White Manor CC’s Borowsky heads RVCC Open Qualifier

  VILLANOVA, Pa.–Alan Borowsky, a 22-year-old amateur from White Manor CC, heads to the historic East Course of Merion GC for the first time in the summer’s marquee event, the 103^rd Open Championship. Borowsky, a recent Lehigh University graduate, earned a trip to the fabled Main Line venue with a 4-under-par 66 on Monday at Radnor Valley CC (par 70, 6,531 yards), the first of three Open Championship qualifiers administered by the Golf Association of Philadelphia. Borowsky and 15 others advanced from the RVCC site into the championship field of 72.

  In all, 137 players (108 amateurs and 29 professionals) attempted to qualify at Radnor Valley CC.

Borowsky, who started his round on the back nine, opened with a birdie on No. 10 (par 5, 524 yards), getting up-and-down from 10 yards short of the green for a four. A bogey on No. 12 (par 4, 425 yards) after a wayward drive preceded a pair of birdies on Nos. 13 (par 4, 322 yards) and 15 (par 4, 420 yards). Borowsky knocked a gap wedge from 109 yards to 15 feet on No. 13 before recording the shot of the day, a hole-out on No. 15 from 119 yards. He had to chip out from the left trees on his second shot.

  A poor tee ball on No. 18 (par 4, 400 yards) and a failed up-and-down on No. 2 (par 3, 172 yards) dropped the Bala Cynwyd resident to even par before he finished with a flourish birdieing four of his final seven holes.

  On No. 3 (par 4, 455 yards) he knocked a 9-iron from 142 yards to 10 feet; on No. 4 (par 4, 380 yards) he hit a pitching wedge from 120 yards out and sitting in the rough to four feet; on No. 6 (par 4, 379 yards) he rolled in a 25-footer; and on No. 7 (par 5, 539 yards) he hit a driver and hybrid club to 15 feet before just missing the eagle try on the low side and tapping in for birdie.

  “Anytime you can shoot a number like that you have to be happy,” said Borowsky. “I learned that even when you are not hitting it well, you have to keep your head on straight because you never know when you are going to turn it around.”

  Carding the other lone under-par score of the qualifier was Chris Gallagher, an amateur from Penn Oaks GC.

  Gallagher, 25, has kept his name near the top of the Golf Association of Philadelphia Major leaderboards all year. He finished second in the Middle-Amateur Championship in May and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Amateur Championship just a few weeks ago.

  “I’ve been in the hunt every event and that’s all you can ask,” said Gallagher, the current William Hyndman, III Player of the Year point leader. “If I keep putting myself there enough times, eventually, I’ll close one out.”

  Gallagher, who also started on the back nine, made the turn at 1-over-par 36 after an erratic front side that included three bogeys and two birdies. A three-putt bogey on No. 1 (par 4, 335 yards) pushed the 25-year-old to 2 over and placed his Open aspirations in doubt, but Gallagher responded with three consecutive birdies on holes 6-8 to finish in red digits.

  On No. 6 (par 4, 379 yards), the West Chester, Pa., resident pitched a wedge from 128 yards out to 18 feet for a three. On the ensuing par 5, 7^th hole (539 yards), Gallagher knocked a 3-iron just short of the green in two and got up-and-down for birdie. The eighth hole, a long par 3 (210 yards) playing slightly uphill, Gallagher smacked a 4-iron to four feet.

  “That was a bonus,” said Gallagher of the eighth hole birdie. “I was just trying to hit it to the middle of the green.”

  And what about making the Open?

  “It’s a great tournament with a strong field and it’s Merion. I’ve never played there but I usually play well on a difficult course where par is a good score.”

  Gallagher is no stranger to success. He is a former Patterson Cup winner (2003) and is the reigning Delaware Open champion (2006).

  This is the first year the Golf Association of Philadelphia will solely administer the Open Championship and its qualifiers. The field of 72 players will be comprised of 29 exempt entrants and 43 qualifiers. The remaining two qualifiers are scheduled for July 11 at Golden Oaks GC (15 qualifying positions) and July 16 at Little Mill CC (12 qualifying positions). The Open Championship will have a record purse of $40,000.

  Dave Quinn, the director of golf at Links GC, is the defending champion. Quinn defeated then Philadelphia CC assistant Michael Ladden in a four-hole playoff.

  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 135 Member Clubs and 60,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The purpose of the Association is simple: To promote, protect and preserve the game of golf in the region.