GREENVILLE, Del. (May 22, 2008)--Michael McDermott of Merion Golf Club is making Middle-Amateur Championship victories a regular thing. The 33-year-old Bryn Mawr, Pa., resident became the first three-time winner in the 25-year history of the event, finishing the 36-hole tournament at 2-over par on Thursday at an extremely difficult and windy Fieldstone Golf Club (par 71, 6,687 yards).

Conditions made the day one of survival with the low second-round score being a 2-over-par 73.

"It feels great. This is a tough tournament [to win]. There are a ton of good Mid-Amateurs in Philadelphia," said McDermott, who took titles in 2001 and 2004. "I’m at a good point in my life right now. We’ve just had a baby and everything [from a life and business stand point] seems to be settling down."

The victory was also McDermott’s second straight Major Championship. He took the Patterson Cup (as well as the Silver Cross) at the end of last year.

Michael Domenick of Phoenixville Country Club displayed a ton of grit and finished in second at 4-over par. Domenick, 53, of Phoenixville, Pa., carded the lowest round of the final four groups, a 74.

"This was the best round of golf I played in competition in my life," said Domenick, who relies on his accuracy and short game. "Under the conditions and the way the wind was blowing, for me to be up there with all these great players. For me to be right around [the low score of the day] was unbelievable."

Rand Mendez of Fieldstone Golf Club, the reigning club champion, carded the day’s low round, a 73, and Raymond Thompson of Overbrook Golf Club, the Senior Player of the Year, tied for third at 6-over par.

McDermott’s comfortable victory, though, wasn’t always a given, especially after what transpired in the first four holes.

McDermott, one of the longest hitters in the Golf Association of Philadelphia, opened his final round with a two-shot lead, but bogeyed three of his first four holes to fall back to the field. He failed to get up-and-down on No. 1 (par 4, 440 yards), knocked a ball into the left lateral hazard on No. 2 (par 5, 602 yards) and struggled to hit a solid shot on No. 4 (par 4, 374 yards). A tremendous par save from the left greenside bunker on No. 6 (par 3, 184 yards) started to right the ship and he finally took one back on No. 8 (par 3, 185 yards) when he hit an 8-iron to 15 feet and made the birdie.

"If you are going to win a tournament you are going to have make a couple of those," said McDermott in reference to the bunker save on six. "[On No. 8] I hit a good putt and I made it. That was a key turnaround to get it back going in the right direction."

McDermott finished the front nine at even for the tournament.

At that time, Chip Lutz of LedgeRock Golf Club, the defending Champion, appeared to be McDermott’s main threat. However, Lutz, who moved to even-par after seven holes, called a penalty on himself when taking relief from an unplayable lie in which he stopped the ball he dropped while it was still rolling to its position on the course. Lutz, a stand-up individual, then incorrectly redropped and before all was said and done was assessed a total of five penalty strokes: one for the unplayable, two for exerting influence on his dropped ball before it came to rest or rolled more than two lengths from where it struck the course and two for playing from a wrong position of the course.

"I want to commend Chip. What he did [by calling the penalty on himself] is what golf’s all about," said McDermott. "It’s amazing."

McDermott’s closest pursuer after Lutz’s penalty was Domenick. Domenick trailed by four strokes and both matched 1-under scores for the opening three holes of the back nine. McDermott then increased his lead to five with a par on the 13th hole (par 3, 195 yards) but Domenick didn’t go away. He responded with a par on the long and treacherous 14th (par 4, 476 yards) as McDermott carded double bogey from the back left rough of the green.

On the downhill 15th hole (par 4, 440 yards), Domenick hit a 6-iron to 15 feet and McDermott’s approached stopped three feet short of the putting surface in the rough. McDermott knocked his chip to five feet and made the par save and Domenick just didn’t hit his birdie putt hard enough to go in.

"I was a little pumped up after 14," said Domenick. "I figured I was within a couple shots of the lead."

The 16th (par 3, 130 yards) provided the same scenario as the previous hole. Domenick had a good birdie look and McDermott had to get up-and-down to save par. The result was the same, two pars.

McDermott did bogey No. 17 (par 4, 436 yards) with a three-putt to cut his lead to two, but after finding the fairway with a 300-yard plus drive on No. 18 (par 5, 522 yards) the result was all but official.

This was Domenick’s second runner-up finish in the Mid-Am. In 1993, he fell to Carl Everett of Merion GC in a playoff for the crown.

Full results follow:

Name	Club	Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Total
Michael McDermott	Merion Golf Club	69	75	144
Michael Domenick	Phoenixville Country Club	72	74	146
Rand Mendez	Fieldstone Golf Club	75	73	148
Raymond Thompson	Overbrook Golf Club	73	75	148
Chip Lutz	LedgeRock Golf Club	72	78	150
Rich Pruchnik	West Chester Golf & Country Club	75	75	150
Douglas Schroer	Aronimink Golf Club	75	76	151
Stephen Seiden	Concord Country Club	77	74	151
P. Chet Walsh	Philadelphia Country Club	76	75	151
Warren Smith	Cavaliers Country Club	76	76	152
Michael Brown	Philadelphia Publinks GA	76	76	152
Peter Barron, III	Stone Harbor Golf Club	75	77	152
Michael Moffat	Commonwealth National Golf Club	78	74	152
Oscar Mestre, Jr.	Overbrook Golf Club	75	78	153
Andy Achenbach	RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve	74	79	153
Thomas Gramigna	Tavistock Country Club	75	78	153
G. Patrick Dougherty	Talamore Country Club	75	78	153
William Jeremiah	Philadelphia Publinks GA	74	79	153
Chris Anderson	Wilmington Country Club	77	76	153
William Lawler	Fox Hill Country Club	71	83	154
Roc Irey	Cedarbrook Country Club	76	78	154
Chris Esbenshade	Five Ponds Golf Club	73	81	154
Robert Loftus	Overbrook Golf Club	78	76	154
Christopher Lange	Overbrook Golf Club	78	76	154
Mike Owsik	Plymouth Country Club	74	81	155
John Brennan	Spring Ford Country Club	78	77	155
Glenn Smeraglio	Yardley Country Club	79	76	155
Robert Wurtz, Jr.	Philadelphia Cricket Club	73	82	155
Matthew Finger	Running Deer Golf Club	76	79	155
Robert Bechtold	Fieldstone Golf Club	74	81	155
Mark E. Peterson	Philadelphia Cricket Club	77	79	156
Charles Jones	Philadelphia Publinks GA	76	80	156
Peter Moran	Edgmont Country Club	79	77	156
David Liotta	Whitemarsh Valley Country Club	77	79	156
John Robinson	Commonwealth National Golf Club	75	81	156
Paul Rogowicz	Yardley Country Club	75	81	156
Frank Corrado, Jr.	Jericho National Golf Club	78	78	156
Jim Simmons	Stonewall	76	80	156
Geoffrey Cooper	Laurel Creek Country Club	77	80	157
Ken Sim	Commonwealth National Golf Club	76	81	157
Jeffrey Huntzinger	North Hills Country Club	76	81	157
Matt Dolinsky	Honeybrook Golf Club	76	83	159
Scott Klee	Indian Valley Country Club	78	81	159
Robert Harrington	Merion Golf Club	78	81	159
Darrell Clayton	Cavaliers Country Club	78	81	159
Buddy Reed	Cavaliers Country Club	76	84	160
Sean Leonard	Tavistock Country Club	79	81	160
Brian Gillespie	St. Davids Golf Club	79	81	160
Ken Matt	Talamore Country Club	80	80	160
Michael Tash	Tavistock Country Club	76	84	160
Jim Yenser	Honeybrook Golf Club	76	84	160
Matt Kohn	Hartefeld National	77	84	161
John LeBoeuf	Philadelphia Country Club	79	82	161
Keitih Evans	Running Deer Golf Club	80	81	161
Drew Panebianco	Talamore Country Club	79	83	162
Byron Whitman	Golden Oaks Golf Club	79	83	162
Thomas Bartolacci, Jr.	Saucon Valley Country Club	80	82	162
Paul Liebezeit	Aronimink Golf Club	80	82	162
Joseph Russo	Running Deer Golf Club	79	83	162
Robert Gill	Fox Hill Country Club	75	88	163
Gary Daniels	Applebrook Golf Club	74	89	163
Thomas Hyland	Little Mill Country Club	78	85	163
Santo Lafoca	Huntsville Golf Club	80	83	163
Jeff DellaFranco	Concord Country Club	74	90	164
Sean McMonagle	Sand Barrens Golf Club	79	85	164
Ryan Gelrod	Commonwealth National Golf Club	80	85	165
John Cobb	Tavistock Country Club	77	88	165
Robert Dziak	Spring Ford Country Club	79	87	166
Thomas DiCinti	Links Golf Club	77	89	166
Richard Umani	Philadelphia Publinks GA	77	91	168
William Bello	Metedeconk National Golf Club	76	92	168
Jhoon Chang	Philadelphia Cricket Club	79	90	169
Bill Boyle	Metedeconk National Golf Club	79	93	172
Andrew Dietz	Laurel Creek Country Club	79	WD	WD
Brad Sokol	Green Valley Country Club	79	WD	WD
David Shields	Philadelphia Publinks GA	80	WD	WD
Tom Borsello	Fieldstone Golf Club	76	WD	WD

 

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