Concord’s Benedetto claims 13th Marston Cup title at Fieldstone

GREENVILLE, Del. – Playing in the morning wave, Larry Benedetto didn’t need to worry much about the highly-anticipated partial eclipse that illuminated the Philadelphia region. He was focused on putting on a show of his own instead at Fieldstone Golf Club (par 71, 6,373 yards).

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  Benedetto, a Concord Country Club member, fired a 3-under 68 to win the 13th Marston Cup. He bettered a talented field of 108 players for his first individual Golf Association of Philadelphia title.

  Beginning his day on Fieldstone’s second nine, Benedetto started shaky. Two bogeys arrived early on Nos. 10 (par 5, 555 yards) and 11 (par 4, 275 yards) in result of “just not hitting smart golf shots or executing.” Still, he didn’t waver.

  Four straight pars righted his game before the first red number was jotted down on the par-3, 105-yard 16th. There, Benedetto utilized a cut down gap wedge off the tee leading to a five-foot conversion.

  On the 18th (par 5, 520 yards), the champ crushed a driver, but his second shot left him on a downslope 75 yards out. He’d go on to pure a wedge from the challenging lie and landed his third shot just a foot away from the cup. Benedetto tapped in for 4 to get back to even par at the turn.

  “I was in a good spot with my mindset. I kept telling myself to just keep hitting greens,” said Benedetto, 48, of West Chester, Pa. “I knew at some point I’d start making some putts, as I was scraping edges all day, even on my par putts.”

  The front nine, which Benedetto called “the trickier of the two”, has been one where the 48-year-old has always implemented his 4-iron on most tees. Having played this track in multiple tournaments and Member-Guest competitions through the years, he’s found that’s his best chance of going low. Sticking to that game plan paid dividends yet again Monday.

  Benedetto carded five birdies on his final nine holes en route to the hardware, including three straight to finish.

  “My 4-iron is the club I know I can hit safely, and it’s going to go where I want it to go. If I need a 200-yard shot, and that works, it’s what I’m going to hit,” he said. Benedetto’s sizzling finish started with a 3 on No. 7 (par 4, 340 yards) after 5-wood left him sitting pretty, just 104 yards out. His wedge approach to 25 feet wasn’t ideal, but his attempt on the green was. Benedetto sat 1 under with two to play.

  “I really just wanted to par out from there,” he said.

  He chose 6-iron No. 8 (par 3, 175 yards), which proved to be the right call. Benedetto drained the six-foot look for birdie there before moving on to his finishing hole, No. 9 (par 4, 420 yards), a hole that has proved to be a thorn in his side in the past.

  “It’s always been a quirky look for me with the dropoff on the right. Always a challenge,” he said. “But luckily I was able to tame it today.”

  Benedetto drove it down the left side off the tee, then “dead-handed an 8-iron” to just six feet of the flagstick. The birdie attempt hit nothing but the bottom of the cup.   “I’ve shot low here before, but 68 is a great number,” he said.

  Alongside Jeff DellaFranco, Conrad Von Borsig & David Woods, who were all Concord clubmates at the time, Benedetto took home the 2009 Four-Man Team title at Whitford Country Club. Today marked the first time he stood in the GAP winner’s circle solo.

  “This is a sweet one for me, for sure,” he said.

While waiting for the rest of the field to finish, Benedetto surveyed the scoreboard and pointed out the talented field competing. A win among such talent made it even more special for him.

  “It’s a very above-average field. Looking up at some of these names like [Michael R. Brown, Jr.], P. Chet Walsh and Brian Gillespie really make it fun to come out here and compete,” he said. “The exemptions [into GAP Majors] are pretty crazy, too.”

  At the end of the day, Benedetto couldn’t escape all eclipse talk. He was prompted before leaving about his scientific predictions.

  “Hey, at least I didn’t burn my eyes out here today,” said the champion.

  The Marston Cup honors Max Marston. For four months in the summer of 1923, Marston was America’s best amateur golfer. Between mid-May and mid-September, Marston was virtually unstoppable through a series of club, state, national and international events.

  It began with the Walker Cup Matches, where Marston won two matches as the Americans successfully retained the Cup. Marston returned home to capture the Patterson Cup and Amateur Championship in successive weeks and, in doing so, earned the Silver Cross Award. In July, he took the Pennsylvania Amateur title and finished as low amateur in the Golf Association of Philadelphia Open. In September, Marston traveled to Floosmoor Country Club outside Chicago, Ill. for the U.S. Amateur. He rallied in the second round to defeat tournament favorite Bob Jones, 2&1, before knocking off Francis Ouimet in the semifinals. He stopped defending champion Jess Sweetser in the final on the 38th hole. In that four month span, he also captured the Merion Cricket Club championship and Pine Valley Golf Club’s Crump Cup.

  The tournament is limited to players 40 to 54 years of age with a 10.0 handicap index or lower.

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.