’s Greg O’Connor was the champion.
“Commonwealth is known as one of the toughest tests of golf in Philadelphia,” Duffy said. “It is not a golf course where you can bomb and gouge. You have to play every golf shot. The moment you forget that, the golf course reminds you in a strong way.”
The Arnold Palmer Signature Design lies in Horsham, Pa. and is known for its variety of holes as well as its smooth and slippery putting surfaces.
“It has been 17 years since we have had a GAP Major at Commonwealth National,” Kirby Martin, GAP’s Director of Competitions, said. “We are excited to go back to a place that will provide a great test of golf to our players and kick off the 2024 Major season.”
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 340 Member Clubs and 100,000 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.
