PAT KELLY TIES EDGA CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT RECORD!

The Country Club of Meadville hosted the 98th Marquette Savings Bank EDGA Championship. The 54 hole event was played Friday and Saturday at The Country Club for the first time. Cathedral Prep Senior Pat Kelly was in the final pairing of the day playing with two veteran stalwarts and multiple EDGA title holders Drew Deimel and Mike Wolfe. Mike teed off the final round with a 1 shot lead over Pat and 4 shots ahead of Drew. That lead quickly eroded with Mike being 1 over after the first 3 holes and Drew birdying the first 3 holes, Pat birdying 2 of the first 3 … the game was on !

The turning point of the final pairing was Pat’s birdie on the par 5 12th where Drew lipped out a downhill 6 foot birdie putt. With the par 3 13th next, Pat made a difficult 20 foot downhill birdie putt to tie Wolfe’s 3 foot birdie.

Pat moved to 5 under for the day on the short par 4 15th with a 3 foot birdie while his two competitors matched par. It was Pat’s tournament to lose at this point. Kelly, a University of Notre Dame commit, didn’t know it at the time but, with a six shot lead and the tournament victory all but sealed, his slick 15 footer on the 18th hole that just slipped by on the low side would have given him sole possession of the tournament record. Instead, his tap in for par matched the record posted by Austin Romeo at Downing in 2009.

Pat also missed becoming the youngest EDGA Amateur Champion by one year. That honor still belongs to Sean Howell who won at the age of 16 in 1998. The long hitting trio played some amazing golf this weekend with Pat finishing the 54 hole event at 9 under par 207 and Drew and Mike finishing 3 under par 213. Perennial contender Alex Weir finished in 4th position shooting an excellent even par 216. A total of 19 rounds of even par 72 or better were shot by the field. Congratulations to all participants.

Full results available at : 2018 Amateur Championship Results