14th Hole at Cobbs Creek GC

Ken Gaskill, "Player of the Year"

Ken Gaskill, from Ramblewood Golf Club, is the 2004 Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association "Player of the Year."  As the player of the year, Gaskill will represent the Philadelphia Publinks in the Golf Association of Philadelphia Tournament of Champions event to be played October 1 at the Philmont Country Club.  Gaskill won the 2004 Senior Open Amatur Championship in a playoff over John F. Byrne's John Feuerer and also used a 3rd place finish in the Philadelphia Publinks Championship and a second place in the Philadelphia Open Amateur Championship to capture his first player of the year award.  Over the last 5 years, Gaskill, the 5-time Ramblewood Club Champion, captured the 2001 and 2002 Philadelphia Publinks Senior Championship, the 2000 New Jersey Public Golf Organization Championship, the South Jersey Golf Association Better Ball Championship in 2003 and also finished 3rd in the 2003 Golf Association of Philadelphia Senior Amateur Championship.  In 2003, Gaskill represented the GAP in the Senior Challenges matches against teams from Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland.

 

Brian Gillespie makes run in US Amateur

1996 Philadelphia Open Amateur Champion, Brian Gillespie, recently completed a run in the US Amateur Championship at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, which saw him advance to the second round before bowing out to Oklahoma State senior to be, and 2003 US Amateur Public Links runner-up, Dayton Rose.  He qualified for the Championship by shooting 139 over 2 rounds at the Centre Hills CC in State College, Pa. to earn one of the two available spots at that site.  Since winning the Philadelphia Open Amateur Championship, Gillespie has gone on to win the Golf Association of Philadelphia Amateur Championship in 2001.  He was also the runner-up in the same event in 2003 and has represented the GAP in the Compher Cup matches (1997, 2002-2004) Mason Dixon matches (2001-2004) and Philadelphia Golpher matches (2001-2004).  In these matches the GAP takes on teams from the New Jersey State Golf Association, the Middle Atlantic Golf Association and the Philadelphia PGA, respectively.

When asked to give his thoughts on the US Amateur, Gillespie responded, "The hardest part for me, in regards to the US Am, is qualifying for it. I target that tournament every year as the one where I want my game to be peaking. The hard part is it's only 36 holes on one day. If you have a bad day you're out and have to wait until next year.

"Ask anyone who has been to one, once you've been to a USGA event you can't wait to get back."  Gillespie also qualified for the 1996 US Am at Pumpkin Ridge and advanced to match play.  "This year I went to my old college golf course at Penn State to qualify."  Gillespie was a four year starter at Penn State from 1994-1997.

"I went up to Winged Foot a week prior for a practice round which I think really helped me. Getting comfortable with the golf course and the surroundings makes the trip up there for the tournament much less stressful.

"I had four goals in regards to my week. The first was to get into match play. The second was to get to the final 8, so I would be exempt the following year at Merion. The third was to get into the final two for a Masters invite and the final goal was to win. Understandably, with 312 of the best amateur golfers in the country at the event, you can hardly expect to win. However, if you don't have the goal to do so your results usually fall well short of your expectations.

"Once I got into match play and started playing well, my focus was soley on getting to the final 8. When I lost my second match I was quite disappointed that I hadn't reached my second goal. It's a frustrating feeling to have so many people congratulating me, but at the same time I left feeling quite unfulfilled. Once the dust settled and I looked back on it I did have a good week. But, like I said, it's so hard to get there so to not do better is disappointing from the respect that you never know when, if ever, you will get back. Hopefully it's next year......"

 

 

 

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