PAOLI, Pa. (Aug. 14, 2008)--Glenn Smeraglio of Yardley CC finished the 106th Joseph H. Patterson Cup at 5-under-par on Thursday at St. Davids GC (par 70, 6,534 yards) and Waynesborough CC (par 71, 6,990 yards) to become the oldest Joseph H. Patterson Cup champion in 39 years. Smeraglio, 48, carded a 2-under 69 at Waynesborough CC in the morning and a 3-under 67 at St. Davids GC in his second round to become the oldest winner since legendary figure William Hyndman, III, took the 1969 Patterson Cup at age 58.

"I think we have some of the best players around in the Philadelphia area. I’m just trying to hang with them," said Smeraglio, who also captured the 1998 Patterson Cup. "We have a lot of young kids at Yardley so I’m used to playing with the young kids. They know how to go low. I think that helps me.

"Five under for two rounds is good playing out here. It’s solid. So is it surprising? I don’t know. 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. 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."

Matthew Mattare of Saucon Valley CC finished a shot behind in second place and Geoffrey Cooper of Laurel Creek CC was third at 2-under.

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.

Smeraglio opened the fourth and final Major of the Golf Association of Philadelphia season at Waynesborough CC and finished at 2 under despite being a bit sloppy at times. On the front side, he carded red numbers on No. 1 (par 4, 368 yards) with a 9-iron to 15 feet; No. 7 (par 5, 547 yards) with a 125-yard wedge to 15 feet and No. 8 (par 4, 373 yards) with a 52-degree wedge to five feet and recorded one bogey, on No. 6 (par 3, 217 yards), when he pushed his drive right. On the back nine, he was a little back-and-forth. He birdied No. 13 (par 4, 403 yards) with a pitching wedge from 125 yards to 10 feet; bogeyed No. 14 (par 3, 175 yards) when he pulled a 7-iron left; birdied No. 15 (par 5, 554 yards) after a short chip to six feet; and bogeyed the lengthy 17th (par 3, 254 yards) after coming up short of the green.

Starting his second round on St. Davids GC’s back nine, Smeraglio had a non-descript opening set with a birdie and a bogey. He hit a 5-iron on No. 10 (par 3, 175 yards) into the left bunker and failed to get up-and-down but birdied No. 16 (par 5, 498 yards) from 10 feet to draw even at the turn.

He then missed short birdie putts on his next two holes before a bolt of lightning, figuratively, struck. "I said to my caddie, I just remembered something about my putting. A little key that I had. I told him I’m going to make putts for the rest of the round. I really did. I putted great the rest of the way in." Smeraglio would not reveal the key.

He proceeded to birdie No. 5 (par 4, 426 yards) after knocking an 8-iron from 148 yards to 15 feet despite staring at one of the fastest putts on the golf course, a straight downhill challenge.

"I gutted it," said Smeraglio. "It went straight in the hole."

He followed that birdie with a 7-iron from 175 yards on the super difficult No. 7 (par 4, 464 yards), the distance was more like 190 considering the uphill, to five feet before making a fantastic pitch-and-putt on No. 8 (par 5, 488 yards) from eight feet to get to 5-under par for the day.

"I gained at least a stroke with that birdie on No. 7. I know that is a disaster hole," said Smeraglio.

Mattare, playing a few groups behind Smeraglio, was the first-round leader after carding a 4-under 67 at Waynesborough CC in the morning.

In the afternoon, Mattare then stood at 3 under on St. Davids after 15 holes when he rocketed a 3-iron from 219 yards to 15 feet on No. 16 (par 5, 498 yards). His quick downhill eagle try and chance to equal Smeraglio ran eight feet past. His comebacker lipped around the hole.

Still, Mattare had life.

A smooth 5-iron on No. 17 (par 3, 182 yards) stopped eight feet short of the hole and he drained the birdie to head to No. 18 (par 4, 392 yards) a shot behind. On the final hole, Mattare ripped a 3-wood on the dog-leg right to 84 yards before playing a smart chip that landed short and rolled to 12 feet right of the hole. Needing the putt, his effort stayed right.

"It was a double breaker. From where I was standing behind the ball it looked right to left, on the other side it looked left to right. I figured it was inside right or right edge and when I got over the putt I said it has to be more than that," said Mattare, 22, of Bethlehem, Pa. "I didn’t trust the original line. I pushed it a little bit and ran it by the edge. I should have just gotten up and hit it."

Smeraglio’s Silver Cross victory came with a 279 total. He finished six shots clear of Michael McDermott of Merion GC, last year’s winner, and Cole Willcox of Philadelphia CC.

The Patterson Cup field consisted of 115 players.

--Courtesy GAP, full results follow:

Name	Club	Rd. 1	Course	Rd. 2	Course	Total
Glenn Smeraglio	Yardley Country Club	69	WC	67	St.	136
Matthew Mattare	Saucon Valley Country Club	67	WC	70	St.	137
Geoffrey Cooper	Laurel Creek Country Club	72	WC	67	St.	139
John Brennan	Spring Ford Country Club	73	WC	68	St.	141
David West	Whitford Country Club	71	St.	70	WC	141
Christopher Reedman	Makefield Highlands Golf Club	70	WC	72	St.	142
Michael McDermott	Merion Golf Club	70	WC	72	St.	142
Daniel Charen	Yardley Country Club	69	St.	73	WC	142
Robert Galbreath, Jr.	Huntingdon Valley Country Club	73	WC	70	St.	143
Andy Achenbach	RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve	69	WC	74	St.	143
Rand Mendez	Fieldstone Golf Club	68	St.	75	WC	143
Brian Creghan	Plymouth Country Club	74	St.	70	WC	144
Cole Willcox	Philadelphia Country Club	71	St.	73	WC	144
James Donnelly	Merion Golf Club	75	WC	70	St.	145
James Kieserman	Talamore Country Club	73	WC	72	St.	145
Ryan Gelrod	Commonwealth National Golf Club	74	WC	71	St.	145
Dan Pinciotti, Jr.	Huntingdon Valley Country Club	75	WC	70	St.	145
Stephen Seiden	Concord Country Club	67	St.	78	WC	145
Stephen Dressel	St. Davids Golf Club	73	WC	73	St.	146
Jeff Osberg	Brandywine Country Club	76	WC	70	St.	146
Vince Boyle	JC Melrose Country Club	72	St.	74	WC	146
G. Patrick Dougherty	Talamore Country Club	75	WC	72	St.	147
Vinny Alessi	Penn Oaks Golf Club	71	WC	76	St.	147
Ben Bershad	Hopewell Valley Golf Club	74	WC	73	St.	147
Tucker Koch	RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve	73	WC	74	St.	147
David Liotta	Whitemarsh Valley Country Club	72	St.	75	WC	147
Sean Leonard	Tavistock Country Club	67	St.	80	WC	147
Robert Robertson	Sunnybrook Golf Club	72	St.	75	WC	147
Warren Taylor	Yardley Country Club	70	St.	77	WC	147
Douglas Zelner	Spring Ford Country Club	76	WC	72	St.	148
Jamie Slonis	Tavistock Country Club	77	WC	71	St.	148
James Kania, Jr.	Overbrook Golf Club	75	WC	73	St.	148
Nathan Sutherland	Golden Oaks Golf Club	77	WC	71	St.	148
Raymond Thompson	Overbrook Golf Club	68	St.	80	WC	148
Brian Gillespie	St. Davids Golf Club	73	St.	75	WC	148
Chris Esbenshade	Five Ponds Golf Club	77	WC	72	St.	149
Michael Brown	Philadelphia Publinks GA	75	WC	74	St.	149
Mike Danner	Lu Lu Country Club	71	St.	78	WC	149
Brian Rothaus	Philmont Country Club	73	St.	76	WC	149
Robert Savarese	Sand Barrens Golf Club	73	St.	76	WC	149
Travis Gahman	Philadelphia Publinks GA	77	St.	72	WC	149
Andrew Lawson	Hershey's Mill Golf Club	76	WC	74	St.	150
Kevin Melnick, Jr.	Plymouth Country Club	73	St.	77	WC	150
Michael O'Keefe	Little Mill Country Club	78	WC	73	St.	151
Jeffrey Griest	Waynesborough Country Club	77	WC	74	St.	151
Matthew Pesci	Yardley Country Club	75	WC	76	St.	151
Bill Murray	Merchantville Country Club	76	St.	75	WC	151
Scott Klee	Indian Valley Country Club	75	St.	76	WC	151
Peter Barron III	Stone Harbor Golf Club	75	St.	76	WC	151
Robert Dziak	Spring Ford Country Club	74	St.	77	WC	151
Jack Wallace	Burlington Country Club	73	St.	78	WC	151
Mark Szilagyi	Brookside Country Club	80	WC	72	St.	152
Adam Cohan	Talamore Country Club	72	WC	80	St.	152
Jeff DellaFranco	Concord Country Club	75	WC	77	St.	152
Andrew Zoeller	Waynesborough Country Club	79	WC	73	St.	152
Drew Panebianco	Talamore Country Club	73	St.	79	WC	152
Christopher Lange	Overbrook Golf Club	77	St.	75	WC	152
Keith Matt	Talamore Country Club	78	WC	75	St.	153
Stephen McIntyre	Honeybrook Golf Club	81	WC	72	St.	153
Jason Cohan	Talamore Country Club	80	WC	73	St.	153
Zach Smith	Doylestown Country Club	76	WC	77	St.	153
Thomas Gramigna	Tavistock Country Club	70	St.	83	WC	153
Michael Moffat	Commonwealth National Golf Club	77	St.	76	WC	153
Robert de Rojas	RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve	79	WC	75	St.	154
Oscar Mestre, Jr.	Overbrook Golf Club	79	WC	75	St.	154
Todd Vonderheid	Huntsville Golf Club	74	WC	80	St.	154
Michael Vassil	Country Club of Scranton	82	WC	72	St.	154
Matt Dietrich	Whitford Country Club	78	WC	76	St.	154
Warren Smith	Cavaliers Country Club	76	St.	78	WC	154
Joe Bernard	RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve	79	WC	76	St.	155
Douglas Gregor	Huntingdon Valley Country Club	79	St.	76	WC	155
Mark Peterson	Philadelphia Cricket Club	72	St.	83	WC	155
Oscar Neubauer	Saucon Valley Country Club	78	St.	77	WC	155
Mike McComb	Greate Bay Country Club	80	WC	76	St.	156
Burton McHugh	Sunnybrook Golf Club	77	WC	79	St.	156
Paul Rogowicz	Yardley Country Club	84	WC	72	St.	156
Eric Schmehl	Moorestown Field Club	76	St.	80	WC	156
Beau Guarino	Burlington Country Club	78	St.	78	WC	156
Mark Coassolo	Brookside C.C. of Allentown	75	St.	81	WC	156
P. Chet Walsh	Philadelphia Country Club	79	St.	77	WC	156
Brad McFadden	Overbrook Golf Club	78	St.	78	WC	156
Scott Morris	Doylestown Country Club	76	St.	80	WC	156
Joe DeVito, Jr.	Sand Barrens Golf Club	77	St.	79	WC	156
Michael Domenick	Phoenixville Country Club	80	WC	77	St.	157
Mark Wachter	Penn Oaks Golf Club	76	WC	81	St.	157
William Bello	Metedeconk National Golf Club	83	WC	74	St.	157
Cory Siegfried	Philadelphia Country Club	80	WC	77	St.	157
R. Blake Slawecki	Spring Ford Country Club	81	WC	76	St.	157
Keith Evans	Running Deer Golf Club	78	St.	79	WC	157
Brian Rashley	Marriot Seaview Resort	80	St.	77	WC	157
Louis Giovi	Mercer Oaks Golf Course	77	St.	81	WC	158
Steve Ransom, Jr.	Wildwood Golf & Country Club	78	St.	80	WC	158
Bo Maguire	Brookside Country Club	76	St.	82	WC	158
Santo Lafoca	Huntsville Golf Club	75	St.	83	WC	158
Martin Hayden	Overbrook Golf Club	82	WC	77	St.	159
Roc Irey	Cedarbrook Country Club	85	WC	74	St.	159
Greg O'Connor	Huntingdon Valley Country Club	82	St.	77	WC	159
Drew Garis	North Hills Country Club	81	WC	79	St.	160
Mark Kosko	Marriot Seaview Resort	77	WC	83	St.	160
Scott Storck	Philadelphia Cricket Club	76	St.	84	WC	160
Jon Thomas	Inniscrone Golf Club	75	St.	85	WC	160
Richard Marabella	Whitemarsh Valley Country Club	86	St.	76	WC	162
Chip Culp	Philadelphia Cricket Club	81	WC	82	St.	163
Christopher Terebesi	Chester Valley Golf Club	82	WC	81	St.	163
Kevin Ignatuk	Penn Oaks Golf Club	82	WC	82	St.	164
Christopher Kaspar	Lu Lu Country Club	82	St.	82	WC	164
Mark Walkush	Manufacturers Golf & Country Club	86	St.	78	WC	164
Matt Kaelin	Little Mill Country Club	83	WC	82	St.	165
William Hoese	Links Golf Club	78	St.	88	WC	166
Ted Kerschner	Overbrook Golf Club	89	WC	78	St.	167
Garrett Conway	Burlington Country Club	79	St.	89	WC	168
Greg Verde	Spring Ford Country Club	88	WC	81	St.	169
Michael Boden	French Creek Golf Club	80	St.	89	WC	169
John Inman	Cherry Valley Country Club	85	St.	86	WC	171
Tom Borsello	Fieldstone Golf Club	81	WC	WD	St.	WD

 

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