Talented squad seizes Four-Man Team at Indian Valley CC

  TELFORD, Pa. — Four of the region’s top amateurs assembled Tuesday to take on the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 22nd Four-Man Team, and the results were remarkable.

  The team of John Brennan of Spring Ford CC, Marc Mandel of Philadelphia Cricket Club, Andrew Mason of Huntingdon Valley CC and Connor McNicholas of Commonwealth National GC set Indian Valley CC (par 72, 6,324 yards) ablaze, carding a sensational 16-under-par 128 total to prevail. They broke the event’s previous scoring record, in relation to par, which was set last year by the team of Joe Dellicarpini and Bryan Winsko of Philadelphia Cricket Club, John Marshalek of Whitford CC and Matt Smith of Lancaster CC at Talamore CC.

  “I don’t think we really stressed about making a bogey all day,” Brennan, of Audubon, Pa., said. “We always had at least two balls in play, if not all four.”

  Mandel established a red figure rhythm by carding a birdie on No. 10 (par 4, 355 yards), the team’s opening hole. The Conshohocken, Pa. resident knocked a 56-degree wedge 105 yards to 12 feet. On the par 5, 474-yard 12th hole, Mason, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., declared his place at the red roundtable. He smoked a 6-iron 180 yards to 15 feet and canned the eagle putt. Mason, a semifinalist in this year’s Amateur Championship, displayed superb power and finesse on No. 14 (par 4, 320 yards). The 22-year-old nearly drove the reachable green, and then almost holed out for eagle with his ensuing chip. On the next hole (No. 15, par 5, 538 yards), Mandel’s 30-yard pitch stopped two feet from the flagstick, and he tapped-in for birdie. Mason whacked a wedge to 30 feet on the par 3, 136-yard 16th hole and watched the downhill, right-to-left breaker drop for birdie.

  “That was one of my better putts of the day,” Mason, who will return to Temple University this fall for a final semester, said.

  “It was dead-center. It was perfect putt and had perfect speed,” Brennan, 32, added.

  The long-hitting Mason showed superior shotmaking on the dogleg-left No. 17 (par 4, 366 yards). Although he steered his drive left of the green, Mason still had a clear angle into the hole location.

  “It hit a tree and had some miraculous kick,” he said.

  “It was a good ball find by Marc Mandel,” Mandel added jokingly. Mason’s chip shot rolled out to three feet, and he converted the birdie try.

  Both Mandel and Mason, two of the Association’s Players to Watch in 2011, had favorable yardages into the No. 18 (par 4, 360 yards) green. Mandel’s 85-yard wedge shot settled 15 feet above the hole location. Mason stuck his wedge 65 yards to four feet.

  Collectively, the team began its inward trek boasting a 9 under on the scorecard.

  It continued to wear out the red pen on No. 1 (par 4, 355 yards). McNicholas, of Ambler, Pa., hit his 54-degree wedge 105 yards to 15 feet below the flagstick and converted the uphill, left-to-right curler. Mason’s lob wedge from 90 yards away cleared the water hazard with ease and perched four feet flag-high. Both Mandel and Mason accomplished up-and-down birdies on the downhill par 5, 487-yard No. 3. Mandel did so after powering his second shot, a 5-iron from 200 yards, over the green. Likewise for Mason, who pulverized a 7-iron 175 yards out. Mandel bashed a pitching wedge to six feet below the hole location on No. 4 (par 3, 121 yards) and deposited the birdie putt. The team posted back-to-back birdies on Nos. 8 (par 5, 497 yards) and 9 (par 4, 342 yards) to earn a spot in the GAP history books. Mason thumped a 3-iron 235 yards into the left greenside bunker on No. 8. A superb sand shot came to rest three feet from the cup. McNicholas, a sophomore at Temple University, smacked a 54-degree wedge 105 yards to 30 feet on No. 9 and sunk the uphill birdie putt.

  “Marc and Andrew played awesome golf today,” Brennan, a three-time Mason-Dixon participant, said. “They both were low qualifiers in the [Golf Association of Philadelphia] Open [Championship qualifying events] last week. They’re just playing really good right now. Connor and I helped out when we needed to. We all picked each other up. We’re four competitive guys in the area. We found a way to get it done.”

  Links GC’s Brad Ginter, Ian Fawthrop, Gerard and Mark McHugh carded a 122 total (net) to take the Net Division.

  The Four-Man Team is an 18-hole stroke play event in which the best gross and net scores count per hole. Participants from different clubs can compete on the same team. The event began in 1995.