Chris Ault gave it a good run in this year’s Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) Amateur Championship going on this week at Stonewall GC in Elverson, Pa. Ault, a 2003 graduate of Pennsbury who hails from Yardley, returned to the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2006 Amateur held that year at Torresdale-Frankford CC.
A 16 seed in the tourney after carding 145 in his first two rounds, Ault posted a 6&5 triumph over Edward McCrossen, Jr., of Whitemarsh Valley CC Tuesday June 15 in the round of 32 then came through with a 2&1 victory over Doug Marcincin in the Round of 16.
Marcincin, a 32 seed from Northampton CC, had stunned top seed Michael Hyland, of Little Mill CC, with a 2-up triumph in the Round of 32.
But that’s as far as Ault would reach in the tourney as defending GAP Amateur champion Michael McDermott, of Merion Golf Club posted a 2-up victory on Wednesday, June 17 in the quarterfinals.
In the match with McDermott, Ault was 1-up at the halfway point, thanks to a pair of birdies he recorded on Nos. 7 (par 3, 166 yds.) and 9 (par 3, 235 yds.).
Chris got off to a rough start on the back nine however, bogeying Nos. 10 (par 4, 444 yds.) and 13 (par 4, 452 yds.). The 23-year old Ault played scratch golf the rest of the way save No. 18 (par 4, 450 yds.), which he also bogeyed. His opponent meanwhile got down in two on both 15 (par 3, 178 yds.) and 17 (par 3, 134 yds.). McDermott went 1-up with his bird on No. 17 and finished 2-up when he hit par on 18.
The day before, McDermott defeated Brian Gillespie of St. Davids GC, 2&1, in the Round of 16 on the Old Course. Jeffrey Griest, a 30 seed from Waynesborough CC, defeated Mark Miller of Yardley CC, 6&5.
James Kania, Jr. of Overbrook GC and Conrad Von Borsig of Concord CC, a pair of long-hitting, upstart 20-somethings, advanced to the GAP Amateur final on Wednesday on the Old Course. Kania, the 11th seed, who turned in a very workmanlike effort in search of his first Amateur title, stopped Anthony Martire of Seaview Marriott Resort & Spa, 3&2, in the semis the got past Griest, 3&2, in the quarters. Von Borsig, who also is in search of his first Amateur crown, stunned defending champion McDermott, 1-up, in the semifinals and Thomas Gramigna, the No. 4 seed, of Tavistock CC, with a 1-up victory.
On Monday, Ault carded scores of 73 (Old Course, par 70, 6,579 yds.) and 72 (North Course, par 70, 6,690 yds.) for a total of 145 in his first two rounds before entering Tuesday’s match play.
And Hyland didn’t miss a beat in his return to the Philadelphia golf scene. The winner of the 2000 Amateur Championship at the Elverson venue, Hyland carded a 1-under-par 139 on Stonewall’s two courses to take the 109th Amateur Championship medalist honors. A golfer who turned professional shortly after winning the 2000 title and returned to the Amateur ranks in 2005, Hyland posted Monday’s lone sub-par total.

Labels: GOLF

Chet Shemanski of Spring Ford Country Club carded a 9-under par 62 (net) to win the Spring Net Championship earlier today (June 1) at Raven’s Claw Country Club (par 71, 6,069 yards).
“It was a great round. It was the lowest score I ever shot,” stated Shemanski. “It felt good. I was just hitting fairways and greens, and the putts were going in. My iron game was on today. It was just one of those things.”
Shemanski, a 12-handicap, fired a 20-feet birdie on No. 5 (par 4, 403 yards) along with nine net birdies. However, the Collegeville, Pa. resident felt that he left a lot out on the greens.
“I lipped out a lot. I had a lot (of birdies) that could’ve gone in very easily,” he said.
Shemanski, 46, competed in his first Spring Net Championship after returning from a trip to Hilton Head, S.C.
“It was a nice little tune-up for today,” he said. “I shot my handicap. I’ve been playing a lot lately, and I’ve been playing well.”
Some players within the 79-player field dealt with problems in the hazard throughout the day.
Greg McLaughlin of Spring Ford CC, Jason Lerner of Meadowlands CC and Jules Quinones of Blue Bell CC, each finished tied for second overall with a net 5-under par 66.
Todd Gunerman, of Yardley Country Club, carded a 67 (net) among golfers with handicaps between 2 and 9.
Terry Law, also of YCC, carded a 68 in the 10-12 handicappers' group.
Keith McQueen, of Spring Mill CC, carded a 71 among those with a handicap between 13 and 15.

Labels: GOLF

MARLTON - Chris Ault, of Yardley Country Club, refers to Marlton's Links Golf Course as a fear factory. That's surprising, coming from a guy who just shot a 3-under-par to finish as a co-medalist at Monday’s Amateur Championship Qualifier at the par-70, 6,532-yard Links.
“It’s scary. Every hole is out-of-bounds right and left, hazard right and left,” he said.
The 67 carded by Ault placed him dead even with Matthew Gaffney, of Little Mill CC, and three strokes ahead of Justin Martinson, of Hartefeld National.
In doing so, Ault, 22, relied heavily on his iron play, hitting metal off the tee at Nos. 2, 6 and 9.
“I played pretty conservatively. I hit a lot of irons off the tees,” he said.
“I only hit about three drivers all day, but you don’t really need to out here. It’s pretty tight."
After bogeying on No. 1 (par 4, 355 yards), Ault, of Yardley, fired birdies on Nos. 2 (par 4, 334 yards), 3 (par 4, 377 yards), 6 (par 4, 440 yards), 9 (par 4, 405 yards) and 15 (par 4, 445 yards).
"I was just solid,” he added. “I hit a lot of fairways. I made a lot of putts.
Nevertheless, Ault feels that his day prepared him for Tuesday's USGA Open Qualifier at Laurel Creek CC.
“I was using today as a warm-up to the USGA Open Qualifier [Tuesday],” Ault said. “I’ve been working on my swing a lot. This was kind of confirmation that I’ve been working on the right things,” he said. “Things are coming around. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.”
***
Meanwhile, Gaffney is getting used to sharing medalist honors at GAP qualifying events. He also shot 3-under-par and finished as a co-medalist at Monday’s Amateur Championship Qualifier.
Gaffney, 28, also shared medalist honors with Jack Wallace of Burlington CC at the May 7 Middle-Amateur Championship Qualifier at Burlington CC.
“I’m really striking the ball well,” he said. “I hit the tee ball well and the irons really well today. It’s just a matter of putts falling in. I hit a couple of long ones.”
On No. 3 (par 4, 377 yards), Gaffney, of Sewell, N.J., hit 7-iron off the tee and fired a 25-foot putt for birdie. On No. 8 (par 3, 172 yards), he used an 8-iron off the tee, cleared casual water and landed about 20-feet from the hole. Gaffney then fired a birdie.
“I made putts today that I was surprised went in,” he said.
Gaffney began the day with a bogey on No. 10 (par 4, 415 yards).
“I got off to a slow start,” he said. “From there, I settled down. I just tried to hit in the fairways and lay back off the tees.”
Throughout the day, Gaffney also leaned heavily on his irons.
“I needed to make birdies hitting 8-iron and 7-iron onto the greens,” he said. “It wasn’t necessarily important to use driver. It was just more of a scale back and let the irons do the work for you.”
For Gaffney, it’s on to next week’s Middle-Amateur Championship, which will be held at Tavistock CC May 20-21.
“I know those guys are going to be tough over there. I’m looking forward to that,” he said.
***
NOTES: Monday’s qualifier was the first of two qualifiers used to help determine the field for the 109th Amateur Championship, which will be held on June 15-17 & 20 at Stonewall. The second qualifier will be held on May 14 at Coatesville CC.
When the day came to an end, the cut line fell to 77.

Labels: GOLF

LOPATCONG, NJ--There’s winning convincingly and then there’s rallying for the comeback. Somehow, the latter makes victory oh so much sweeter.
Such was the case for Blayze DiPasquale, a 16-year-old junior at Council Rock High School North.
DiPasquale completed the feat last week at the International Junior Golf Tour (IJGT) two-day tournament April 25 and 26 at Architects Golf Club.
The 108 IJGT competitors were eager to put their skills to the test against some great links designed by the Architects of the past. Fortunately, the sun was shining bright each day which made for ideal conditions to post low rounds over the weekend.
In the Boys 16-19 Division, John Voetsch of New Vernon, NJ came out firing with an opening round 3-under par 68. Following close behind, Joseph Gunnerman of Yardley, would post and even par 71 while DiPasquale, of Richboro, and Ted Brennan, of Newtown Square, would card 72’s to set the stage for a Sunday showdown.
DiPasquale, who carded six birdies in his opening round, played consistent all day and eventually found himself tied for the lead with Voetsch standing on the 18th tee. After a beautiful drive, a solid approach, it was only fitting that he sink his birdie putt for his first IJGT victory.
Finishing in a tie for second place was Sam Bernstein of Riverdale, NY, with rounds of 74 and 75 and first round leader John Voetsch.
When asked about his keys to victory, DiPasquale had this to say: “My key to victory was trying to play my own game and not letting one shot determine my round. I have finished in the top three before, but it is truly refreshing to get my first win. I am very happy.”
In the Boys 13-15 Division, the battle for top honors was fierce with Brian Tohir from New Canaan, CT coming away with the crown after finishing with a two-day tournament total 144. Tohir opened his first round with an even-par 71 which put him in great position heading into the final-round.
Brian played consistent on Sunday with 12 straight pars before breaking that streak with a birdie on the par 5 13th hole. Coming in a close second was Michael Troy from Stamford, CT with rounds of 72 and 74 and Colin McDade from Rye, NY who followed up his opening round 76 with a 1-under par 70 that earned him the coveted IJGT Low Final Round Belt Buckle.
After the awards presentation, Tohir had these words to say about his win this weekend:
“I have been playing well in my last few tournaments but I was coming up a bit short from the winners circle. It feels really good and I am very happy that I was able to close the deal. My short putts really saved my rounds this weekend”
In the Boys 12 and Under Division, Kyle Sterbinsky, of Yardley, went wire to wire with his tournament-total of 1-under-par 141. Kyle hit the ground running on Saturday with an opening round of 69 and never looked back after final-round 72 in which he eagled the tough par 5 number 11.
After all the divisions had been scored, Sterbinsky was excited to learn that he had earned the J Lindeberg Slater Belt that is awarded to the Low Tournament Round in all divisions.
Coming in second place was Timothy Colanta from Monroe Township, NJ with a tournament-total of 142. Colanta made an honorable run at Sterbinsky by carding a final-round 68 to finish one shot back.
Rounding out the top three was Jake Reilly from Hershey, with a weekend total of 147. When Kyle was asked if there were any gut check moments that brought out the best in him this is what he had to say: “My gut check moment was when I got up and down on hole No. 7 on Sunday. I was putting really well and I knew if I could keep it up I could maintain my lead.”
In the Girls 19 and Under Division, Harin Lee from Bayside, NY brought home the title after shooting a tournament-total 145. Lee opened with a solid round of 74 in which she bettered herself with an even par 71 to finish six strokes better than her fellow competitors.
Taking the runner up position was Scotland Preston from Mountainside, NJ with a consistent weekend of 75 and 76 for a two-day tournament total of 151. Coming in third place was Gabrielle Weiss from Macungie, with a two-day tournament total of 154.
After her round, Lee had these words to say: “I felt like I was not playing very well coming into this weekend, but my driver and my iron shots got me out of some sticky situations. I am very happy to have put two great rounds together for the win.”
As players entered Sunday’s final-round, many were hoping to leave with the coveted IJGT Low Final Round Belt Buckle. This week’s winners were: Andrew Arnold in the Boys 16-19 Division with a round of 73, Colin McDade in the Boys 13-15 Division with a round of 70, Timothy Colanta in the Boys 12 & Under Division with a round of 68, Harin Lee in the Girls 15-19 Division with a round of 71, and Gabrielle Weiss of Macungie, in the Girls 14 & Under Division with a round of 79.
In addition to the low final-round awards, IJGT’s newest sponsor J. Lindeberg awarded their Slater Belts to the two Lowest Rounds of the Tournament for combined Boys Divisions and combined Girls Divisions.
Walking away with the hardware this week were Yardley's Kyle Sterbinsky, and Harin Lee from Bayside, NY.
The IJGT would like to send out a big congratulation to Austin Zurlo of Bernardsville, NJ for his Hole-In-One on the Par 3 number 6.

Labels: CR North, GOLF, Pennsbury

Blayze DiPasquale, of Richboro, is a 16-year-old junior at Council Rock North. He is off to a good start this season and recently competed in the IJGT Seaview Marriott tournament last month, placing 11th after carding scores of 75 and 81.
Blayze also competed in the IJGT Architects tournament in April and placed first, carding scores of 72 and 74. He played in the IJGT Hershey tournament last weekend (May 2-3) and placed 9th after carding scores of 74 and 79.
For his efforts, Blayze has qualified to play in the IJGT Tournament of Champions to be held Memorial Day Weekend in Orlando, Florida at the Grand Cypress Resort.

Labels: CR North, GOLF

Morotti (pictured, right) headed to Holy Family; two others going to Chestnut Hill to play LAX



By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Pennsbury High signed a trio of athletes headed to Division II programs next year.
One is golfer Bob Morotti and the other two are moving on to the next level to play lacrosse.
The lacrosse players juggled various sports until committing to their current game. Morotti made up his mind he wanted to play golf at a high level more than seven years ago after watching Tiger Woods blow away the competition at the U.S. Open.
The year was 2000. The place was Pebble Beach. Woods was the only player to finish the tournament below par, a whopping 15 strokes ahead of runnerups Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Woods was just 24 then and already had taken the Masters (1997) and the PGA championship (’99). Later that year at St. Andrew’s when Tiger took the British Open by 7 strokes, he became the youngest player ever to complete a career Grand Slam.
“He’s one of the greatest golfers I’ve ever seen play the game,” said Morotti. “When I saw [Woods] on TV in the U.S. Open, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
Wanting something and doing it are two different things, though.
As late as last year, Morotti was still hovering around in the mid-90s working his game at Yardley Country Club, home of the Falcons.
“I was a mess,” admitted Morotti.
In the past year, however, Bob has sliced more than 10 strokes off his handicap. His varsity handicap at YCC presently stands at 3.6, measuring out between 6 and 7 over 18 holes (varsity matches are just 9 holes).
Last fall, for the first time in his varsity career, Morotti made it to the SOL Golf Championships that took place at Indian Valley CC.
The improvement is a big part of the reason why Bob recently made a commitment to play golf next fall at Holy Family University.
A job Morotti obtained tending to the golf carts at Makefield Highlands has helped. It’s given him both the venue and the time he’s needed to work on his game. Of course Bob was more than a willing partner in all this.
“I just decided one day if I was ever going to get good at this that I needed to practice hard,” he said. “I haven’t stopped since.”
Morotti is always tweaking his game, most recently using a method off the tee called Stack-and-Tilt, a technique he used during varsity season but has since abandoned.
“He’s not afraid to take a round and try new things,” stated Pennsbury golf coach Glenn Goldsborough.
Bob has also worked on the mental part of his game, adding that the best way he’s found to get focused is to play for money.
“I’ve worked a lot on my short game and practice a lot of irons--shape shots--I’ve gotten really good at it.
“I figure if I work hard enough, I’ll try to go all the way to the [PGA] Tour.”
***

Pennsbury goalkeeper David Cutler is a 3-year varsity player for the Falcons, who also plays club ball for Head Coach Dean Curtis’ Arrowhead club team. Until this season, he was a perennial backup.
He got his chance to start when the starting keeper Chris Shubert--last year's first team all SOL National Conference goalie--came down with an illness and he’s made the most of it.
Cutler made 9 saves in a recent win over SOL National Conference rival Council Rock South. Of course it helped that the Pennsbury attack kept the pressure on the Golden Hawks outshooting the opposition 35-19.
In that battle, the Falcons were up, 4-1, before blowing the game open with 4 goals in the final frame. The win kept Pennsbury perfect at 4-0 in the conference, and pushed their overall mark to 6-4.
Against Rock North, Cutler upped the ante, making 10 saves in a 10-3 win over the league rival Indians.
Come fall, Cutler will be joined by classmate Corey Hook, a midfielder who played varsity last year but who has been held from the lineup this season nursing a knee injury.
Hook’s story is a little different from Cutler’s. The Falcon middie started out playing ice hockey--a sport in which he competed since the age of five. Hook didn’t start playing lacrosse until he was 11 but he fell in love with the sport almost instantly.
Oh he still played ice hockey but gradually his desire started leaning more and more toward lacrosse.
“I just fell in love with lacrosse,” said Hook. “Hockey went to the back burner.”
Corey says he has Curtis to thank for improving his game and enabling him to take lacrosse to the next level.
“Coach Curtis makes you strive to work hard at reaching your potential,” Hook said. “He pushes you as far as you can go--there’s no limit. You’re as good as you make yourself.”
Looking back, Corey says he has no regrets about choosing lacrosse over ice hockey.
“Hockey just wasn’t any fun anymore; but lacrosse was.”
***
NOTES: Falcon golf coach Glenn Goldsborough reports that senior Laura Schiavo has committed to play golf at West Chester.

Labels: boys lacrosse, GOLF, Pennsbury

The Saint Joseph’s golf team climbed three spots in the final round of the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate recently to finish 13th in its first tournament of the Spring.

The Hawks carded a final-round 309 at the par-72, 6,828-yard course to jump from 16th after Monday’s first two rounds, to finish 13th overall in the 16-team field.

Saint Joseph’s posted a three-round score of 332-331-309/972, while tournament-winner South Carolina-Aiken finished with a score of 897.

Individually, freshman Jimmy Bea, a Council Rock High School South graduate from Southampton, carded a final-round 76 and finished with a three-round score of 81-84-76/241.

Sophomore Josh Webb finished three-strokes behind Bea with a score of 86-86-72/244, while junior Zach Smith a Central Bucks West alum from Doylestown, and sophomore Erik Mitchell each tied at 250 with scores of 81-85-84/250 and 90-83-77/250, respectively.

Senior Steve Hudacek rounded-out the five-man squad with a score of 84-79-90/253.

Labels: Council Rock South, GOLF

The Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) recently announced its Compher Cup Matches team.

It looks like Glenn Smeraglio, a Commonwealth National Golf Club member from Newtown and last summer's Patterson Cup champion, will captain the Philadelphia squad.

This marks Smeraglio’s eighth Compher Cup appearance, but first as team captain.

"It always feels good,” he said. “We work all year to try to get on there. This is a nice perk.”

Smeraglio, 49, formerly of Yardley Country Club, expects to lead the squad to victory this year.
"You don’t want to be a losing captain,” he said in jest.

Last summer in Patterson Cup play, Smeraglio, carded a 2-under 69 at Waynesborough CC (par 71, 6,990 yards) in the morning and a 3-under 67 at St. Davids GC (par 70, 6,534 yards) in his second round to outpace Matthew Martare of Saucon Valley by one shot in the 106th running of the tournament.

Smeraglio, who also captured the cup in 1998, birdied three of the last five holes in becoming the oldest winner since legendary figure William Hyndman III took the 1969 Patterson Cup at age 58.

"I don’t think of myself as an older guy until I play with the young guys and they hit it 30 yards by me," stated Smeraglio afterward. "You know what, you still have to hit greens, you still have to putt and you still have to get the ball in the hole. I think I do that as well as anyone does."

The victory also secured Smeraglio his third Silver Cross (2000-01), awarded to the player with the lowest aggregate score in the qualifying rounds of the Amateur Championship and the Patterson Cup.

In addition to Smeraglio, returning to the Compher Cup Matches for Philadelphia are (appearances in parentheses): Mike Danner of Lu Lu Country Club (second), Stephen Seiden of Concord Country Club (second), Sean Leonard of Tavistock Country Club (second), Robert Galbreath, Jr. of Huntingdon Valley Country Club (second) and Michael Brown of Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association of Philadelphia Association (fourth).

The newcomers to the Compher Cup Matches are David West of Whitford Country Club, John Brennan of Spring Ford Country Club, James Donnelly of Merion Golf Club, Jeffrey Griest of Waynesborough Country Club, Rand Mendez of Fieldstone Golf Club and Chris Esbenshade of Five Ponds Golf Club.

In the Compher Cup, each association fields a 12-man team with players simultaneously competing in a singles match and four-ball match. There are a total of 18 possible points. Matches that end in a tie result in a half point for the team.

The 47th annual matches, which pit Philadelphia against the New Jersey State Golf Association, will be held April 21 at Hollywood Golf Club in Deal, N.J. To date, the Golf Association of Philadelphia leads the series, 31–11–4.

Last year, Team Philadelphia defeated New Jersey at Pine Valley Golf Club. The squad has won the last three meetings with its Jersey counterparts, and 11 of the past 12.

For the Hollywood GC, this is the fourth time hosting the Compher Cup Matches. It hosted the inaugural Compher Cup in 1962.

Smeraglio played Hollywood in 2005’s Compher Cup, which was eventually cancelled due to severe weather.

"I got to play 14 holes,” Smeraglio commented. “It’s a solid golf course. The greens are very fast.”

Fred Compher, a former New Jersey State Golf Association president, conceived the neighborhood matches after leaving his post in 1959. Compher donated a silver trophy that year earmarked for such a rivalry.

In 1961, association representatives Bob Jacobson of New Jersey and Richard Ollmah of GAP completed the details. In 1962, the first Compher Cup matches took place. That year, the NJSGA side forged a 5–1 lead in the morning foursomes’ competitions and held serve in the afternoon singles matches for an 11½–6½ victory.

After the New Jersey victory, Compher himself, who was known at the time as the most successful NJSGA president in its history, presented the trophy “to promote golf between the groups.”
***
For a year-by-year history and individual player records, go to www.gapgolf.org.

Labels: GOLF