Aivazoglou, Hurly power Haverford School in Inter-Ac invitational No. 2 at Sunnybrook

   It promised to be a pretty competitive race for the Inter-Ac League golf championship and after invitational No. 2 Monday, hosted by Springside Chestnut Hill at Sunnybrook Golf Club, it is shaping up to be just that.

   Perennial Inter-Ac powers Haverford School and Malvern Prep went 1-2, respectively, Monday as the Fords claimed the top spot with a 222 total and the Friars were just two shots behind them at 224. Upstart Penn Charter, which topped the field in last week’s first mini-tournament on its home course at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, finished third at 230 while defending champion Episcopal Academy, the runnerup to Penn Charter last week, finished fourth at 234.

   Host Springside Chestnut Hill finished fifth at 264 and Springside Chestnut Hill was sixth at 272.

   That leaves Haverford School and Penn Charter tied atop the standings at 8-2 with Malvern Prep and Episcopal tied for third at 6-4.

   Haverford School was led by two members of its strong junior class as A.J. Aivazolgou and David Hurly each broke par on the front nine at Sunnybrook at 1-under 35. Aivazoglou plays out of Rolling Green Golf Club and Hurly is a native of South Africa.

   One of the Fords’ leaders, Peter Garno, a lacrosse standout, bounced back from a disappointing round at Huntingdon Valley last week to fire an even-par 36.  Charlie Baker added a 38 and Mac Costin and Cal Buonocore each posted a 3-over 39 for the Fords.

   Malvern Prep was led by senior co-captain Matt Davis, who carded a 2-under 34, the second-best score of the day. Last week at Huntingdon Valley, Davis shared medalist honors with three other players and he has taken the early lead in the individual points standings.

   Junior John Updike, the 2016 Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ champion, was  just a shot behind Davis with a 1-under 35. Juniors Matt Civitella and Kevin Hagan each carded a 2-over 38 and senior Eric McLaughlin added a 39. Malvern Prep’s final counter was a 40, a total notched by both junior co-captain Andrew Curran and senior Mike Hennigan.

   Medalist honors for the day belonged to Penn Charter freshman Patrick Isztwan, who carded a sparkling 3-under 33. I mentioned last week that I caddied for Patrick and big brother Brian, who was the Inter-Ac champion when he was a freshman, in a Christman Cup practice round at Stonewall North (before looping for Brian in the tournament proper) this summer and the younger Isztwan can really play as he proved Monday at Sunnybrook.

   Brian Isztwan, a senior, added a 38 for the Quakers and Noah Schwartz chipped  in with a 39. Rounding out Penn Charter’s counters were a trio of 40s posted by Dante DiStefano, Matt Barkann and Archie Fishill.

   Somehow, Episcopal ended up with six players all landing on 3-over 39. They included the Churchmen’s two senior co-captains, Jon Nolan Perry and Cole Kemmerer, the brothers Zeng, Michael, a junior, and Jacob, a sophomore, junior Robbie Copit and sophomore Case Hummer.

   Invitational No. 3 is next Tuesday with Malvern Prep hosting the rest of the league at Waynesborough Country Club, although I’m pretty sure Episcopal’s Perry and Kemmerer are members there, so that might mitigate the Friars’ home-course advantage a little.