BRYN MAWR, Pa.–Overbrook Golf Club defended both its home course and Philadelphia Team Championship title on Monday.
Behind a string of dominant singles performances, Overbrook cruised to its third straight Team Championship and record 17th overall. Overbrook (28.5 points) defeated rivals Commonwealth National Golf Club (14.5); Philadelphia Cricket Club (17) and Tavistock Country Club (12).
Overbrook holds 15 solo Team titles — three clear of Huntingdon Valley Country Club – and two shared crowns: with Atlantic City Country Club in 1989 and Yardley Country Club in 1996.
“When we got in the queue four years ago to host this event, we wondered if we would still be able to compete health and ability-wise when the date of 2012 finally came around,” said Overbrook captain Oscar Mestre. “Fast forwarding to today, it appears that the veterans age and experience wise still can play and our youth are more than ready to be the new leaders. But honestly, three or four years ago, and as recently as the qualifier a month ago, there were no guarantees that we would even qualify for the final we were to host.”
Of Overbrook’s eight-man team, five are 50 years of age or older. Mestre is the youngest of that group at age 52; Chris Lange is next at 57 followed by Ray Thompson at 60. Frank McFadden is 62 years old and Andy Thompson is the veteran of the group at 63. The three youngsters are: Chris Lange, Jr. at 28 with James Kania, Jr. at 23 and the youngest being Michael Kania at age 21.
Overbrook’s lead after the morning foursomes session by just a point.
“After the morning, I was nervous,” said Mestre. “I knew we were presented an opportunity we didn’t want to blow. When it was over last night, I was physically and emotionally exhausted.”
FOURSOMES (morning)
Commonwealth National GC
Pts
Overbrook GC
Pts
Brett Diakon/Scott McLaughlin
3
Ray Thompson/Frank McFadden
1
Matt Teesdale/Vince Varvolis
2
James Kania, Jr./Chris Lange, Jr.
.5
Mike Anderson/Dan Furman
.5
Andy Thompson/Chris Lange
3
Tom Krug/James Witt
1
Michael Kania/Oscar Mestre
3
Total
6.5
Total
7.5
Philadelphia Cricket Club
Pts
Tavistock CC
Pts
John Brennan/Ryan Gelrod
2
Kyle Raudenbush/Bryan Gomez
0
Jack Wallace/Daniel Feeney
.5
Matt Raudenbush/Bobby Arthur, Jr.
3
Scott Storck/Marc Mandel
.5
Thomas Gramigna/Sean Leonard
2
Rob Savarese, Jr./Kevin Kelly
2
Jamie Slonis/Bob Arthur
0
Total
5
Total
5
SINGLES (afternoon)
Commonwealth National GC
Pts
Overbrook GC
Pts
Scott McLaughlin
2
Ray Thompson
3
Brett Diakon
1
Michael Kania
2.5
Matt Teesdale
2
Chris Lange, Jr.
1
Mike Anderson
2
Chris Lange
3
Dan Furman
0
James Kania, Jr.
3
Tom Krug
0
Frank McFadden
3
Vince Varvolis
0
Andy Thompson
3
Jim Witt
1
Oscar Mestre
2.5
SINGLES
8
SINGLES
21
FOURSOMES
6.5
FOURSOMES
7.5
TOTAL
14.5
TOTAL
28.5
Philadelphia Cricket Club
Pts
Tavistock CC
Pts
John Brennan
0
Bryan Gomez
1
Ryan Gelrod
2.5
Kyle Raudenbush
0
Jack Wallace
3
Bobby Arthur, Jr.
0
Scott Storck
0
Thomas Gramigna
1
Kevin Kelly
1
Matt Raudenbush
2
Daniel Feeney
1
Jamie Slonis
2
Marc Mandel
2
Bob Arthur
1
G. Pat Dougherty
2.5
Sean Leonard
0
SINGLES
12
SINGLES
7
FOURSOMES
5
FOURSOMES
5
TOTAL
17
TOTAL
12
