Cricket’s Berman books medal in #GAPOpen Qual. at Radnor Valley - The Golf Association of Philadelphia

Jun 27, 2017

Cricket’s Berman books medal in #GAPOpen Qual. at Radnor Valley

VILLANOVA, Pa. — When he isn’t reading greens on the golf course, Cole Berman is likely perusing a paperback. Fitting that “Red Notice” by Bill Browder is his current craze.

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  Berman put the field on notice with his red number Tuesday. The Philadelphia Cricket Club member carded a 3-under-par 67 to top a Golf Association of Philadelphia Open Championship Qualifier at Radnor Valley Country Club (par 70, 6,536 yards). He led an assembly of 154 amateurs and professionals alike hoping to earn one of 38 positions and ties available for the Championship proper.

  The cut line fell to 75 by day’s end. The 113th Open Championship will take place July 17-18 at Philadelphia Country Club.

   “It’s a great book,” Berman said of his leisurely read. “It’s about a guy from Chicago who, post-Cold War, started a hedge fund based on Russian companies that were very undervalued. As he attracted more attention to it, the value skyrocketed and then Russia eventually kicked him out and took over his assets. [I’d give it a] 10-out-of-10.”

  Same rating for Berman’s performance Tuesday.

  Berman, who started on the back nine, drained an improbable 50-footer for birdie on No. 11 (par 3, 186 yards) to establish a seemingly impenetrable zone. After leaving a 6-iron short, he threw a cross-your-fingers putt at the hole and watched it pour in the middle.

  “That goes from just trying to make par there and then all of a sudden you’re 1 under and just cruising. I ran into two other birdies on that nine,” Berman, 21, of Rosemont, Pa., said. “I just had a lot of opportunities today. My putting was really solid. The greens were slow but I just kind of saw my lines. It was hard to get the ball past the hole, so you just kind of had to trust it. Putts were going in from distance, which was nice to see.”

  Berman, a soon-to-be senior who is majoring in government at Georgetown University, converted long-range putts for birdies on Nos. 14 (par 4, 424 yards) and 17 (par 4, 408 yards): a 25-footer following an 8-iron from 151 yards on the first, an 18-footer following a pitching wedge from 127 yards on the latter. On the par 3, 173-yard No. 2, he towered a 6-iron to 12 feet for another birdie to move to 4 under.

  A focused Berman, who approached every shot like a machine on autopilot, experienced a topsy-turvy four-hole closing stretch. On No. 6 (par 4, 379 yards), he steered a 3-wood into trees right and ended up on the adjacent 5th hole. Forced to maneuver through the timber, Berman faced a yardage of 88 for his third shot, which he left short of the green. A chip and two putts translated into a 6 on the scorecard.

  Berman, a two-time GAP Major Champion, rebounded with a birdie on the next hole (par 5, 536 yards), splashing out of the right greenside bunker into kick-in range. A missed green on the strenuous No. 8 (par 3, 209 yards) meant a bogey. An 8-iron from 151 yards to 15 feet on the next (par 4, 426 yards) meant a birdie and medalist honors.

  “My game’s been pretty solid this summer. I didn’t try and think about qualifying; I wanted to go out and put up a low number,” he said.

  Berman, a three-time Junior Player of the Year, won the Joseph H. Patterson Cup in 2014 and BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship in 2015. He reached the Round of 16 in this year’s Amateur on his home course, where he fell to Michael R. Brown, Jr. of Lu Lu Country Club, 1-up.

  Golf makes up the majority of Berman’s summer. Rounds outnumber range sessions, a key to his success so far.

  “I think it’s helped my game because it’s more about playing golf than making a swing or hitting a shot on the range,” Berman said. “I’ve been playing a lot of golf. I’m not very busy other than that.”

  He’ll be busy July 17-18.

  The Association expanded the Open Championship field to 132 players in 2017. The format remains 36 holes of stroke play. However, it will be contested over two days instead of one day. A cut to the low 60 and ties takes place after Day One.

Golf Association of Philadelphia
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 151 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.

Qualifiers
Name, club Score
(a) Cole Berman, Philadelphia Cricket Club 67
Brett Melton, Radley Run Country Club 69
Tom Michaels, Berkshire Country Club 70
John Bierkan, Aronimink Golf Club 71
(a) Connor McNicholas, Lu Lu Country Club 72
Anthony Napoletano, GOLFTEC-Malvern 72
(a) Dominic Digiacomo, Greate Bay Country Club 72
Rick Lebeau, Gulph Mills Golf Club 72
(a) Michael Rogers, Overbrook Golf Club 73
Trevor Bensel, Huntingdon Valley Country Club 73
(a) Blaine Lafferty, Little Mill Country Club 73
(a) Michael Cook, Applebrook Golf Club 73
(a) Brett Brenner, Green Valley Country Club 73
(a) Robert Firth, Jr., Commonwealth National Golf Club 73
Eric Schultz, Sunnybrook Golf Club 73
(a) Geoffrey Cooper, North Hills Country Club 73
(a) Richard Riva, Bent Creek Country Club 73
(a) Tom DiCinti, Old York CC at Chesterfield 73
(a) Joel Hark, Woodcrest Country Club 73
Zac Oakley, The Rookery 73
Terry Hatch, Hickory Valley Golf Club 73
Matthew Episcopo, Pine Valley Golf Club 74
(a) Scott Kalan, Squires Golf Club 74
(a) Matt Bierer, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve 74
(a) Mike Sydnes, Talamore Country Club 74
(a) David West, Whitford Country Club 74
(a) John Buliga, Yardley Country Club 74
(a) Joseph Hughes, Little Mill Country Club 74
(a) Wills Montgomery, Applecross Country Club 74
Jason Calhoun, Philadelphia Country Club 75
John Spina, Philadelphia Cricket Club 75
Robert Hennefer, Indian Spring Country Club 75
Joseph Kogelman, GOLFTEC-Moorestown 75
(a) Peter Bradbeer, Merion Golf Club 75
(a) Ron Robinson, Talamore Country Club 75
(a) Ryan Gelrod, Philadelphia Cricket Club 75
(a) Ben Litt, Riverton Country Club 75
(a) Michael Quinn, Philadelphia Publinks GA 75
Terry Hertzog, Country Club of York 75
(a) Troy Vannucci, Little Mill Country Club 75
Chris Krueger, Kings Creek Country Club 75
(a) Nicholas Biondi, Glenmaura National Golf Club 75
Failed to qualify
Michael Paukovits, St. Davids Golf Club 76
(a) Alexander Butler, Bluestone Country Club 76
(a) Brian Gillespie, St. Davids Golf Club 76
(a) Peter Moran, Whitford Country Club 76
Stephen Sieracki, Indian Spring Country Club 76
(a) J.T. Spina, Spring Ford Country Club 76
(a) Scott McKean, Chester Valley Golf Club 76
Mike Furey, Mahoning Valley Country Club 76
Christopher Dymek, Manasquan River Golf Club 76
(a) Kody Long, Philadelphia Publinks GA 76
(a) Mike May, Spring Mill Country Club 76
Dean Kandle, St. Davids Golf Club 77
(a) John Lalley, Llanerch Country Club 77
(a) Mark Czerniakowski, Lu Lu Country Club 77
(a) Thomas Gramigna, Tavistock Country Club 77
(a) Alec Brown, Gulph Mills Golf Club 77
(a) Chris Button, Golden Oaks Golf Club 77
(a) Paul Mauer, Stonewall 77
(a) Mariano Medico, Fox Hill Country Club 77
Michael Ladden, Whitford Country Club 78
(a) Matt Cocco, Commonwealth National Golf Club 78
(a) Duane Pinnock, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve 78
Michael Ferguson, Philadelphia Cricket Club 78
(a) David Gall, Riverton Country Club 78
(a) Connor Boham, Spring Ford Country Club 78
(a) Jackson Fiel, Sea Oaks Golf Club 78
Paul Oglesby, Philadelphia Country Club 78
(a) Jared Tendler, Makefield Highlands Golf Club 78
(a) Brian Fischer, Commonwealth National Golf Club 79
(a) Joseph Chambers, Jr., Chester Valley Golf Club 79
(a) David Liotta, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club 79
(a) Griffin Smith, Jericho National Golf Club 79
(a) John Samaha, Old York Road Country Club 79
(a) Drew Petri, Jericho National Golf Club 79
John Allen, Huntingdon Valley Country Club 80
(a) R.J. Wren, Applecross Country Club 80
Justin Riegel, French Creek Golf Club 80
Patrick Butkus, Overbrook Golf Club 80
(a) Owen Brown, Coatesville Country Club 80
(a) Garrett Basalyga, Cedarbrook Country Club 80
(a) Jeffrey Angelucci, Union League Golf Club at Torresdale 80
Brian Hollins, Trenton Country Club 80
(a) Jacob Hanzel, Running Deer Golf Club 80
(a) Nicholas Gaudio, Valleybrook Country Club 80
(a) Jack Murray, Stonewall 80
(a) Blake Cleary, Wilmington Country Club 81
(a) Joey Russo, Laurel Creek Country Club 81
(a) Gary Schoeman, Gulph Mills Golf Club 81
(a) Carlos Fullerton, Brookside CC of Allentown 81
(a) Logan Fuglestad, Jericho National Golf Club 81
(a) Brad Ebersole, The Ridge at Back Brook 81
(a) John Burke, III, Hartefeld National 81
(a) Andrew Jaskel, Union League Golf Club at Torresdale 81
(a) Steve Marshalek, Whitford Country Club 81
(a) Ryan Bree, Fieldstone Golf Club 81
(a) Zachary Falone, Philadelphia Publinks GA 81
(a) C.J. Bell, Cobbs Creek Golf Club 82
(a) Dan Arison, Applebrook Golf Club 82
(a) Justin Schorr, Talamore Country Club 82
(a) John Murphy, II, Stone Harbor Golf Club 82
(a) Steven Altieri, Makefield Highlands Golf Club 82
(a) Hunter Mickatavage, Schuylkill Country Club 82
(a) Zach Dilcher, Hartefeld National 82
(a) Dan Ayars, Running Deer Golf Club 82
(a) Joe Rochelle, Indian Valley Country Club 82
(a) Martin Rosica, Riverton Country Club 82
(a) Quinn Dolan, Rolling Green Golf Club 83
(a) Ryan O’Donnell, Rolling Green Golf Club 83
(a) Larry Gauger, Radnor Valley Country Club 83
(a) Parker Wine, Radley Run Country Club 83
(a) William Mitchell, Laurel Creek Country Club 83
(a) Blake Vogdes, Stone Harbor Golf Club 83
(a) Mark Wachter, DuPont Country Club 83
(a) Max Harrington, Moselem Springs Golf Club 83
(a) Alex Golland, Spring Ford Country Club 84
(a) Alexander McPherson, Lu Lu Country Club 84
(a) Philip Potter, Radley Run Country Club 84
(a) Sam Soeth, White Manor Country Club 84
(a) Chris Meares, Running Deer Golf Club 84
(a) Shawn Gensbauer, Five Ponds Golf Club 84
(a) Joe Rossi, Squires Golf Club 84
(a) Kevin Maguire, Trump National Golf Club – Philadelphia 84
(a) Andrew Sterge, Applebrook Golf Club 84
(a) Eamon Marone, Northampton Country Club 84
(a) Brendan McNamara, The ACE Club 85
(a) Dante DiStefano, Commonwealth National Golf Club 85
(a) Daniel Katona, Trump National Golf Club – Philadelphia 85
(a) Sean Mclaughlin, Spring Mill Country Club 85
(a) Robert Olseski, III, Sandy Run Country Club 86
(a) Kyle Donovan, Honeybrook Golf Club 86
(a) Jason Wilt, Philadelphia Publinks GA 86
(a) George Connell, Jr., Gulph Mills Golf Club 86
(a) Ryan Jones, The ACE Club 86
(a) Pat Kain, Overbrook Golf Club 87
(a) David Sim, Penn Oaks Golf Club 88
(a) Frankie McVeigh, Llanerch Country Club 89
(a) Andrew Ring, Bluestone Country Club 89
(a) Devin Guilliams, Loch Nairn Golf Club 89
(a) Dante Devuono, Running Deer Golf Club 89
(a) Jimmy Cunningham, Aronimink Golf Club 92
(a) Brandon Cassidy, Commonwealth National Golf Club 92
(a) Shahab Bina, Radnor Valley Country Club 96
(a) Luke Shevlin, Concord Country Club NS
(a) John Mikiewicz, Fox Hill Country Club WD
(a) Sean Coyle, Llanerch Country Club WD
(a) Daniel Galbreath, Huntingdon Valley Country Club WD
(a) Todd Anderson, Wilmington Country Club WD
(a) Joseph Dulka, Bellewood Country Club WD
(a) Michael Shevlin, Sr., Philadelphia Publinks GA WD
(a)-denotes amateur
NS-no show; WD-withdrawal

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