Anthony Barr has played a lot sports, only recently settling
on golf as the one he wants to concentrate on as he heads to McDaniel College.
It’s starting to look like he made the right decision. The
recent Souderton graduate capped off a burst of solid play in the Golf
Association of Philadelphia’s series of major junior events by firing a
3-under-par 69 at Sandy Run Country Club Monday to capture the title in the 34th
Jock MacKenzie Memorial.
It started when Barr fired a 4-under 67 on his home course
of Blue Bell Country Club June 19 to earn medalist honors in qualifying for
GAP’s Junior Boys’ Championship, continued with a couple of solid rounds in
last Thursday’s Christman Cup at Whitford and concluded with his victory
Monday.
It meant that Barr took home two trophies from Sandy Run as
he also won the Harry Hammond Award for his combined scores from the Junior
Boys’ qualifying, the Christman Cup and the Jock MacKenzie, which added up to
287, three shots better than Christman Cup winner Ben Pochet of Spring-Ford
Country Club.
Barr faltered only once in those 72 holes, his second-round
78 at Whitford dropping him into a tie for 11th in the Christman
Cup. But the bookend rounds of 67 in the Junior Boys’ qualifying and the 69 he
posted Monday were more than good enough to make up for that second round at
Whitford.
“It doesn’t get much better than this,” Barr told the GAP
website. “I’ve been working so hard over the past four years to reach this
point. For it to pay off like this is really amazing. It’s been an unreal
summer for me and my game.”
As is often the case with junior golfers, there’s the work
of a PGA professional behind Barr’s success and he was quick to credit his
coach, Brian Moose, the director of instruction at the RiverCrest Golf Club
& Preserve.
Their collaboration was evident in Barr’s efficient round
Monday at Sandy Run. He made three birdies and no bogeys in about as easy a 69
as you’re going to see over the 6,437-yard, par-72 Sandy Run layout.
After opening up with six straight pars, Barr registered
back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth holes. He drove it within 25
yards of the short, par-4 seventh and pitched it to three feet for an easy
birdie. He fired a 6-iron to just in front of the par-5 eighth in two and
chipped to tap-in range.
On the par-4 13th, Barr again bombed a drive
within 40 yards of the green and flipped it up to four feet for his final
birdie of the day.
Barr bettered par on a day when nobody else in the field –
and this was a field filled with accomplished junior players – could. Nine
players were bunched at even-par and 1-over, but nobody was closer than three
shots to Barr.
Heading the group of five players who shared second place at
even-par 72 was Spring-Ford Country Club’s Ryan Tall, the recent Conestoga
graduate who captured the Junior Boys’ title at Blue Bell the week after he
reached the semifinals of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at
Whitemarsh Valley Country Club.
Joshua Ryan, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman
representing Norristown High last fall, was also in the group tied for second
at 72.
Rounding out the quintet at even-par 72 were Merion Golf
Club’s Mac Costin, who helped The Haverford School capture the Inter-Ac League
title last fall, LedgeRock Golf Club’s Nicholas Fiorvante and Manufacturers
Golf & Country Club’s Stephen Lorenzo.
Spring Mill Country Club’s Liam Hart, who captured the PIAA
Class AAA championship as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep last fall, headed a group
of four players tied for seventh place at 1-over 73. Also in the group was Kennett
Square Golf & Country Club’s Connor Bennink, who finished tied for fourth
behind Hart in the state tournament and then helped Unionville capture the PIAA
Class AAA team title the next day to cap a very strong junior season.
Andrew Wallace of Green Valley Country Club and Harriton was
also in the group at 73, which enabled him to finish third in the Harry Hammond
Award standings, four shots behind runnerup Pochet at 294.
Rounding out the foursome at 73 was Finnian McGarry of
Tavistock Country Club.
Makefield Highlands Golf Club’s Greg DeLuca, a PIAA Class
AAA Championship qualifier at Neshaminy last fall, shared 11th place
with Keller Mulhern of Whitford at 2-over 74.
Pochet, who claimed the District One Class AAA title in each
of his final two seasons at Spring-Ford, headed a group of five more players
tied for 13th at 3-over 75. Pochet, who will join the Drexel program
later this summer, became the first player to repeat as the Christman Cup
winner last week at Whitford.
Gulph Mills Golf Club’s Charlie Baker, a teammate of
Costin’s on Haverford School’s Inter-Ac championship team last fall,
Manufacturers’ Griffin Caulfield, Heidelberg Country Club’s Chase Miller, the
PIAA Class AA champion as a senior at Tulpehocken last fall, and Saucon Valley
Country Club’s Drew Warner rounded out the group tied for 13th at 75
along with Pochet.
Capturing the Junior Girls division in the Jock MacKenzie
was Merion Golf Club’s Lauren Jones, who carded a 78. Jones finished third in
the Inter-Ac League Championship at Gulph Mills as a freshman this spring after
helping Episcopal Academy capture the Inter-Ac
title and ending Notre Dame’s nine-year domination of the league.
Whitemarsh Valley Country Club’s Clare Gimpel, a PIAA Class
AAA East Regional qualifier who helped Mount St. Joseph win the District One
Class AAA team crown, was the runnerup with an 82. Molly Gregor of Huntingdon
Valley Country Club took third with a 92.
Tavistock’s Nathan Guertler put together a solid 4-over 40
on Sandy Run’s back nine to finish atop the Junior-Junior Boys division.
Blue Bell’s Kevin Lafond and Spring-Ford’s Lucas Steinmetz
shared runnerup honors, each carding a 43 and Declan Cottone of Riverton
Country Club and Huntingdon Valley’s Gavin Michener finished tied for fourth at
49.
Rolling Green Golf Club’s Matt Barkley, Bellewood Country
Club’s Kidder Urban and Riverton’s Reid Walker finished tied for sixth, each
posting a 52.
The Junior-Junior Girls division title went to White Manor
Country Club’s Clarissa Leung, who made her
GAP debut a winning one with a 51.
A couple of girls from North Hills Country Club, Mollie
Young and Gabrielle Courtney, finished second
third with respective scores of
67 and 70.
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