Overbrook’s Mestre, Thompson defend Senior Four-Ball Stroke Play title

Aug. 2, 2018

WEST CHESTER, Pa. — As the golf balls belonging to Oscar Mestre and Raymond Thompson glistened on the 18th green, Edward Erickson marveled at his playing partners, verbally acknowledging — sarcastically, sincerely, perhaps a bit of both — their winning formula.

“I played well on the back nine. Oscar played well on the front,” Thompson, 66, of Drexel Hill, Pa., said. “It was a good ham-and-egg show.”

The longtime Overbrook Golf Club duo successfully defended its title in the 59th Senior Four-Ball Stroke Play Thursday. Mestre and Thompson carded a sizzling 7-under-par 64 at Penn Oaks Golf Club (par 71, 6,260 yards). Wilmington Country Club’s Randy Mitchell and Steve Walczak finished two shots back.

Cohesion, consistency and coaching made the Overbrook tandem a leaderboard threat from the outset. Thompson logged the team’s first birdie on No. 3 (par 5, 468 yards) after splashing a bunker shot into gimme range. Mestre reached the green in two with a 9-iron from 152 yards, but missed a slippery 10-footer for eagle on the low side. That 9-iron, though, proved to be his weapon of choice on this day. He hit it 151 yards to 25 feet on No. 5 (par 4, 400 yards) and buried the right-to-left breaker. Mestre and Thompson made the turn in 3 under after respective birdies on the par 5, 480-yard No. 9. Thompson’s swift chip from the right greenside rough gave the reigning Brewer Cup champion a kick-in. Mestre again reached the green in two, this time with a hybrid, and two-putted.

A downhill Thompson chip on another par 5 (No. 13, 510 yards) also resulted in a birdie. Furthermore, he drained a right-to-left breaking 20-footer on the dogleg right 11th hole (par 4, 328 yards) following a three-quarter wedge from 100 yards.

The team’s lone error occurred on No. 14 (par 4, 441 yards) because of poor tee positioning.

“We both thought that if we cleared that tree on the right, we were gaining a lot on the hole. There was no way you should hit it right,” Mestre, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Vice President, said. “We hit bad shots, but we didn’t know the hole. You could play out of the left rough all day long.”

The coaching element in the Overbrook duo’s formula became prevalent on the No. 15 (par 3, 152 yards) tee-box. Mestre made Thompson’s four-footer for birdie possible with his advice.

“Ray was thinking 8-iron. I hit 9-iron and it was the right distance,” Mestre said. “I said to him, ‘It’s a 9-iron left of the hole.’”

“I wasn’t going to hit 9-iron. He hit first and we thought he was reasonably close,” Thompson said. “A 9-iron was the perfect club.”

Mestre also talked Thompson into a 9-iron on No. 17 (par 4, 428 yards). He subsequently hit a hook-draw from 155 yards, letting it land on the top of the hill and chase to four feet. Mestre capped the team’s title defense with a 3 on No. 18 (par 4, 352 yards). The sequence, as expected, went like this: 9-iron from 155 yards to six feet.

Mestre and Thompson are three days removed from failing to qualify for the U.S. Senior Amateur. Both missed the cut at Tavistock Country Club. That day affected their respective mindsets entering Penn Oaks.

“You always want to get out and prove that was an anomaly rather than the norm,” Mestre said. “Ray shot 78 and I shot 77. I don’t think that’s our normal score [at Tavistock]. You want to wipe out that memory as soon as possible. At least I do.”

“I didn’t have much going at Tavistock until my tee shot on the 12th hole. I felt that was the swing I needed to make,” Thompson said. “I hit it pretty well coming in from there. Whatever I came up with there, I tried today, and the feeling is good.”

Still good.

Thursday’s victory adds to an already-impressive season for the Overbrook dynamos. Thompson is currently ranked first in the Senior Player of the Year standings. Mestre, who captured the Frank H. Chapman Memorial Cup (Gross) in June, trails his good friend (and frequent passenger) by 76.25 points.

Super-Senior Division
James Prendergast and Steve Tagert met last year during a sudden-death playoff for the Super-Senior title in the Frank H. Chapman Memorial Cup (Gross). Tagert won with a birdie on the first playoff hole. Prendergast took note.

  The two became friends and golfing acquaintances when Prendergast joined Spring Ford Country Club earlier this year. That friendship, for the first time, turned into a partnership Thursday at Penn Oaks (par 71, 5,761 yards). Prendergast and Tagert carded a 4-under-par 68 to grab the Super-Senior crown in the Senior Four-Ball Stroke Play.

  “We were both in the hole on almost every hole,” Tagert, 68, of Collegeville, Pa., said.

  “He shot 73 and I shot 69. We both played well,” Prendergast, 66, of Limerick, Pa., added.

  The Spring Ford duo inked a 32 coming in to prevail by a stroke. Tagert ignited the birdie fire with a downhill 10-footer on No. 13 (par 5, 450 yards). Prendergast reached the par 5, 426-yard 14th hole in two with a 23-degree hybrid from 194 yards. His uphill eagle attempt navigated a ridge before halting two feet past the cup. Prendergast cleaned up the birdie putt. He buried a 40-footer on No. 15 (par 3, 140 yards) after leaving an 8-iron in the fringe. Tagert capped the team’s impressive stretch with a 3 on the par 4, 360-yard 17th hole, knocking a choked-up pitching wedge 113 yards to six feet.

  Prendergast previously won the Senior Four-Ball (Senior Division) alongside Marty Dorminy in 2014. Expect a title defense with Tagert by his side.

  “We’ll do it again,” Prendergast said. “He hits it straight and has a very good short game.”

  “Jim was just deadly,” Tagert said. “He keeps it in the fairway and is solid on his second shots. He puts it tight and makes most of the putts. His whole game today was superhuman today.”

Golf Association of Philadelphia
Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) 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 260 Full Member Clubs and 75,000 individual members are spread across Eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey and Delaware. 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.