Gentlemen, we welcome you to the Eve of the 2021 YPGA Open, and for those who are new to the YPGA, a proper preview. The 2021 season got off to an early start at Broad Run and Old York Road for our minor and first leg of the Ryder Cup, but May 15, 2021 presents a new and heightened challenge. There is no tournament that can simulate the tension and pressure of a YPGA Major.

Before we get to the preview, we’d like to pay homage to our previous YPGA Open winners: Chris Meyer, Ed Grambo, and Matt Launi x2! And finally, some housekeeping items:

Closest to the Pin: $5 to Ed Grambo’s venmo. Hole #16. Closest to the pin and must make par.

Drive the Green (NOT longest drive): $5 to Ed Grambo’s venmo. Hole #8. Must land on the green and make birdie!

BYOB: Bring your own beer. Glen Mills is dry. If you need a cooler idea, check with Matt Kelly.

Shotguns: Avoid shotguns on hole 1. Do them on hole 2 if you are required to. Shotguns at the Turn have returned after a hiatus at Old Man York Road. Mulligan shotguns and ladies tee shotguns are in play.

Raffle: One raffle will be done after the round concludes. Tickets will be handed out based on performance: 5 tickets per eagle, 3 per birdie, 1 per par. You must be in attendance to claim your prize.

The Grint: Check your Grint prior to the round to make sure it’s operating correctly and the app is updated.

And now, the Preview:

Glen Mills rates as a 132 but many are giving the course strokes. The weather will be a high of 74 with a 51% chance of rain and wind out of the NW at 5mph. In predicting a champion, we look at the weather, recent trends in one’s game, and strokes.

Andy Kotulka: Andy followed up his 97 at Old York with an 81 at Lederach. Seems normal. Sure. Vegas isn’t that gullible. They still track him as a longshot this tournament, but a favorite to win the raffle.

Billy Kelly: A relative quiet member on the Tour so far. He hasn’t logged many rounds likely due to being a number 1 dad, but Billy has the pedigree (3 time major winner) and skillset to make a splash. We worry about the rust factor, but otherwise, he can be an under the radar pick to take him another major.

Chris Meyer: Chris is an enigma. A first ballot YPGA hall of famer with his 3 major wins, but he struggles with consistency. Which Chris shows up? He better hope Major Meyer shows up if he wants to contend.

David Carney: We don’t expect much out of Carney at this tournament. A rough start to the season has continued for David as he continues to lose strokes off the tee and he’d be better off putting with his eyes closed on the green. Probably a typical round for David as he’ll hit some good shots, some bad shots, 3-putt a bunch, and finish in the 90s.

Ed Grambo: Glen Mills does not set up well for Ed, who needs forgiveness around the course for his misses. Glen Mills can’t be overpowered, which is what Ed likes to do to a course. He will have to activate his finesse game, layup when appropriate and utilize his superior wedge play around the green – ha. He’ll continue bomb the ball all over the course and hope for the best.

Greg Taglialatela: Greg loves to hit driver, but he loses a lot of strokes around the green. He needs to improve his wedge game and putting to shave some strokes off that scorecard. Luckily, he’ll get to watch the Wedge Wizard up close and personal to pick up a few times. We do predict that Greg breaks 100 and beats out Sabara in the Battle of the Bottom.

Jason Torrance: Jason faired well at the first Ryder Cup event where he went low on the front 9 but followed up with a lackluster back 9. There are glimpses of why he has a lower handicap, but also lots of evidence why he won’t compete. Consistency is lacking but if he can avoid a string of bad holes, he’ll be in the top half of the leaderboard, if not better.

Matt Kelly: For a great golfer, Matt has really sucked on the YPGA Tour. He’s great at whining about handicaps, but his game has really been subpar. One thing is for sure, the tension and pressure on the YPGA Tour is incomparable to those little matches he participates in at Blue Bell Country Club.

Matt Launi: What can you say about this 2-time YPGA Open winner that hasn’t already been said?! Matt relishes the YPGA Open. He has been quoted as saying it is the preeminent tournament in the Delaware Valley and he always shows up to play. He burst on the scene in 2019 by claiming the major at Glen Mills, and he followed it up in 2020 by besting Nate in a playoff. Matt is a scrambler, fighter and gritty on the course. He doesn’t flash much but he manages to make tough shots and get up and down when needed. Shame on you if you count him out this tournament!

Mike Musselman: Always a contender on Tour. Mike has great all around game but the driver and woods can get snappy and that’s a no-no at Glen Mills. While only getting 6 strokes, it will be tough for Mike to compete for this Major, but he has the tools to do it. He’ll have to shoot mid-70s to have a shot.

Mike Patitucci: Mike can’t wait to get to the first tee, pull out his headband and swing his driver at 110%. If Tucci man doesn’t get caught up talking stocks and the VIX volatility index, and if he doesn’t black out again, and if he can hit his driver really well, and if….Ok, that’s too many ifs. Mike will have fun.

Mike Sabara: Hey! Mike can hit the ball. Hip hip hooray!! All on the Tour are appreciative and thankful. We know that Mike only cares about besting Greg and he doesn’t quite have that killer instinct to be a real threat, but we’d love to see Mike continue to improve. Will he break 100 in a tournament? Probably not.

Nate Kraynak: It feels like Nate has gotten better but we haven’t seen it in his scores or his handicap. Nate will need to keep the ball in front of him, excel at his short game and use those plethora of strokes to his advantage. A low 90s score may get it done for him. If things go south early for Nate, he may beeline it for 95 South to beat the traffic to OBX.

Paul Koch: Paul’s 2021 season has been all over the map with highs and lows. A betting man would have a hard time picking a lane with Paul. The grove factor is important for Paul. Can he find the right mix of transfusions, gummies, and weed pen that will allow him to find the grove, and play his carefree game that will help him go low?

Vince Sobocinski: Vince is our pick to take home the YPGA Open. He has it all. He bombs drives, hits 135 lasers with his 8iron, is a wedge wizard around the green, and his putting would make a PGA Tour player envious. Aside from his game, he just all around dominates. He makes the best spreadsheets, creates the best powerpoint presentations on the pros and cons of actively managed funds, and he shoots ropes that only procreate male babies. We predict Vince will take home the hardware to decorate the Sobo Sim.

Wayne Zimmer: This writer has yet to play with Wayne, so we’ll defer to Dave King for the scouting report: “Wayne bombs the ball. He hits it a mile and shoots really well. Did I mention that he bombs the ball off the tee? Oh yea, and his dick is probably huge too. Still trying to get confirmation on that.”

Scratches: David King, Jerry Margiotti

Tee Times:

8:40am: "The OBX Boys" – Musselman, Meyer, Andy and Nate.

8:50am: "#1 Dads" – Billy Kelly, Vince Sobocinski, Mike Sabara, Greg Taglialatela

9:00am: "Let’s Talk Fin-nance" – Mike Patitucci, Paul Koch, Jason Torrance, Wayne Zimmer

9:10am: "Carne Asada" - Matt Kelly, David Carney, Matt Launi, Ed Grambo

Handicap Strokes

Player: Handicap Index Strokes for Glen Mills

Zimmer 4.9 1

M. Kelly 7.8 5

Musselman 8.6 6

B. Kelly 10.1 7

Torrance 11.6 9

Koch 12.8 11

Kotulka 13.8 12

Meyer 14.5 13

Carney 15.8 14

Sobocinski 16.3 15

Launi 16.7 15

Grambo 18.3 17

Kraynak 20.6 20

Patitucci 21 20

Sabara 31.3 23

Tag 28.6 23