Riverton quartet rallies to win Four-Man Team at Hershey’s Mill

  WEST CHESTER, Pa. — “Look good, play good”. That was the winning Four-Man Team motto for Riverton Country Club’s David Gall, Kevin Kramarski, Ben Litt and Phil Villari, Jr. on Thursday at Hershey’s Mill Golf Club (par 71, 6,316 yards).| Scorecards | History |

  Decked out in uniforms of white golf polos and belts combined with black shorts and socks, the Riverton quartet completed a late-round surge, propelled by five straight Kramarski birdies on the back nine, to finish with a 10-under-total of 132 in a two-best balls of four, stroke-play format.

  Their winning score matched that of the group playing directly in front of them, which included a trio of Temple University golfers (Lu Lu Country Club’s Mark Farley, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve’s Gary McCabe, Jr., and The ACE Club’s Erik Reisner) and a last-minute addition (RiverCrest’s Duane Pinnock). The winning foursome took home the hardware thanks to a match of cards. Gall, Litt, Kramarski and Villari Jr., fired a gross back-nine score of 64 compared to the runner-up group’s 67.

  On the front, the uniformed winners jarred six birdies, but ultimately gave two back on the par-3, 193-yard 3rd hole. They made the turn at 4 under, but knew they had to turn their games up heading to the concluding nine.

  “We knew we had to start off the back strong,” said Villari, Jr., 26, of Cinnaminson, N.J. “I rolled in a 20 footer for birdie on No. 10 (par 4, 390 yards) to start us off strong. We kept an eye on the guys in front of us, because we knew they were also playing strong, so we knew we had to finish well.”

  On No. 12 (par 5, 512 yards), Kramarski pumped his tee shot out of bounds and picked up his ball — something he wouldn’t even have to think about doing for the remainder of the round – and moved on. At the time he didn’t know it, but Kramarski was about to help his team finish on the top of the leaderboard.

  It began on the 13th (par 4, 356 yards), where Kramarski ended with a birdie tap-in after he stuck a wedge to within a foot of the cup. He wasn’t done there. A 20-footer fell on No. 14 (par 3, 180 yards) for another birdie. A red figure for Kramarski again arrived on No. 15 (par 4, 362 yards) after a 75-yard wedge was placed to seven feet. Then a 12-foot birdie fell on No. 16 (par 4, 350 yards). Kramarski finished the jaw-dropping stretch of birdies with a 25-foot bomb on No. 17 (par 4, 413 yards). He finished the day with a gross total of five-under 66 and nine birdies – a personal record.

  “At one point during that run, I was literally just trying to get it around the hole. It was incredible – everything was just falling,” said Kramarski, who will be transferring out of Iona College where he picked up Rookie of the Year honors and the individual MAAC crown in 2015.

  “It was unbelievable to watch. He was just on fire,” said Gall, 19, of Cinnaminson, N.J.

  Besides Kramarski, all three of the other team members finished with rounds in the low 70s. Even on the holes where someone was struggling, two players were there to steady the ship. They attribute that stand-out teamwork to building chemistry together while growing up in Riverton’s strong junior golf program.

  And their matching uniforms.

  “We figured black and white, we couldn’t really mess up. You’d think it’d be easy to get that combo together. But it wasn’t. It was a three-day process,” said Gall.

  “One guy said he didn’t have socks, one guy said he grew out of his black shorts,” said Kramarski, 19, of Palmyra, N.J. “Then [David] spilled Wawa all over his white shirt. Maybe that ended up being the magic touch.”

  The quartet came together via a friendly group text. A message went out a while back from David, asking what everyone was doing on June 23.

  “We all said, ‘Nothing,’ Then [David] said to us, ‘Then we’re playing in the Four-Man Team at Hershey’s Mill. Let’s do this.’ We were all in,” said Villari, Jr.

  All four of the players pair up regularly at Riverton. They know each other’s style and game, so “it made just made sense”. However, they aren’t accustomed to playing with each other. It’s usually versus one another.

  “We’re never not competing against each other. We’re always playing little matches when we’re out there,” said Kramarski.

  While those inter-club competitions won’t be going away anytime soon, today’s title – and outfit choice – might be an indication that their team is headed for more GAP success in the future.

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 150 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. 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.