Liotta, McCool top U.S. Mid-Am qualifier

TRENTON, N.J.-David Liotta of Lansdale, Pa., a member of Whitemarsh Valley CC, posted a 5-under-par 66 to head a group of six players to advance to the U.S. Middle-Amateur Championship at a qualifier held on Monday at Trenton CC (par 71, 6,348 yards).

  The U.S. Middle-Amateur Championship is set for Oct. 2-7 at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga. A field of 111 players with a handicap index of 3.4 or better attempted to qualify for the 24th U.S. Mid-Am. Players who will reach their 25th birthday by Oct. 2 were eligible.

  The afternoon wave was delayed 1:40 at 2:30 p.m. by lightning.

  Other qualifiers at Trenton CC were Robin McCool (67) of Bethlehem, Pa., David Brookreson (69) of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Glenn Smeraglio (69) of Newtown, Pa., Rich Pruchnik (70) of West Chester, Pa. and Michael McDermott of Havertown, Pa. (71). Due to darkness, the final two positions will be settled tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. Five players will compete for the last two spots. Alternate positions also have to be determined.

  The story of the day was McCool.

  The 53-year-old member of Saucon Valley CC will be making his seventh U.S. Mid-Am appearance after posting a 4-under-par 67. It’s an appearance that seemed unlikely and unthinkable this April.

  A pinched nerve in his back forced McCool into the hospital for surgery. A staff infection took root a couple days later, however, and McCool suffered through great pain for the next 10 days. He remained on an intravenous line for another month and couldn’t swing a club for about 45 days. It’s been a slow road back, but McCool said he finally felt healthy about three weeks ago.

  “I had no idea I was going to be able to play any good golf in the future considering it hurt everytime I moved,” said McCool, “but thanks to the medical care and an exercise program, I’ve been able to get back in top form.”

  McCool, starting on the backside, fired a smashing 3-under-par 32. He sank a pair of eight-foot birdie chances on No. 13 (par 3, 162 yards) and No. 15 (par 3, 114 yards) to get to 2 under. On No. 18 (par 4, 392 yards), he landed an 8-iron out of a bad lie in the rough that rolled up to a couple of feet.

  Approaching the meat of the golf course, holes No. 1-4, McCool carded his lone two bogeys of the day before rebounding with three birdies in his last six holes. McCool knocked a 4-iron to 15 feet on No. 5 (par 3, 193 yards) and sank

  the putt. On No. 8 (par 4, 366 yards), he dropped a gap wedge to two feet and on No. 9 (par 5, 475 yards) made a simple two putt for another birdie.

  “It’s very rewarding to finally feel like I’m back in the group,” said McCool. “Once you make a USGA event, you never want to miss one again.”

  Liotta, 34, who works in the software development field, heads to his second U.S. Mid-Am after posting a 5-under-par 66 to take medalist honors. He qualified last year when the event was at Wilmington CC. He failed to make the cut.

  Liotta carded a 4-under-par 32 on the front side before posting eight pars and a birdie on the back nine.

  “I just wanted to keep making good swings and make some birdies,” said the soft-spoken Liotta. “I really wasn’t thinking about what I was doing.”

  Liotta started the day eagle, birdie.

  Brookreson, 56, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., who captured the gross division of the Chapman Cup (a Golf Association of Philadelphia senior event) last week, posted a 2-under-par 69. It’ll be his sixth U.S. Mid-Am appearance, but first since 1992.

  In 1992, he made the round of 16 before bowing out. In fact, Brookreson has made the match play cut every year he’s qualified for the U.S Mid-Am except one.

  Smeraglio, 44, Newtown, Pa., will make his second U.S. Middle-Amateur Championship after posting a 2-under-par 69. He traveled to Fresno, Calif., in 2001, and missed making the cut by a couple of strokes.

  Smeraglio didn’t even think he was going to play today. Yesterday, he quit after a couple holes of a practice round, battling a herniated disk problem.

  “I iced it all day and night and put a little heat on it as well,” said Smeraglio. “I took a couple of anti-inflammatory [medicine] and wore a back brace today for the first time. I had no problems.”

  Pruchnik, 38, a member at West Chester G&CC, carded a 1-under-par 70 and will be making his first U.S. Mid-Am appearance. This was only his second try.

  Pruchnik made the turn at even par, before finishing at 1 under.

  McDermott, 29, a member at Llanerch CC, qualified for his fourth U.S. Mid-Am. He’s made the match play draw two of the three years he’s advanced in the championship.

  McDermott rolled in a 12 footer on No. 18 (par 4, 400 yards) for birdie to assure himself of a qualifying spot.