Two of District One’s top returning players, Spring-Ford’s
Ben Pochet, who claimed the Class AAA district individual title as a junior
last fall, and Radnor’s Jake Calamaro earned tickets to the U.S. Junior Amateur
in separate qualifiers Monday.
Pochet fired a 2-under-par 70 at Makefield Highlands Golf
Club in Yardley to grab the last of three berths available in the qualifier
administered by the Golf Association of Philadelphia.
Calamaro, a PIAA Class AAA East Regional qualifier as a
sophomore last fall, carded a 2-under 69 at Carlisle Country Club to earn one
of just two berths available in the qualifier administered by the Pennsylvania
Golf Association.
The U.S. Junior Amateur will be held July 17 to 22 at Flint
Hills National Golf Club in Andover, Kan. Last summer, recent Methacton
graduate Kyle Vance, a two-time District One champion, qualified for match play
in the U.S. Junior Amateur at the Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn. and was
ousted in the first round.
Pochet was the only local player to advance from Makefield
Highlands.
Medalist honors went to Ryan Lee of Norwood, N.J. who fired
a sizzling 5-under 67 over the 6,680-yard, par-72 Makefield Highlands layout.
Lee, who attends Old Tappan High School, capped his spectacular round by
blasting a 3-wood to eight feet on the 283-yard, par-4 13th hole at
Makefield Highlands and dropping the putt for an eagle.
Pochet, who has committed to Drexel, shared second place
with David Morgan of Naples, Fla., who matched Pochet’s 2-under 70.
Qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur was shortened from 36
holes to 18 holes this year.
Pochet offset bogeys at three and six with birdies at the
fifth and ninth holes to make the turn at even-par 36 Monday. He got it to
2-under with back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12. He lost a shot with a bogey at
17, but got it back with a clutch birdie at the 18th that sealed the
deal.
“I’ve never played well in these qualifiers, so it’s finally
nice to have pulled through,” Pochet told the GAP website. “I’ve been looking
for this confidence in my game with a ton of golf to be played coming up. I’m
thrilled.”
Cole Kemmerer, who helped Episcopal Academy capture the
Inter-Ac League championship as a junior last fall, is the first alternate
after carding a solid 1-under 71. Kemmerer, who plays out of Waynesborough
Country Club, finished third in the Inter-Ac’s individual tournament, the Bert
Linton Invitational, which was held at Aronimink Golf Club last fall.
The second alternate is Conor McGrath of Huntingdon Valley
Country Club, who also had a 1-under 71.
Malvern Prep’s Matt Davis, who plays out of Aronimink, also carded
a 1-under 71, but lost out in the playoff for the alternate spots.
Among some of the other Inter-Ac standouts who teed it up at
Makefield Highlands, Brian Isztwan, the Penn Charter senior who led the points
standings from the league’s six regular-season mini-tournaments, had a 76, The
Haverford School’s David Hurly also had a 76, Hurly’s fellow Ford Andreas Aivazoglou
had a 77 and Kemmerer’s teammate on the Episcopal Academy championship team and
a fellow Waynesborough player Jon Nolan Perry had a 79.
Pope John Paul II’s J.T. Spina, the Philadelphia Section PGA
Junior Tour 16-to-18 Player of the Year in 2016 who finished tied for third in
the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, was another player who checked in
with a 76.
Calamaro’s teammates on Radnor’s Central League championship
team last fall and on the Raiders’ 2015 PIAA Class AAA team champions, David
Colleran Jr. and Michael Sydnes, each
carded a 78. Colleran, a member at Overbrook Golf Club, is the reigning GAP
Junior Boys’ champion.
Nikita Romanov, the Philadelphia Junior Tour’s 13-to-15
division Player of the Year in 2016 from Wilmington, Del., had a solid 2-over
74. Strath Haven sophomore Kevin Smith posted a 77. Norristown’s Ryan brothers,
Caleb, a PIAA Class AAA Championship qualifier as a sophomore last fall, and
Joshua came in at 82 and 84, respectively. Bishop Shanahan’s Ryan Conners, who
shared second place with Vance behind Pochet at the District One Class AAA
Championship last fall, had an 85.
Out at Carlisle, Calamaro, a little left-hander, nearly had
medalist honors to himself as he made birdies at three, 10, 14 and 15 to get it
to 4-under before a double bogey at the 16th left him at 2-under. He
shared medalist honors with Mark Goetz of Greensburg, who matched Calamaro’s
2-under 69.
Calamaro played in the same group with Pochet at last fall’s
District One Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Club and he putted the eyes out
of it.
The first alternate from Carlisle is Austin Barbin of
Elkton, Md., a regular on the Philadelphia Junior Tour who carded a 1-under 70.
Barbin earned a ticket to last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur at The Honors Course
when he qualified along with Vance a little closer to home at Chesapeake Bay Golf
Club in Rising Sun, Md.
Michael Brennan of Leesburg, Va., who posted an even-par 71,
is the second alternate.
No comments:
Post a Comment