Riverton’s Kramarski cards 69, caps #PatCup Qualifier at Yardley

 YARDLEY, Pa. — When Kevin Kramarski feels like he can spray a driver, he does, and the result is penal. When the Riverton Country Club member is forced to stay straight off the tee, he does, and the result is promising. | Scorecards | Photo gallery | History |

  Yardley Country Club (par 72, 6,327 yards), site of Tuesday’s Joseph H. Patterson Cup Qualifier, demands accuracy given its tree-lined layout and narrow fairways. Kramarski responded accordingly, carding a 3-under-par 69 to top a field of 111 players hoping to attain one of 33 available spots and ties for the Championship proper.

  The cut line fell to 77 by day’s end. The 114th Joseph H. Patterson Cup will take place Aug. 4-5 at Huntingdon Valley Country Club.

  “This is a tight course. I hit my driver dead straight all day,” Kramarski said. “It’s short, so I had no more than 110, 120 yards into each hole. I only had one errant tee shot.”

  The aforementioned occurred on No. 10 (par 5, 550 yards), Kramarski’s first hole of the day. Kramarski flared a drive to the right, underneath a tree. A forced punch-out thereafter presented a yardage of 190. Kramarski found the front bunker and failed to get up-and-down. He reclaimed the stroke by firing a birdie on the par 5, 490-yard 13th hole. Kramarski nearly reached the green in two with a hybrid from 220 yards. He then nestled a wedge from greenside left to six feet.

  The driver continued to sizzle, but Kramarski’s putter stayed lukewarm for the duration of his outward nine. Its’ temperature, akin to Mother Nature’s Tuesday, increased by the minute.

  On the sharp dogleg right, 328-yard No. 1 (par 4), Kramarski powered a drive over the trees and into the left greenside bunker. A pinpoint blast-out brewed a kick-in birdie. On the gettable No. 6 (par 4, 309 yards), a towering drive kept Kramarski short of the front bunker. He flipped a wedge to 12 feet. Following a pure stripe on the par 4, 352-yard No. 8, he lifted a wedge 75 yards to six feet for his fourth red figure on the day. Kramarski registered 16 greens in regulation at Yardley.

  A year ago, Kramarski, with a score of 3 under, earned medalist honors in a Patterson Cup Qualifier at Burlington Country Club. He finished tied for 43rd in the Championship proper at Chester Valley Golf Club.

  “The one thing I’ve noticed is I kind of psyche myself out when the tournament comes around,” Kramarski said. “I have to learn how to be more confident off the tee. Today, I had no stress off the tee. I just went and gave it a good, hard swing. I didn’t really hold back on anything. The moment I hold back on a driver is the moment it goes every which way.”

  In the academia realm, Kramarski is headed in a different direction. He spent two years at Iona College, where he led the men’s golf team in scoring average this past season. He was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year in 2014 and won the individual title in the conference championship last year. Despite those successes, Kramarski is transferring to Arkansas State University, where he will be a junior in the fall.

  “I felt that if I play at a bigger school, in more competitive tournaments, it will help me more with my amateur rank. I just feel like in the long run, it will help me more than staying up north,” he said.

  Over the weekend, Kramarski captured his third club championship (2013-14) at Riverton. He built a successful Junior career on the Golf Association of Philadelphia circuit. He won the Jock Mackenzie Memorial in 2012 and represented the organization twice in the Williamson Cup (2012-13). Kramarski earned runner-up honors in the Junior Boys’ Championship in 2013. Earlier this season, he won the GAP Four-Man Team alongside clubmates David Gall, Ben Litt and Phil Villari, Jr.

  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.