Vonderheid, Chipin head Patterson Cup Qualifier at Olde York Country Club

  “If you don’t play it smart and keep it in play, you can make a number,” said Chipin, 16, of Pennington, N.J. “It’s all about playing smart on this course. It made you think.”

  “I was more careful than I normally am,” said Vonderheid, a Luzerne County Commissioner. “The course is tight, but it’s fun to come to and grind at a course you’ve never seen before, as long as you hit the ball in the fairway.”

  Chipin added, “I know that fescue grass is absolutely awful [to play out of] and I heard that was especially the case here.”

  Chipin stuck to his guns by opting to sacrifice distance for accuracy.

  “When I came up to a hole where there was fescue, I pretty much left my driver in the bag,” he said. “If it goes in there [the ball] is pretty much lost, so I just tried to stay out of that.”

  Vonderheid, 37, of Wilkes Bare, Pa., shared the same strategy using his driver only three times.

  “I kept the driver in the bag most of the day and missed only one fairway,” he said.

  On the rare occasion that Chipin used his driver, good things happened. On No. 13 (par 5, 534) he sent his drive nearly 300 yards and reached the green in two after hitting his rescue club pin-high within 15-ft of the hole. Chipin sank his eagle putt from there.

  While Vonderheid benefited from accurate play off the tee’s himself, his short-iron game struggled at times as he hit only 7 greens in regulation. His Ying and Yang game would continue onto the greens with his putting.

  “I made a bunch of putts that I shouldn’t have, and missed a bunch that I shouldn’t have,” he said. “It wasn’t a great putting day, but my putter worked when it counted.”

  The Joseph H. Patterson Cup takes place on Aug. 10 at Philmont CC (North and South course) with a field of 132 players determined by today’s Qualifier at Olde York CC and the second one held at The ACE Club this past Tuesday.

  “I think I have great shot to do well there,” Chipin said. “After all, Philmont is my home course. I’m just happy I made it.”

  The Patterson Cup is a one-day, 36-hole individual gross stroke play event. It is the final Major on the Golf Association of Philadelphia calendar.