Four share medalist honors in Open Qualifier at Indian Valley

 TELFORD, Pa. — Three players with Golf Association of Philadelphia imprints, and a relative newcomer searching for certainty, shared medalist honors in an Open Championship Qualifier at a challenging Indian Valley Country Club (par 72, 6,858 yards) Tuesday. | Scorecards | Photo gallery | History |

  Radnor Valley Country Club’s Carey Bina and Aronimink Golf Club’s Michael Davis, opponents in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship Round of 16 last week, and Jericho National Golf Club’s Steve Cerbara, the 2013 Christman Cup Champion, carded respective 1-over-par 73s. Hopewell Valley Golf & Country Club’s Ben Bershad, a Baltimore, Md. transplant, joined the trio at that number.

  The cut line stopped at 77. Overall, 25 players advanced, with two amateurs — Joseph Chambers, Jr. of Chester Valley Golf Club and Joseph Dulka of Bellewood Country Club — and a professional — Andrew Turner of Whitford Country Club — doing so in a sudden-death playoff.

  The 112th Open Championship will take place July 18 at The Ridge at Back Brook.

  Bina, 20, of Villanova, Pa., and Cerbara, 18, of Langhorne, Pa., played in the same group, ironically rounded out by Davis’ brother Matthew, also of Aronimink. Indian Valley brings back fond memories for Bina; he qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur three years ago on the property.

  “I was just happy to be back here,” Bina, a GAP volunteer, said. “I wasn’t a huge fan when I played it, but given my history, I was looking forward to it. I only hit one fairway and eight greens today.”

  Cerbara, a recent Holy Ghost Prep graduate, saw Indian Valley for the first time Tuesday.

  “I could’ve putted a lot better. This club has a lot firmness in the greens,” he said. “I need to play more tough courses with firm greens like this to improve my game.”

  Bina, a rising senior at Elon University, and Cerbara, who will attend Furman University in the fall, met at 73 thanks to their respective results on the par 4, 391-yard 18th hole. Cerbara drained a downhill 20-footer for birdie, set up by a 54-degree wedge shot from 103 yards. Bina, 3 under on the back nine at that point, dealt with an unresponsive sand wedge out of a difficult lie, missed the green short and made bogey.

  Last week at Merion Golf Club (East), Bina fell to eventual semifinalist Davis, 2&1. The two haven’t taken much downtime since, each competing in father and son events at their home courses over the weekend. Bina and his dad Shahab took second at Radnor Valley; Davis and his father Bill won Aronimink’s event.

  Family, coincidentally, proved vital for Davis Tuesday. He spoke with Matthew following his morning round to learn a few Indian Valley hints.

  “I had never played here, and he had a couple of times,” Davis, 20, of Newtown Square, Pa., said. “He was telling me about the basic layout and how firm it was playing out there. It was good to talk with him. I would’ve been lost on a few holes.”

  Davis carded three birdies against four bogeys on the day. Starting on No. 1 (par 4, 396 yards), the long hitter took advantage of the outward par 5s, executing a three-footer on No. 3 (521 yards) and an eight-footer on No. 8 (511 yards). His last red figure came on No. 13 (par 4, 418 yards), where Davis, a rising junior at Princeton University, spun a sand wedge from 108 yards to three feet.

  Bina, Cerbara and Davis are three collegians carrying a hefty dose of competitive golf in the summer agenda. Bershad, 27, of Hopewell Township, N.J., is well out of school, but in the same boat of his co-medalists. He worked in sales and advertising for a regional sports network in Baltimore but left in March to pursue a potential professional life on the links.

  “I haven’t played much competitive golf since college,” Bershad, a Rutgers University graduate, said. “I was working a lot and I kind of realized I wasn’t exactly enjoying what I was doing. I wanted to see if I had a future in golf, so I decided I was going to give it a shot and see where it takes me.”

  The road is an encouraging one thus far for Bershad. He posted a Top 20 finish in the New Jersey State Golf Association’s Amateur Championship and almost advanced to match play spot in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur. Bershad fell in a six-for-three playoff at Merion. He stood tall at Indian Valley Tuesday and held outright medalist honors until the final two holes. Bershad, who started on the back nine, carded a 6 on No. 8 after missing the green with an aggressive 3-iron from 220 yards. A flailed 3-wood on the next hole (par 4, 370 yards) forced a sideways punch-out. Bershad played his next shot into the right greenside bunker and failed to get up-and-down.

  “I was leaking a little oil down the stretch, but overall I played pretty well,” he said. “I think the course was playing pretty tough.”

  The field’s scoring average boomed to 80.6 by day’s end.

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 153 Full Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. 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.