Overbrook GC’s Thompson wins Chapman Cup

  He bested the 121-player field by two strokes despite recent struggles with a new swing.

  “I haven’t been playing well as of late and I’m in between swings, so it was a hang-on kind of round for me today,” he said. “I just tried to keep it in play.”

  Thompson admitted to having less than stellar prospects for Wednesday’s tournament.

  “Sometimes when you don’t have a lot of expectations coming in, you just take it for what it is and today was that day,” said Thompson, who was the only player to card a sub-par score on both the front and back nine.

  Through 15 holes, Thompson stood at 2-under par as he came to what he called one of the most important holes of his round.

  On No. 7 (par 3, 203 yards), Thompson’s 16^th hole of the day, he found himself in rare trouble when he knocked a hybrid into the right greenside bunker, only to get up-and-down after sinking an eight footer for par.

  “I knew that even-par, 1 under would be close,” he said, “so it was great to save par there.”

  Thompson was consistent all day, hitting 14 greens in regulation.

  He added, “I drove the ball in play all day and hit a lot of greens.”

  Starting on the back nine, Thompson parred his first five holes before recording a bogey on the 15^th (par 4, 333 yards) when he pulled a 3-wood into the trees. Thompson regrouped in style, though, posting red figures on No. 16 (par 4, 363 yards) and No. 17 (par 3, 168 yards). He hit a 9-iron from a 128 yards out to 15 feet on the 16^th and then knocked a 6-iron on the 17^th to 18 feet left of the hole.

  Charles Jones of Philadelphia Publinks finished second at even-par 71. Frank McFadden of Overbrook GC and Thomas Bartolacci, Jr. of Saucon Valley CC tied for third at 2-over par.

  “I had a lot of guessing out there,” said Jones, 55, of Collegeville, Pa. “You have to hit a lot of tough shots [to score].”

  This year for the first time, the Chapman Cup was split into two divisions, Gross and Net, to accompany more players. The Net Tournament is set for Sept. 13 at Whitford CC.

  The Chapman Memorial Cup is named for Frank H. Chapman, who served as the Association’s Secretary-Treasurer for 23 years. Players with a USGA Handicap Index of 7.0 or lower were eligible to compete in today’s tournament.

Overall
1. Andy Thompson, Overbrook GC, 69
2. Charles Jones, Philadelphia Publinks, 71

Ages 55-59
Gross
T1. Mathew Bellis, Commonwealth National GC, 74
T1. David Brookreson, Huntingdon Valley CC, 74
T1. Lee Cook, Laurel Creek CC, 74
T1. Michael Dougherty, Huntingdon Valley CC, 74
T1. William Lawler, Fox Hill CC, 74
T1. Martin Klagholz, Aronimink GC, 74
Net
1. Naz Gagliardi, Philadelphia Publinks, 67

Ages 60-65
Gross
T1. James Haynie, LuLu CC, 77
T1. David Jordan, Woodbury CC, 77
T1. Charles McClaskey, Wyncote GC, 77
T1. Charles McDowell, Wilmington CC, 77
Net
1. John Snyder, Waynesborough CC, 70

Super Senior (65 and over)
Gross
1. Joseph Scott, Jr., Kennett Square Golf & CC, 75
2. Robert Proto, Little Mill CC, 76
Net
T1. Herbert Gordon, Doylestown CC, 70
T1. Ben Sack, Overbrook GC, 70
T1. Curtis Young, Merion GC, 70