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Drexel golf coach Ben Feld wins Mid-Amateur title

He held off the veteran Jeff Osberg to prevail in the Golf Association of Phila. event at Overbrook Golf Club.

Ben Feld could feel his first career Golf Association of Philadelphia major championship within reach, so he reached back to his years as a coach of the Drexel golf team to control his emotions and sharpen his focus.

Feld, 26, who just completed his first full year as the Dragons' head golf coach after three years as an assistant, picked up key birdies on the 13th and 17th holes to outdistance his closest pursuers and win the GAP Middle-Amateur championship by 2 shots Thursday at Overbrook Golf Club in Villanova.

Feld, a member at Huntingdon Valley who lives in Center City, fired the best round of the day, a 3-under-par 67, and completed the 36-hole event at 4-under 136.

It was a gritty performance by Feld, who could feel two-time GAP player of the year Jeff Osberg on his back throughout the back nine on a damp and dreary day that saw a morning rain delay of more than two hours. He said controlling his emotions was the key.

"I attribute a lot of that to coaching because we talk about it so much," he said. "It's just saying over and over again today in my head, 'Focus on the task, not on the outcome. What do we need to do here?'

"It kind of fell into place once I got in-between shots. It was an absolute roller coaster out there, but once I got over the shot, I was able to kind of feel that calm, that ease, and was able to execute some good ones today."

Feld vaulted into a tie for the lead at the turn with the help of consecutive birdies on holes 5, 6, and 7, then birdied No. 13 to tie Osberg for the lead at 4 under.

Osberg, who needed a win in the Middle-Amateur to complete the GAP career grand slam, played in the group directly behind Feld and took the lead with a birdie on 13, but he bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes to fall back by a stroke.

On the 17th, a drivable par-4, Feld almost holed out his approach and tapped in for birdie to go 5 under. Osberg matched it with a 15-foot putt and it remained a 1-stroke gap with one hole to go.

Feld missed the green and was unable to hole out a 10-foot par putt. Needing a par to tie, Osberg drove into a horrendous lie in deep grass just above the fairway bunker, whiffed his second shot, punched out about 20 yards with his third and made double bogey.

"It was kind of unfortunate, but every time you hit a bad drive doesn't mean you're going to be rewarded with a lucky break," Osberg said. "But I could have easily hit the fairway and not had to worry about it."

Osberg, who had a 70, finished tied for second at 138 with first-round leader Stephen Dressel of St. Davids and Chris Lange Jr. of Overbrook.

Feld called his win "really unbelievable," and was happy he went out and got it.

"I knew I wasn't going to backpedal into this," he said. "That was my real big takeaway, that nothing is given in the GAP, you've really got to go earn it."

The Results

Ben Feld, Huntingdon Valley. . . 69-67-136

Chris Lange Jr., Overbrook. . . 69-69-138

Jeff Osberg, Huntingdon Valley. . . 68-70-138

Stephen Dressel, St. Davids. . . 66-72-138

Matthew Mattare, Saucon Valley. . . 70-70-140

James Gillespie, Little Mill. . . 67-73-140

Peter Barron III, Stone Harbor. . . 72-69-141

Michael McDermott, Merion. . . 72-70-142

Michael Carr, Phila. Cricket. . . 68-74-142

Conrad Von Borsig, Phila. Cricket. . . 72-71-143

Dan Brown, Llanerch. . . 70-74-144

Michael Brown, Lulu. . . 75-70-145

Thomas Gramigna, Tavistock. . . 71-74-145

Bill Jeremiah, Bidermann. . . 73-73-146

Stephen Seiden, Llanerch. . . 75-71-146

Tom Spano, Llanerch. . . 75-71-146

Nathan Sutherland, LedgeRock. . . 72-75-147

Chris Lange, Overbrook. . . 71-76-147

Matthew Finger, DuPont. . . 74-73-147

jjuliano@phillynews.com

@joejulesinq