Penn Oaks GC’s Gallagher stands alone atop Mid-Am. leaderboard

RD.1 VIDEO

ELVERSON, Pa. – Chris Gallagher of Penn Oaks GC carded a 1-under-par 69 to grab the opening-round lead in the 24th Middle-Amateur Championship on Wednesday at Stonewall (par 70, 6,694 yards, North Course). Sunny but breezy conditions were the order of the day.

Gallagher, 25, of West Chester, Pa., might have posted the only under-par round of the day but a herd of players, 21 to be exact, are within four shots of the lead at the site of a former dairy farm.

  A field of 124 players started with the cut line falling at 78 (8-over-par). A total 74 players advanced. The second and final round begins at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. The leaders start their day at 11:30 a.m.

  The Mid-Am is the first of four GAP Majors.

  Gallagher, the 2003 Patterson Cup Champion competing in his first Mid-Am., labeled his round “boring.”

 “It was nothing flashy,” said Gallagher, whose game is in top shape. He advanced to the second stage of U.S. Open qualifying on Monday at DuPont CC. “I kept it out of trouble for the most part. I tried to hit fairways and greens and leave myself in good spots on the green. You have to pay close attention to the hole locations.”

  Gallagher posted nine-hole scores of 34 and 35.

  On No. 3 (par 5, 498 yards), he knocked a 6-iron from 195 yards onto the green and two putted for birdie. A three-putt bogey on No. 7 (par 4, 450 yards) dropped him back to even, but Gallagher responded by lofting a sand wedge from 105 yards to eight feet on No. 8 (par 5, 555 yards) to make the turn at 1-under par.

  A 3-iron short of the green on the difficult 13^th (par 3, 220 yards), statistically the hardest hole on the course at 3.894 strokes on Wednesday, resulted in a bogey, but Gallagher made a smooth 12-foot birdie on the uphill 15^th (par 4, 449 yards) to counter. He bogeyed No. 17 (par 3, 209 yards) when he failed to get up-and-down from the left bunker but ended the round with a birdie, two putting from the back edge of the green (par 5, 522 yards), some 40 feet away, after smashing a rescue club on from 225 yards.

  “I left a couple of shots out there but I made a couple of nice par saves to keep things going,” said Gallagher, highlighting six-foot par conversions on Nos. 1 and 2 and a 12-footer on No. 9. “Tomorrow, I’ll try to do the same thing.”

  Chip Lutz of LedgeRock GC, playing in the same group as Gallagher, is a stroke back after recording an even-par 70. He made a birdie and bogey on the front side and two birdies and a double bogey on the back.

  “I actually am a little surprised I’m as close as I am at this point,” said Lutz, who finished second in the Mid-Am. by a stroke a year ago. “I thought someone might go deep. It was the kind of day someone could score well. I’m happy to be in the position I’m in.”

  Lutz, 52, of Reading, Pa., just missed his 30-foot eagle chance on No. 3, before walking away with a birdie. A bogey on No. 7 dropped Lutz back to even par before a nice eight-foot birdie on No. 12 (par 4, 355 yards) put him at 1 under. However, the 13^th hole struck again, and Lutz pulled his drive with a rescue club long and left of the bunker. When it was over he had made double-bogey five. Not to be deterred, Lutz immediately answered with a birdie on No. 14 (par 4, 419 yards) when he knocked his 9-iron from 143 yards to 12 feet left of the hole and made the putt.

  Lange of Overbrook GC, the two-time defending champion, stands at 3-over par, four shots back. Michael McDermott of Merion GC, a two-time Mid-Am. Champion, heads a group of six players at 1-over par.

  The Middle-Amateur is for players 25 years of age and older.

  The GAP Middle-Amateur started in 1984, three years after the USGA created the U.S. Mid-Am as a formal championship for post-college amateurs. The Association followed suit with the USGA in creating a Mid-Am, but initially differed in its administration of the tournament in a couple of respects.

  The most obvious difference was the age requirement. Prior to 2001, the GAP Mid-Am was for players 30 years of age and older. That Committee reviewed and revised that age requirement in 2001 to match the USGA’s guidelines of 25 years of age or older for eligible players. Also at that point, the Committee changed the format of the event to a two-day stroke play tournament (instead of a one-day medal play event) with a cut to the low 70 players and ties after the first round. The field begins with 132 players. Players must have a GAP/USGA Handicap Index of 7.0 or lower.