Huntingdon Valley CC's Sullivan takes Mid-Am
MALVERN,
Pa–James Sullivan, Jr. of Huntingdon Valley CC expected a phone call from his
pregnant wife, who is only a week shy of her due date, announcing the impending
arrival of the couple’s fourth child. If that had happened at some point of the
second and final round of the 13th Pennsylvania Golf Association
Middle-Amateur Championship presented by Your Pennsylvania Toyota Dealers at Applebrook GC on Thursday, Sullivan said he
would have packed up his clubs and headed to the hospital.
Just
a few weeks earlier, in fact, a false alarm forced Sullivan to withdraw from
the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Joseph H. Patterson Cup at Philmont CC
while he still was in contention.
Sullivan’s
phone never rang, however, and the first-round co-leader overcame a four-shot
mid-round deficit to Paul Schlachter of The Club at Nevillewood for his first
state championship.
Sullivan
finished the 36 holes at 6-under-par. He carded a second-round 4-under-par 67 to
outdistance second-place finisher Schlachter by two strokes. Michael McDermott
of Merion GC finished third at 2-under par. Jeff Daniels of Dauphin Highlands
GC was the only other finisher under par. He posted a 1-under 141 total.
A
field of 120 players competed.
“This
means so much to me,” said Sullivan, 31, of
Ten
holes into the final round, Schlachter, who along with Sullivan and James Bohn
of Bucknell GC were paired in the final group, appeared headed for his sixth
state championship.
Schlachter
birdied six of his first nine holes to make the turn at 7-under par for the
tournament while Sullivan was at 3 under for that span. Both players also went
on to birdie No. 10 (par 5, 573 yards).
“I
didn’t get wrapped up in it,” said Sullivan of Schlachter’s unbelievable first
10 holes. “I wasn’t panicking. That wouldn’t do any good. I was playing pretty
well myself.”
The
tournament was ultimately decided on the challenging three-hole stretch of
13-15.
On
the 13th (par 4, 453 yards), a poor drive and a short par putt miss by
Schlachter brought Sullivan within two strokes. On the treacherous 14th
(par 4, 444 yards) momentum clearly swung Sullivan’s way when Schlachter’s tee
ball found the right fescue. Sullivan split the fairway. Schlachter then needed
two shots to get out of the junk and registered a double bogey six. Sullivan
watched his 20-foot birdie chance slide right but when the hole was over, the
two competitors were tied.
“I
had a good lie. The ball was sitting up,” said Schlachter, 57, of
Sullivan
watched his 4-iron on the lengthy 16th (par 3, 224 yards) stay just
on the front portion of the green and he two putted for his par. Schlachter
rocketed a 17-degree rescue wood to the top, right of the green and was left
with a difficult 50-foot downhiller. His first effort came up five-feet short
and he missed the par putt. Sullivan had the lead.
Sullivan
poured it on with birdies on No. 16 (par 5, 578 yards) and 17 (par 3, 179
yards). Schlachter watched birdie chances on 17 and No. 18 (par 4, 454 yards)
just slip past the edge of the cup.
The
win capped a rebirth, of sorts, for Sullivan in the amateur ranks.
Sullivan
was reinstated as an amateur almost exactly a year ago after competing on
various mini-tours for a few years. He submitted his amateur status papers in
October of 2002 and his first tournament back in the amateur ranks was the
Pennsylvania Mid-Am last year.
Sullivan
won the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Silver Cross in 1996 and the Amateur
Championship in 1999.
NOTES-In addition to last year’s Middle-Amateur
Championship victory, Schlachter won the Senior Amateur Championship in 2004
and 2006, the 1998 Amateur Championship and 2005 Senior Better-Ball
Championship with clubmate Bill Kinsman … the 2007 Mid-Am is set for Huntsville
GC next September.
|
Name, club |
Rd 1 |
Rd 2 |
Total |
|
James Sullivan, Jr., |
69 |
67 |
136 |
|
Paul Schlachter, The Club at Nevillewood |
70 |
68 |
138 |
|
Michael McDermott, Merion Golf Club |
70 |
70 |
140 |
|
Jeff Daniels, Dauphin Highlands Golf Course |
72 |
69 |
141 |
|
Alexander Maguire, Jr., |
73 |
69 |
142 |
|
Mike Danner, Lu Lu Country Club |
72 |
71 |
143 |
|
Michael Moffat, Commonwealth National Golf Club |
74 |
70 |
144 |
|
James Gardas, Honesdale Golf Club |
74 |
70 |
144 |
|
Donny Wessner, Golden Oaks Golf Club |
72 |
72 |
144 |
|
James Bohn, Bucknell Golf Club |
69 |
76 |
145 |
|
Brett Diakon, Commonwealth National Golf
Club |
73 |
72 |
145 |
|
Drew Panebianco, Talamore
at Oak Terrace Country Club |
74 |
72 |
146 |
|
Eric Fonner, |
76 |
70 |
146 |
|
John Sweeney, |
74 |
72 |
146 |
|
Jamie Harrell, Commonwealth National Golf Club |
73 |
74 |
147 |
|
John Brennan, Spring Ford Country Club |
73 |
74 |
147 |
|
James Bryan, Latrobe Country Club |
75 |
72 |
147 |
|
Christopher Lange, Overbrook Golf Club |
74 |
73 |
147 |
|
Glenn Smeraglio, Yardley Country Club |
73 |
75 |
148 |
|
Sean Knapp, Longue Vue
Club |
75 |
73 |
148 |
|
Oscar Mestre, Jr., Overbrook Golf Club |
80 |
69 |
149 |
|
Kenneth Phillips, |
77 |
72 |
149 |
|
Brian Gillespie, St. Davids Golf Club |
71 |
78 |
149 |
|
Robert Campbell, |
77 |
73 |
150 |
|
Paul Liebezeit, Aronimink
Golf Club |
75 |
75 |
150 |
|
Jhoon Chang, |
76 |
75 |
151 |
|
Brian Corbett, |
73 |
78 |
151 |
|
Don Erickson III, |
76 |
75 |
151 |
|
James Macallister, Manufacturers Golf &
Country Club |
76 |
75 |
151 |
|
Ed Short, |
78 |
73 |
151 |
|
King Knox, |
73 |
78 |
151 |
|
William Smith, |
77 |
74 |
151 |
|
Santo Lafoca, |
77 |
74 |
151 |
|
J. Kirk Luntey, Merion Golf Club |
78 |
73 |
151 |
|
Rich Pruchnik, |
78 |
74 |
152 |
|
Thomas Dell, |
74 |
78 |
152 |
|
John Robinson, Commonwealth National Golf Club |
77 |
75 |
152 |
|
P. Chet Walsh, |
75 |
77 |
152 |
|
Michael Stanley, St. Davids Golf Club |
78 |
74 |
152 |
|
Peter Toole, Foxchase Golf Club |
72 |
80 |
152 |
|
Joe Corsi, Totteridge Golf Club |
78 |
75 |
153 |
|
Wayne Bartolacci, |
77 |
76 |
153 |
|
Ryan Gelrod, Commonwealth National Golf Club |
76 |
77 |
153 |
|
Jay Desjardins, Waynesborough Country Club |
77 |
76 |
153 |
|
Michael Domenick, Phoenixville Country Club |
75 |
79 |
154 |
|
Robert Gill, Fox Hill Country Club |
73 |
81 |
154 |
|
Rich Thon, The Springhaven Club |
77 |
77 |
154 |
|
Byron Whitman, Golden Oaks Golf Club |
78 |
76 |
154 |
|
Chris Smedley, Coatesville Country Club |
76 |
78 |
154 |
|
Kevin Haag, Deer Run Golf Club |
80 |
75 |
155 |
|
Richard Umani, |
75 |
80 |
155 |
|
Jon Thomas, Hartefeld National |
77 |
78 |
155 |
|
Craig Kliewer, |
77 |
78 |
155 |
|
Paul Rogowicz, Yardley Country Club |
80 |
75 |
155 |
|
J.R. Cattoni, |
76 |
79 |
155 |
|
Gary Daniels, Applebrook Golf Club |
79 |
76 |
155 |
|
Ed Blechschmidt, |
78 |
78 |
156 |
|
Todd Vonderheid, |
78 |
78 |
156 |
|
John Mullins, Spring Ford Country Club |
77 |
79 |
156 |
|
Thomas Hyland, Moselem Springs Golf Club |
78 |
78 |
156 |
|
Douglas Gregor, |
81 |
75 |
156 |
|
Jeffrey Prickitt, Manufacturers Golf &
Country Club |
81 |
76 |
157 |
|
Grant Liu, Commonwealth National Golf Club |
75 |
82 |
157 |
|
Alex Urrea, The Club at Nevillewood |
78 |
79 |
157 |
|
Rick Custer, Spring Ford Country Club |
75 |
83 |
158 |
|
Frank Corrado, Jr., |
80 |
78 |
158 |
|
Brad Sokol, Berkleigh
Country Club |
80 |
78 |
158 |
|
Roc Irey, Cedarbrook
Country Club |
79 |
79 |
158 |
|
Kenneth Matt, Commonwealth National Golf Club |
79 |
79 |
158 |
|
John Alterman, Commonwealth National Golf
Club |
79 |
79 |
158 |
|
Fredrick Taggart, |
77 |
81 |
158 |
|
Bill Dwyer, |
80 |
78 |
158 |
|
Michael Connelly, Applebrook Golf Club |
80 |
78 |
158 |
|
Phil Over, Penn Oaks Golf Club |
78 |
80 |
158 |
|
Mark Walkush, Manufacturers Golf &
Country Club |
79 |
80 |
159 |
|
Matthew German, RiverCrest Golf Club &
Preserve |
79 |
81 |
160 |
|
Tom Piersanti, |
82 |
78 |
160 |
|
Gerard Ascolese, North Hills Country Club |
82 |
78 |
160 |
|
Jeffrey Huntzinger, North Hills Country Club |
86 |
75 |
161 |
|
Phil D'Amato, Royal Oaks Golf Club |
81 |
80 |
161 |
|
Francis Downey, North Hills Country Club |
80 |
81 |
161 |
|
Gregory Ulp, Country Club of |
79 |
82 |
161 |
|
John Donnelly, |
83 |
80 |
163 |
|
Mark Leaman, Foxchase
Golf Club |
80 |
84 |
164 |
|
Chris Esbenshade, |
82 |
82 |
164 |
|
Joseph Cordaro, Longue
Vue Club |
84 |
80 |
164 |
|
Jay Stoner, Deer Run Golf Club |
82 |
82 |
164 |
|
Chris Kovaly, Deer Run Golf Club |
85 |
79 |
164 |
|
Scott Carney, Commonwealth National Golf Club |
81 |
83 |
164 |
|
Ed Reidy, Wildwood Golf Club |
80 |
85 |
165 |
|
Kenneth Murray, |
83 |
82 |
165 |
|
Brian Fisher, Bella Vista Golf Course |
80 |
86 |
166 |
|
Charles Meadows, Golf Tour of Greater |
84 |
82 |
166 |
|
Charles Whalen, Gulph Mills Golf Club |
82 |
84 |
166 |
|
Mike Marron, St. Jude Golf Club |
89 |
77 |
166 |
|
William Vespa, St. Clair Country Club |
87 |
80 |
167 |
|
George Steinmetz, |
86 |
81 |
167 |
|
Matt Dolinsky, Honeybrook
Golf Club |
79 |
89 |
168 |
|
Brian Dobisch, Talamore
at Oak Terrace Country Club |
86 |
82 |
168 |
|
Steve Jones, Applebrook Golf Club |
87 |
84 |
171 |
|
Robert Howell, Range End Country Club |
86 |
85 |
171 |
|
Kevin Cahill, Waynesborough Country Club |
85 |
88 |
173 |
|
Joe Dellicarpini, |
87 |
86 |
173 |
|
Robert Loftus, Overbrook Golf Club |
77 |
96 |
173 |
|
Charles Dowds, III, Applebrook Golf Club |
89 |
85 |
174 |
|
Jeffrey Davidson, Llanerch Country Club |
89 |
87 |
176 |
|
Scott Harrington, Moselem Springs Golf Club |
86 |
93 |
179 |
|
Kevin Koch, Golf Tour of Greater |
87 |
94 |
181 |
|
Kevin Mailey, Stonewall |
92 |
90 |
182 |
|
Rick Wright, |
93 |
91 |
184 |
|
John Castleman, Merion Golf Club |
78 |
WD |
WD |
|
Daniel Delaney, |
83 |
WD |
WD |
|
Matt Froncek, Elkview Country Club |
83 |
WD |
WD |
|
Christopher Scott, Bucks |
88 |
WD |
WD |
|
|
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|
WD-withdrawal |
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