Spring Mill’s Kornuszko cards 68, caps #PatCup Qualifier at Bluestone

BLUE BELL, Pa. — If the Matt Davis Golf Academy needs a testimonial, then Kevin Kornuszko is the guy to call. The Spring Mill Country Club member shaved two strokes off his handicap index since a consultation there last month.

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  Signs of his improvement sprouted throughout Bluestone Country Club (par 71, 6,530 yards) Friday. Kornuszko carded a 3-under-par 68 to earn medalist honors in a Joseph H. Patterson Cup Qualifier on the delightful design. He earned one of 30 qualifying positions and ties available for the Championship proper.

  The cut line stopped at 77 by day’s end. The 115th Joseph H. Patterson Cup will take place Aug. 9-10 at Wilmington Country Club (South).

  “I took a lesson [with Matt Davis] to fix some iron play. Since then, I’ve really been hitting it a lot better with the iron game,” Kornuszko, 39, of Warrington, Pa., said. “I wasn’t putting enough weight on my front set-up. It’s been effective. From that day on, I’ve been much better.”

  Proof is in Kornuszko’s red pudding at Bluestone. Although he set foot on the property for the first time, Kornuszko executed each shot like a knowledgeable veteran. He deposited a pair of 12-footers for birdie on a pair of par 5s to start. A sand wedge from 80 yards on No. 1 (529 yards), and a gap wedge from 110 yards on No. 5 (531 yards) served as the setups. His only outward bogey occurred on No. 2 (par 4, 413 yards).

  Then came a back-nine breakout.

  Kornuszko, who registered 13 greens in regulation on the day, saw four consecutive birdie opportunities inside 20 feet, but walked away with pars. On the par 4, 380-yard 14th hole, he capitalized on tedious chance from the collar. Kornuszko drained a 20-foot, left-to-right slider following a 6-iron from 180 yards. He ran a 3-wood through the fairway on the next hole, a dogleg left par 4 measuring 421 yards. A troubling lie forced a punch shot; a lob wedge to the front of the green and a two-putt meant a bogey. Kornuszko, a soft-spoken and swift striker, recovered from the rare error by sticking an 8-iron to two feet on No. 16 (par 3, 158 yards) for birdie. Consider the closing par 4, 407-yard 18th hole a clear demonstration of Kornuszko’s improvement. He split the fairway with a powerful drive, knocked a pitching wedge 125 yards to 12 feet and strutted toward the jar as his 12-footer for birdie clattered.

  “I hit it better than I have in years,” Kornuszko, a sales manager, said. “I’ve been playing a lot of golf the last few weeks and I’ve been hitting it really well. I didn’t make a lot of birdie putts today, but still enough to get to 3 under.”

  More flexibility in his work and family schedule allowed Kornuszko to spend more time focusing on his game this summer. He’s auditioned for the Patterson Cup and Middle-Amateur Championship over the past few years. A missed cut here, a middle of the pack finish there.

  Perhaps Wilmington will tell a different tale, given his progression of late.

  “I’ll try to keep playing as well as I can, make the cut and put up the best number I can,” Kornuszko said.

  The second oldest Championship in the Golf Association of Philadelphia, the Joseph H. Patterson Cup memorializes a man who fostered the game in its infancy. Joseph Henry Patterson, a Philadelphia Cricket Club member, competed in the first out-of-town match played by a team of Philadelphians. Friends of Patterson donated the Cup, designed by J.E. Caldwell & Co., to the Association in 1900.

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 153 Full Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, 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.