McNabb, Osberg sit atop 115th #GAPOpen

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HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa.–On a sweltering 94-degree summer day with high humidity, Dave McNabb scorched the Huntingdon Valley earth. McNabb, Applebrook Golf Club’s professional, carded the day’s low score, a scintillating 4-under-par 66, in Round 1 of the 115^th Open Championship at a firm, fast and fiery Huntingdon Valley Country Club (par 70, 6,785 yards). McNabb leads closest pursuer, amateur Jeff Osberg of Pine Valley Golf Club, a former Huntingdon Valley member, by a shot. No other player in the 126-player field broke par.

The cut to the low 60 players and ties fell at 6-over par. A total of 66 players (38 amateurs, 28 professionals) advanced to Day 2. Due to impending weather, the Association will utilize a split tee start beginning at 7 a.m. The final group tees off No. 1 at 8:40 a.m.

Defending champion Billy Stewart, 35, of Devon, Pa., a teaching professional at The ACE Club, finished at 4-over-par 74. Ashley Grier, who became the second woman to compete in an Open, carded an 82. Grier, 34, of Springfield (Delco), Pa., is an assistant professional at Overbrook Golf Club. She recently competed in the Symetra Tour’s Valley Forge Invitational at Raven’s Claw Golf Club in late May and in mid-June made an LPGA Major appearance in the Women’s KPMG Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota (see accompanying story).

“This is a tournament I’ve been trying to win for 25-plus years. I’ve come close a couple of times but haven’t pulled it off,” said McNabb, 53, of  Newark, Del. “I’m happy to be off to a good start today and will continue to focus and stay positive tomorrow and see what happens at the end of the day.”

McNabb’s closest call came in 2008, when he tied for second at Lookaway Golf Club. Last year, McNabb, with son Dalton on the bag, like today, stood on No. 18 at St. Davids Golf Club tied for the lead. A poor drive resulted in a double bogey on the last and cost him a spot in the four-hole aggregate playoff.

Osberg, 35, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., recently left HVCC after six years. He won the 2016 Open in a playoff over Chris Crawford of Spring Mill Country Club.

McNabb, in the first group out, blistered the scorecard from the beginning.

He recorded six birdies and a bogey on the Toomey nine (front) to turn at 5-under. His only Flynn nine blemish came when he dunked his No. 13 (par 3, 172 yards) tee ball into the pond with a  7-iron that came up “about a yard or two short” of the green. An ensuing birdie on No. 15 (par 5, 573 yards) offset a bit of that damage.

“To shoot 66 around here on this golf course is really a feat,” said McNabb, the reigning Philadelphia Section PGA Senior Player of the Year. “The golf course is firm and fast. I really love how this place plays. It is such a demanding test tee to green. You have to pay attention for all 18 holes.”

On No. 1, (par 4, 376 yards), McNabb knocked a 58-degree wedge from 60 yards to six feet. On No. 3 (par 3, (par 3, 217 yards), the fourth hardest hole on the course in relation to par with a 3.6 scoring average, McNabb ripped a newly implemented 7-wood to 15 feet. “I just put that club in the bag last night,” he said. A poor tee ball on No. 4 (par 4, 366 yards) resulted in a bogey but McNabb responded with a fury. He made four birdies in the next five holes.

The birdie barrage was as follows: No. 5 (par 3, 163 yards) an 8-iron to eight feet; No. 6 (par 4, 436 yards) a 136-yard pitching wedge to 20 feet; No. 8 (par 4, 365 yards) a 58-degree wedge from 95 yards to 15 feet and No. 9 (par 4, 458 yards) a 9-iron from 150 yards spun to six feet.

“Early on in the year my game was hit-or-miss,” said McNabb. “But I’ve put some time and effort in the last month or so, when I could. Quite frankly, I’ve tried to refocus when I practice, which has really paid some dividends. I’ve hit a lot of great golf shots, just not a lot of great scores. I saw this coming but I didn’t seeing it coming today on this golf course.”

Osberg opened his round with nine pars before carding four birdies and a bogey on his inward track.

He started the back nine birdie-bogey – on No. 10 (par 4, 396 yards) he lifted an 8-iron from 167 yards to 12 feet but on No. 11 (par 4, 371 yards) missed the green and made a 5. He responded immediately on No. 12 (par 4, 396 yards) when his wedge from a 135 yards stopped three feet from the cup. He made birdie. On No. 15 (par 5, 573 yards) he two putted from 30 feet after reaching the green in two and on No. 16 (par 4, 360 yards) drained a 20-foot downhiller after a pitching wedge from 141 yards.

He won the 2018 Huntingdon Valley Club Championship.

“I think it’s important. This is a course that requires a lot of [local] knowledge. You have to take your time, figure out where you want to land it and what it’s going to do after it lands,” said Osberg. “Being comfortable off the tee and knowing what I want to do on every hole is nice to be able to do that.”

Osberg’s already had two close calls in GAP Majors this season. He tied for ninth in the Middle-Amateur after holding the 27 lead. Weeks later, he lost in the Final of the 119^th BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship to Jeremey Wall.

“I don’t think there was anything in particular that went wrong in either of those two tournaments for me not to win,” said Osberg. “I still felt really great after both of them.”

NOTES–The Open Championship is GAP’s third oldest championship. The Amateur is 119 years old and the Joseph H. Patterson Cup is 117.

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.