2024 Pennsylvania Mid-Am Day 2 Recap
FLEETWOOD, Pa. – When you’re hot, you’re hot. Troy Vannucci of Philadelphia Publinks, who had finished in the top six in all of his past four tournaments (including a win his last time out), carried that momentum into this week’s Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) 31st Mid-Amateur at Moselem Springs Golf Club. Just a stroke back of the leader after Monday’s first round, Vannucci put together an identical three-under-par 67 in the final round to claim the Mid-Am Title.
“I was actually looking at the trophy when we were taking pictures and just to have my name next to all the other greats to come before me is really special,” said Vannucci. “Today was kind of weird. I had a lot of good numbers today and not really any in-between. Just a lot of full shots and I had a good gauge of the wind, which helped. I’ve been playing out here a little bit because my uncle’s a member so I know the pin locations and the fast and slow spots on the greens, which is very crucial out here. I took a practice round on Sunday so I had all my yardages down, the slope, and everything. I just really felt at home.”
Vannucci carded a bogey-free round on Tuesday, with birdies on holes No. 4, 7, and 12—and his two-day total of 134 (-6) was four strokes better than runner-up Brandon Knaub of the Country Club of York, a former PAGA Amateur champion from 2003. Knaub shot even-par on Monday and improved with a two-under 68 on Tuesday, with birdies on 2, 7, and 15. A bogey on 17 was the only trouble he found on the day.
“I played a really solid round all day, from start to finish,” said Knaub. “I hit it solid and gave myself a lot of really good looks. I had some putts that really burnt the edge but I was really controlling my speed and line. I missed some putts on the high side today, which is really tough to do—even as they were dying around the hole I missed them on the high side. I knew I had a lot of work to do to try to threaten the lead, but it wasn’t meant to be. I’m really happy with the performance.”
Finishing tied for third place for the second consecutive year is Greensburg Country Club’s Arnie Cutrell, who was two-over-par entering Tuesday but fired a three-under 67, matching Vannucci for lowest round of the day. The other third-place finisher was Penn National GC’s Ian Patterson, who also improved in the final round by shooting a two-under 68. Both Cutrell and Patterson finished the tournament with two-day totals of 139 (-1).
Beyond the top four (who were the only ones to finish the week under par), a pair of competitors finished tied for fifth with even-par 140’s: Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Mark Miller and South Hills Country Club’s Darrin Kowalski. A trio of golfers finished tied for seventh place and included Frank Kacvinsky (CC of Scranton), Patrick Rutter (Schuykill CC), and former Mid-Am champ Grant Skyllas of Ledge Rock GC.
Brendan Borst, the leader at four-under after the first round of play, ran into some trouble on Tuesday (carding a seven-over-par 77) and finished tied for 10th place. Defending Mid-Am champion Zach Dilcher finished tied for 24th place with two straight round of three-over-par 73.
The Team Championship leaderboard was led by the Philadelphia Cricket Club, with Borst, Miller, and Brandon Raihl. They finished three strokes ahead of the field with a combined three-over-par for the week. Trailing them were two teams from LedgeRock Golf Club: Dilcher, Josh Anderson and Brock Kovach were runners-up at six-over par, while Skyllas, Chris Storck, and Don Uhrig claimed third place with a seven-over-par tally for the tournament.
The Pennsylvania Golf Association would like to thank the staff and membership of Moselem Springs Golf Club for the hospitality shown during this week’s Championship. Additional thanks, as always, go to DICK’S Sporting Goods for sponsorship of the event.