Crescenzo tops Temple trio lurking on Patterson leaderboard

  BLUE BELL, Pa.–College classes don’t officially reconvene for a couple of weeks but bragging rights on the Temple University golf team are already at stake. The Owls’ Matthew Crescenzo of Philmont Country Club; Matthew Teesdale of Commonwealth National Golf and Brandon Matthews of Glenmaura National Golf Club are all prominent on the first page of the 111th Joseph H. Patterson Cup, presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance, leaderboard.

  Crescenzo is the first-round leader after shooting a 6-under 66 on Thursday at Cedarbrook Country Club (par 72, 7,058 yards). Teesdale is in a tie for second at 4 under and Matthews, the defending Patterson Cup champion, stands at 3 under.

  Friday tee times begin at 7:30 a.m.

 The final grouping of Crescenzo, Teesdale and Louis Kelly, Jr., also of Philmont, a junior at Adelphia University, start play at 9:09 a.m. Kelly and Pete Barron, III of Stone Harbor Golf Club each shot a 4-under 68.

  The cutline fell at 76 with 69 players advancing.

  “It’ll be like another day for us, like practice,” said Crescenzo, a Temple senior. “I play with Louis [at Philmont] a couple of times per week. I play with Teesdale and Brandon all the time. It’ll be fun. It’s good for Temple. It’s good for our coach Brian Quinn. It’s nice to see.”

  Crescenzo started Temple’s frenzy. He netted eight birdies and two bogeys in the second group to tee off the back nine in the morning. His 66 fell a stroke shy of the competitive course record.

  The 22-year-old resident of Cheltenham, Pa. opened his round with three straight birdies. He drained a 30-footer on No. 10 (par 5, 536 yards); knocked a pitching wedge from 120 yards to six feet on No. 11 (par 4, 388 yards) and two-putted No. 12 (par 5, 556 yards) from 25 feet after knocking a 3-wood on from 240 yards.

  A poor tee shot on No. 14 (par 4, 445 yards) temporarily halted Crescenzo’s streak before he notched back-to-back birdies. He lifted a pitching wedge from 110 yards to eight feet on No. 15 (par 4, 443 yards) and a 7-iron to 15 feet on the par 3, 16th (172 yards).

  A poor putt from 25 feet on No. 17 (par 4, 427 yards) resulted in a bogey. He made the turn at 3 under.

  Crescenzo strung together three birdies early in his final nine to push his number to a red six. He dropped a 58-degree wedge from 80 yards to six feet on No. 2 (par 5, 522 yards); hit a pitching wedge on No. 3 (par 4, 413 yards) from 130 yards to 10 feet and went up and over the right trees on No. 4 (par 4, 380 yards) with a pitching wedge to six feet. He closed with five straight pars.

  “It wasn’t the smartest play. I hit a pitching wedge up and over the tree,” said Crescenzo of the birdie on No. 4. “I started laughing. I called myself an idiot for trying the shot in the first place but it worked out for me.”

  Crescenzo said his lowest tournament score prior to this was either 1 under or even. Now he’s sleeping on the lead in the Association’s second oldest tournament.

  “I’m going to go home, probably turn my cell phone off, and go to bed early because we have to go early again tomorrow,” he said.

  Teesdale, 22, of Maple Glen, Pa., who also started on the back nine, made the turn at 1 under before recording three birdies and no bogeys on his inward side.

  On No. 1 (par 4 399 yards), he hit a pitching wedge from 156 yards to 12 feet; two-putted from 25 feet on No. 2 after reaching the green with an 8-iron and chipped his third from just short of the green to three feet on No. 3.

  “It’s exciting; coach is getting our games in gear,” said Teesdale, a junior at Temple. “I will be really excited if I can carry it over into the season. We definitely make each other better playing and practicing together.”

  Kelly, 20, of Sewell, N.J. registered a bogey free 68. He started on the back nine and registered eight straight pars before sinking a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 18 (par 4, 401 yards). Kelly hit his third on No. 2 to three feet; almost aced the par 3, 5th (205 yards), his tee shot stopped two inches from the cup; and lofted a 56-degree wedge to five feet on No. 6 (par 5, 565 yards).

  “I wanted to give myself a shot to win tomorrow,” Kelly said. “I don’t enter any tournament thinking I can’t win it. I know I can win these events. It’s just a matter of putting it all together.”

  Barron, III, 37, of Mays Landing, N.J., carded seven birdies and three bogeys en route to his 68. Barron made the turn at 1 under before registering four birdies and a bogey on his last nine. Barron knocked a 4-iron to two feet on the difficult No. 9 (par 3, 213 yards).

  “It’s better to chase than be chased,” said Barron, runner-up in the Association’s Middle-Amateur in May. “You’ll have to go low and apply the pressure.”

  Matthews, a sophomore at Temple, had it to 5 under thru 13 holes but three-putted 14 and 17 to finish at 3 under. Matthews won last year’s rain-shortened Patterson Cup at Philadelphia Country Club with a 6-under 65.

  “I’m very disappointed. It would have been fun to [have the all Temple grouping],” said Matthews, 19, of Dupont, Pa. And of Temple’s strong showing. “It speaks for itself.”

NOTES –There was a 1:04 rain delay at 2:54 p.m. … 17 players are at 1-under or better … Kyle Sterbinsky, 17, of Yardley Country Club and Yardley, Pa., leads the Silver Cross Award standings after three rounds. Sterbinsky is a stroke clear of Barron, Teesdale and Michael Kania of Overbrook Golf Club. Nine players are within four shots. 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.