Red-hot Brandon Matthews of Fox Hill just misses PCC course record

GLADWYNE, Pa.–Brandon Matthews of Fox Hill Country Club visited his swing coach Brian Quinn yesterday for a quick check-up. In the opening round of the 110th Joseph H. Patterson Cup, presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance, Thursday, the recently turned 18 year old performed like a finely tuned golfing machine.

  Matthews blistered venerable Philadelphia Country Club (par 71, 6,793 yards) with a 6-under-par 65 to grab a three-stroke lead after the first of two rounds in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s final Major of the season. Christopher Fuga of Phoenixville Country Club; Ben Cooley of Huntingdon Valley Country Club; Michael Hyland of Little Mill Country and Grant Skyllas of Moselem Springs Golf Club stand in second place at 3 under.

  Matthews fell a stroke shy of the modern PCC competitive course record (established after the 2002 renovation). Current PGA Tour player Charlie Beljan carded a 64 (also 6 under) in the 2005 U.S. Amateur Championship Qualifier. That week No. 6, the par 5, played as a 4.

  A total of 12 players broke par on a day that saw a scoring average of 76.816. The cutline for the low 60 players and ties fell at 5-over 76. In all, 61 players made the cut. The final pairing of Matthews, Cooley and Fuga begin their final round at 11:10 a.m. James Kania, Jr. of Overbrook Golf Club is the lowest scoring player, at 2 under, who has won a prior Patterson Cup.

  Matthews started white hot and remained that way on a warm, humid day.

  He birdied No. 1 (par 4, 325 yards) after almost driving the green and No. 3 (par 5, 558 yards) after knocking a 4-iron onto the putting surface from 227 yards out with his second shot. Matthews added fuel to the fire on No. 6 (par 5, 500 yards) when he holed his third shot from 30 yards onto the green and watched it roll into the cup. Another birdie on No. 8 (par 4, 390 yards), a 60-degree wedge from 100 yards to seven feet, put Matthews at 5-under 31 at the turn.

  “All I’m thinking is just cruise along. Try to limit the bogeys, bunt it down the fairways, bunt it on the greens and make a couple of putts,” said Matthews, the 2012 Pennsylvania Golf Association Junior Champion, from Dupont, Pa.

  Matthews birdie barrage continued on No. 12 (par 5, 575 yards) when he reached the green in two strokes with a 3-iron from 250 yards. His seven-foot eagle putt slipped left of the jar. Matthews erased that disappointing eagle miss, if you can call it that, immediately when he lofted a 56-degree wedge from 103 yards on No. 13 (par 4, 375 yards) to two feet for another red circle.

  Matthews lone bogey came on No. 15 (par 3, 220 yards), the hardest scoring hole on the course, after missing the green right with a 3-iron and failing to get up-and-down. He closed his round with three straight pars.

  “I struck the ball extremely well. I went and saw my coach yesterday and he pointed something out to me. I don’t think I missed more than two golf shots today,” said the incoming Temple University freshman. “I hit [my shots] exactly where I wanted to.” Quinn is also the Temple University golf coach.

  Matthews’ pairing may have been worth a couple strokes saved as well. He was grouped with longtime Philadelphia Country Club staple P. Chet Walsh. The 47-year-old Walsh has been a member at PCC for the last 41 years.

  “It helped a lot. He knew every blade of grass on this golf course so I wasn’t worried at all. That was probably the best pairing I could ask for,” said Matthews.

  Matthews’ performance also pushed the 2010 PIAA Champion into the Silver Cross Award lead. It was an unexpected bonus for Matthews who asked Walsh what that award represented midway through the round. Matthews forged ahead of Amateur Championship medalist Brian Colbert of White Manor Country Club by one stroke with one round to go. The Silver Cross is awarded to the player with the lowest aggregate score in the qualifying rounds of the Amateur Championship and the Patterson Cup.

  Cooley, 19, of Rydal, Pa., was Matthews’ greatest danger, in a sense. Off in the morning, Cooley had his score at 5 under after birding holes No. 11-13, but finished with two bogeys in his final four holes.

  “I just want to come out and do the same thing I did today,” said the University of Pennsylvania sophomore. “I want to minimize mistakes.”

  Fuga, 21, of Phoenixville, Pa., is a sophomore at Coker College; Skyllas, 26, lives in Reading, Pa. and Hyland, 33, of Marlton, N.J. is a two-time Golf Association of Philadelphia Amateur Champion.

NOTES–The first round was delayed 50 minutes due to lightning … a field of 127 player started the day.