Three share medalist honors in #GAPMidAm Qual. at Golden Oaks

FLEETWOOD, Pa. — Three golden golf games outshined consistent raindrops Saturday in a Middle-Amateur Championship Qualifier presented by Callaway Golf at Golden Oaks Golf Club (par 72, 6,679 yards).

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  Shawn Lavin of Rolling Green Golf Club, Ryan Orcutt of Philadelphia Publinks GA and Jared Palubinski of Schuylkill Country Club all carded 2-under rounds of 70 to each earn a share of medalist honors.

  The three medalists bettered a field of 84 #GAPMidAm hopefuls. The low 23 players and ties secured their tee times in the Championship proper on May 24-25 at Overbrook Golf Club.

  By day’s end, the cut line stopped at 2-over 74 in the first of three Qualifers which featured a 1 p.m. shotgun start.

  Palubinski is a former Golden Oaks member who joined when he was 14 years old and recently left the club when he was 23. That local knowledge he gained growing up was enough to bolster his round to the top of today’s leaderboard.

  “I love this place. It’s not tight, it’s fair, there’s really no quirky holes. For a semi-private course, it’s pretty great overall,” said Palubinski, now 26.

  The Hamburg, Pa. native has his sights set on making his first GAP Major cut at Overbrook. He qualified for the #GAPMidAm last year but failed to make the second day at Waynesborough Country Club. Achieving that goal will be this year’s measuring stick for Palubinski.

  “I feel like I’ve been getting better every year. All I need to do now is make the cut. If I can do that, then I’ll try to contend,” he said.

  Orcutt consistently found himself within 12 feet in regulation during his medal-earning round. His four birdies (Nos. 7, 8, 10, 12) were the highlights of the day, even though he “left some out there”, noting that he had birdie looks roughly “70 percent of the time.”

  “The greens were great here. Iron play was huge today and you were really able to give yourself some good looks out there,” said Orcutt, 38, of Bethlehem, Pa.

  “I’ve missed a lot of cuts by only one shot, so this one feels good to qualify. I haven’t been to Overbrook but I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

  Lavin, a player who is no stranger to GAP Majors, carded splits of 1-under 35 on each side at Golden Oaks en route to earning his way to the Championship proper where he’ll play on Overbrook’s familiar track.

  “Oddly enough, when I was in college and learning how to play, my cousin was the assistant pro at Overbrook. I would take lessons from him there and I learned that course well, it’s a really good one,” he said.

  The 45-year-old competes regularly in the Mid-Amateur, in addition to the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship and GAP Open Championship. He says this one is unique because “it’s for the working golfer with realistic expectations.”

  “All of us know where we are in life, and we really just try to enjoy it,” said Lavin, of Drexel Hill, Pa. “That’s the biggest thing out here is having fun. We know we’re not turning pro but we do try to enjoy the time we have on the golf course.”

  Notes–G. Patrick Dougherty of Philadelphia Cricket Club made an ace on his final hole, the par-3, 170-yard No. 9, to sneak into the field. With a 6-iron in hand, his hole-in-one pushed Dougherty over the cut line.

  The Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Middle-Amateur Championship started in 1984, three years after the USGA created the U.S. Mid-Amateur as a formal championship for post-college amateurs. The Association followed suit with the USGA in creating a Mid-Am, but initially differed in its administration of the tournament in a couple of respects.

  The most obvious difference was the age requirement. Prior to 2001, the GAP Middle-Amateur was for players 30 years of age and older.

  The Association’s Executive Committee reviewed and revised that age requirement in 2001 to match the USGA’s guidelines of 25 years of age or older for eligible players. Also at that point, the Committee changed the format of the event to a two-day stroke play tournament (instead of a one-day medal play event) with a cut to the low 70 players and ties after the first round. The field begins with 132 players.

Callaway Golf
Callaway Golf was founded in 1982 by the late Ely Callaway, a visionary entrepreneur who operated under a simple but profound business promise: Deliver Demonstrably Superior, Pleasingly Different products and services. That philosophy turned what was originally a boutique manufacturer of high-quality wedges and putters into the world’s largest maker of premium, performance golf products. The Callaway mission and vision has remained the same; we passionately pursue advanced, innovative technologies that help golfers of all abilities find more enjoyment from the game. Under the Callaway and Odyssey brands, Callaway manufactures and sells golf clubs and golf balls, and sells golf apparel, footwear and accessories in more than 110 countries worldwide.

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.