Greg Matthias of Tavistock Country Club Wins the 2018 William Hyndman III Memorial Classic on the Third Playoff Hole
HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. – The 2018 edition of the William Hyndman III Memorial Classic was played on Monday, July 9 at perennial host course Huntingdon Valley Country Club. This year’s tournament brought together 140 Philadelphia PGA professionals to compete in the Section’s seventh Omega Player of the Year points event presented by the Haverford Trust Company. The event also served as a points event for the Section’s Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO). The PAO event featured 50 players most of which were also competing in the main event.
Three players in the tournament’s morning wave set the early pace as each carded a score of 2-under (68) to share the lead. The first player to reach the number was Eric Kennedy (Overbrook Golf Club). Kennedy got off to a hot start with birdies on three of his first four holes. After a bogey on the par-3 5th hole, Kennedy quickly recovered and posted consecutive red numbers on holes 6 & 7. With a second bogey on the tough par-4 8th hole, Kennedy made the turn at 3-under. As he played his way back to the clubhouse, Kennedy found one additional birdie but bogeys on holes 12 & 18 dropped Kennedy back to 2-under for the day.
The first player to join Kennedy with a score of 2-under (68) was Michael Little (Lookaway Golf Club). Like Kennedy, Little got his tournament started on Huntingdon Valley’s first hole. As he played the outward nine, Little traded two birdies and two bogeys to make the turn at even par. However, as he played the back nine, Little played great golf managing to card two additional birdies joining Kennedy at the top of the leaderboard.
The final player to post a score of 2-under (68) in the morning wave was Alex Knoll (Bethlehem Golf Club). Unlike Kennedy and Little, Knoll got his tournament underway on the 10th hole at Huntingdon Valley. Despite a quick start with two early birdies, Knoll made the turn at even par after bogeys on holes 15 & 17. As Knoll played the course’s front nine, his back nine, he once again got off to a quick start and found himself 3-under for the tournament with only two holes to play. Unfortunately for Knoll a bogey on the par-4 8th hole dropped him back to 2-under and into a first play tie.
With the morning wave in the house, the players in the afternoon now knew the number to beat. However, as groups finished no one was able to best the players at 2-under but two additional players did manage to join the group. Playing in the first group off the 10th hole in the afternoon, Zac Oakley (Waynesborough Country Club) was the next player to finish with a 2-under (68). After a bogey on his second hole of the day, Oakley quickly recovered with three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 15th hole to make the turn at 4-under. Unfortunately for Oakley that is where his luck ran out as he bogeyed two of his final three holes to finish at 2-under becoming the fourth player to tie for the lead.
The fifth and final player to finish at 2-under (68) was Greg Matthias (Tavistock Country Club). Matthis, also starting on the 10th hole, paired one birdie and one bogey to make the turn at even par. As his played Huntingdon Valley’s outward nine, Matthias birdie holes 2, 3, and 5 to jump out to a one shot lead. However an untimely bogey on the par-5 7th hole dropped Matthias back to 2-under which is where he finished to become the last to join the leaders.
With no other players finishing at 2-under or better, the five players, Kennedy, Little, Knoll, Oakley, and Matthias headed out to Huntingdon Valley’s 18th hole for the first of hole of sudden death. On the first playoff hole Knoll, Matthias, and Oakley all carded pars and moved on to the second playoff hole (hole #1). With all three players nearly driving the green, it was Matthias and Oakley who walked away with birdies and moved on to the third playoff hole (hole #17). With neither player finding the green on the difficult par-3 it was Matthias who managed to get up and down for par crowning him champion of the 2018 William Hyndman III Memorial Classic, his second consecutive points victory,
“Getting my first win at Conestoga definitely gave me a lot of confidence” said Matthias. “We have so many good players in our Section so to walk away with consecutive wins is a great experience. The playoff had so many great players so it means a lot to be able to walk away the winner. I want to thank all of our sponsors today as well as the membership and staff of Huntingdon Valley Country Club for their support.”
In the tournament’s senior division Dave McNabb (Applebrook Golf Club) walked away with the top spot. Although McNabb finished one shot off the lead in the tournament’s main division his score of 1-under (69) was good enough for a two shot senior win. Finishing in solo second place was George Forster (Radnor Valley Country Club) who posted a 1-over (71). Rounding out the top three was Greg Farrow (Deerwood Country Club) was finished with a score of 2-over (72).
Don DeAngelis (Center Square Golf Club) walked away as the tournament’s super senior champion. DeAngelis carded a 3-over (73) for a six shot victory in the division.
Matthis was a dual champion as his first place finish in the tournament’s main event also gave him the top spot in today’s PAO tournament. With the exception of Eric Kennedy the other members of the tournament playoff were also members of the PAO meaning Alex Knoll, Michael Little, and Zac Oakley will share the runner-up spot.
The Section would like to thank our tournament sponsors The Hyndman Family, Jack Jolly & Son, Golf Pride and Levelwear. The Philadelphia PGA returns to action on Wednesday, July 11 at Applecross Country Club for the Pro-Junior Championship.
