The drive for the William Hyndman, III Player of the Year has turned into a match race.
Chris Lange of Overbrook GC and Michael McDermott of Llanerch CC have clearly separated themselves from the pack with their year-long solid, steady play. The two are 1-2 in the standings, 200 points ahead of their nearest foe.
On Thursday in the Joseph H. Patterson Memorial Cup at Laurel Creek CC/Tavistock CC some finality could be brought to the picture, however. Not only is the Patterson Cup the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s final Major Championship of the season, but it also serves as the final two rounds in determining the Silver Cross Award winner. (The Silver Cross combines the qualifying rounds of the Amateur Championship with the two rounds of the Patterson Cup.) A total of 400 points are up for grabs to the two winners – 250 for the Patterson Cup and 150 for the Silver Cross.
“[Winning the Player of the Year] would mean a lot because I’m getting a little older and you don’t get that many opportunities to be in the running,” said Lange, 49, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., a three-time Patterson Cup champion. “It would be a great thing to achieve, but there is still a long way to go.”
Lange and McDermott are no strangers to earning the title as the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s best.
McDermott has earned the William Hyndman, III Player of the Year trophy three of the last four years. Lange has netted that title twice, back-to-back in 1993-94.
“[The Association] is making [the Player of the Year] more important each year, so it’s hard to say whether you want to win a tournament or win the Player of the Year,” said McDermott, 29, of Havertown, Pa. “It’s really a complement on a very good all-around season. It’s a telling [award] in that you played well on 8-10 [of the most important] days of the year.”
It’s been a remarkable year of consistency on both Lange and McDermott’s part. Both have captured a Major Championship this year; Lange becoming only the fifth amateur to capture the Philadelphia Open in July and McDermott becoming a two-time Middle-Amateur champion this past May.
The duo also qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship earlier this month and, in June, qualified for match play at the Amateur Championship.
Currently, Lange holds a 140-point cushion on McDermott with the Patterson Cup, Silver Cross, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Middle-Amateur Championship remaining.
In last year’s Patterson Cup, Chris Gallagher of Penn Oaks GC blitzed the field with a record 6-under-par 137 at Bellewood GC/Spring Ford CC. McDermott tied for fifth, but did earn his first Silver Cross Award.
All media are welcome.
Morning round tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. Afternoon and second-round tee times start at 12:45 p.m.
