Father & Son (Middle)

Cricket’s Kellys capture Father & Son (Middle)

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HONEY BROOK, Pa. — Five teams finished tied atop the Father & Son (Middle) at Honeybrook Golf Club (par 70, 6,014 yards) Thursday.

By means of a scorecard playoff, Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Kevin and Ryan Kelly earned the crown thanks to a 31 on Honeybrook’s back nine, the first tiebreaking criteria in the USGA’s recommended method. Aronimink Golf Club’s Charles and Dan Bernard, Philmont Country Club’s Glenn and Cory Meyer, Wyoming Valley Country Club’s John and A.J. Olszewski and Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Dan and D.J. Pinciotti carded matching 2-under-par 68s in regulation.

The event’s format is selective drive/alternate shot.

The Kellys, coincidentally, competed alongside the Pinciottis, a good luck charm of sorts. There’s a friendship and comfort there, for starters. Kevin and Dan talked BMW GAP Team Matches, among other topics. The former captains Philadelphia Cricket 1; Pinciotti is captain of Huntingdon Valley’s first team.

Shop chat aside, the Pinciottis played alongside Gary and Cody Smith, the tournament’s defending champions, a year ago.

“Maybe they have some good karma,” Kevin said.

Turns out they do.

The Kelly team, which started on No. 10, made morning headlines at 4 under through nine holes. Ryan’s 10-foot par save on No. 12 (par 5, 560 yards) jumpstarted a birdie jamboree. Kevin’s smooth 7-iron on No. 13 (par 3, 160 yards) set up a straightforward 10-footer. Impressive ball-striking by both players continued the subpar shindig. Kevin’s drive on No. 14 (par 4, 276 yards) put Ryan greenside left — chip and a kick-in birdie. Following Ryan’s monstrous drive on the par 5, 515-yard 15^th hole, Kevin launched a rescue 225 yards to the middle of the green. Two putts for birdie No. 3. Ryan drove the No. 16 (par 4, 280 yards). Another two putts for birdie No. 4.

“I don’t think I hit a second shot on the back nine. I hit a lot of good drives and he hit a lot of good second shots,” Ryan, 23, said.

“It’s fun hitting second shots from where he drives it,” Kevin, 52, added.

Scoring became elusive during the Kelly team’s inward tour. Its lone on-paper opportunity? A trying 20-footer on the par 3, 182-yard No. 8. A pair of bogeys prompted a scorecard playoff. Ryan’s ran a birdie attempt from the right fringe on No. 3 (par 3, 175 yards) seven feet past the jar. Kevin missed the comebacker. On the next hole (par 5, 545 yards), he blocked a 3-wood into a batch of thick grass. Ryan gouged it out and later lipped out a 10-footer for par.

Nevertheless, a remarkable Honeybrook debut for the Kellys.

“We enjoyed it,” Kevin said. “It’s a great golf course. [I was impressed by] the conditioning.”

Perhaps Ryan will continue impress, too, now that golf is a full-time focus. He completed a five-year baseball career at Saint Joseph’s University, where he earned a Master’s degree in business administration this year. Obligations on the diamond caused a six-year hiatus from GAP Father & Son events.

“There isn’t an offseason,” Ryan, will work for Philadelphia Insurance Companies starting in July, said. “It’s all golf. I’m not playing any more baseball.”

“Baseball is a job. It never stops,” Kevin, who works in the printing industry, added. “One summer in Virginia, one summer in the Carolinas … your summers are spent playing baseball, too. It’s nice to see him back and playing golf.”

The Horsham, Pa. residents will be back to defend their Father & Son title at Philadelphia Cricket June 16. Like Honeybrook, they’re one-for-one there, too.

NOTES — Play was suspended for 56 minutes due to lightning in the area … The Father & Son (Middle) tournament is for those father and son teams with sons 19 to 29 years old. The event was conceived in 2008 because of the high demand for participation in both the Father & Son (Younger), which celebrates its 62^nd anniversary this year, and the Older tournament — an event in its 108^th year.

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 274 Full Member Clubs and 75,000 individual members are spread across the Eastern half of Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey and Delaware. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.