Rolling Green’s Bastians better field in Father & Son (Younger)

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. — If you had told Dan and Matt Bastian that they would take home a Father & Son (Younger) title Tuesday at RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve (par 71, 6,320 yards), they both would have laughed it off.| Junior Division scorecards | Junior-Junior Division scorecards | History |

  “We drove up early this morning from the Jersey Shore. I hit a few putts with sandals on and he forgot to put a belt on – we obviously didn’t have very high expectations for today,” said Matt, 50, of Media, Pa. “We were both literally running to the first tee to get there in time.”

  And it is a good thing they did, because the Bastian’s hustle paid off in a big way.

  The father-son duo fired a 1-over 72 in an alternate shot, stroke-play format (with select drives) to take home the Junior Division title. The Bastians, of Rolling Green Golf Club, bettered 33 other father-son pairings.

  Their round began on the back nine. The first sign of good things to come arrived early on No. 11 (par 4, 330 yards). Matt hit a “terrible” 8-iron left of the green, but Dan stepped up, hit a chip with plenty of speed and rocked the ball off the bottom of the flagstick and into the cup for birdie.

  More red numbers arrived on the front. Dan placed an 8-iron to two feet on No. 5 (par 3, 161 yards) and his father cleaned it up with a tap-in birdie. On No. 9 (par 4, 300 yards), the Bastian’s last hole of the day, Matt rifled driver to the front edge of the green. Dan’s eagle attempt trickled 15 feet past the hole, but Matt stepped up and knocked in the comebacker.

  Post-round praise was plentiful for Dan’s clutch putting.

  “He made about a 100 feet of putts today. I’d say [Dan] had four par saves that were over 20 feet. And that’s weird, because he isn’t that great of a putter,” said a laughing Matt.

  “They were just falling for me today. It was just one of those days – I liked the greens here,” said Dan, 15, also of Media, Pa.

  Two years ago, at Blue Bell Country Club, the younger Bastian told his father that he “choked in this tournament”. This year, it was time for the older Bastian to get his vindication.

  “We get to play a lot socially together. The only other competition we play in is our Father-Son tournament at Rolling Green. It’s always a good time,” said Matt. “Other than that, we try and avoid each other.”

  “It was a great experience working together instead of just yelling together,” said Dan, who took home the Junior-Junior title in the 2014 Jock Mackenzie Memorial. “We get really sarcastic with each other, but we had a really great time today.”

Junior-Junior
  Ryan McCabe of The Springhaven Club had himself quite the day.

  The 13-year-old qualified for the Drive, Chip and Putt subregionals after finishing second overall in his local-qualifying group Tuesday morning at Sunnybrook Golf Club. He followed that up in the afternoon with a Junior-Junior title, alongside his father, Franny, at RiverCrest.

  “It was a fun day. My putting, surprisingly, definitely saved me. I didn’t do well on chipping or driving, but it was great to finish so well [this morning],” said the younger McCabe, of Media, Pa. “When I got here today, I couldn’t make a putt. It was a long day but I’m used to that.”

  The McCabes started their title chase by parring every hole on the back nine. They combined their impressive start with a 5-over 40 on the concluding nine, good for a total of 5-over 75. They topped a field of 34 total father-son teams in the Junior-Junior flight.

  “We were ham and egging it today, even though the last nine was a lot more egging it,” said Franny, 61, also of Media, Pa. “We had a ton of fun today. This is the third time we’ve played together in this. We always enjoy it.”

   The Father & Son (Younger), now in its 59th year, is open to father and son teams with sons 17 years of age and younger. The Junior-Junior Division consists of teams with sons 13 years and younger.

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 151 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.