Two major golf events in Philadelphia area start Tuesday
The Philadelphia Amateur and the Philadelphia Section PGA's Variety Tournament of Champions begin Tuesday.
The 112th Philadelphia Amateur and the Philadelphia Section PGA's Variety Tournament of Champions are two prominent events in local golf this week.
The amateur, a Golf Association of Philadelphia championship that also earns its titlist points in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, begins Tuesday with 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying at Huntingdon Valley and Torresdale-Frankford Country Clubs.
The low 32 finishers will move into match play at Huntingdon Valley, with two matches each on Wednesday and Thursday, and a 36-hole championship match on Saturday.
Michael Hyland of Little Mill is the defending champion. Last year, he became the 17th player in GAP history to win at least two Philadelphia Amateurs with a victory over Stephen Hudacek of Glenmaura National at Manufacturers Golf and Country Club.
A field of 125 players will begin the Amateur. Huntingdon Valley, which is hosting the championship for the first time since 1960, will play at 6,840 yards and par 70.
Huntingdon Valley's Andrew Mason, the 2011 GAP player of the year, will not compete. He is playing this week in the Sunnehanna Amateur.
The Variety Tournament of Champions is a two-day event starting Tuesday with a Pro-Am and ending Wednesday with a pro-only event. A total of 46 club professionals from the section will compete over the two days with the winner making an estimated $3,000 from a purse of around $23,000.
John Appleget of Wildwood won the event last year.
The tournament, which is being played for the 36th year, benefits Variety – the Children's Charity (formerly known as Variety Club).
--Joe Juliano