I’m going to go ahead and guess that Malvern Prep senior
Andrew Curran took his duties as the Friars’ captain pretty seriously this
fall.
But with his final regular season behind him and taking his
final shot in the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League Championship, maybe Curran,
relieved of worrying about the rest of the team for the first time since
August, focused a little on himself.
How else can you explain a nothing-short-of-brilliant
6-under-par 66, a Bert Linton Inter-Ac League Championship record, at
Sunnybrook Golf Club in Whitemarsh Township Tuesday that gave Curran the
league’s individual title by a whopping seven shots?
I hated not being there, but with the Bert Linton and the
final round of the PIAA Championship on the same day, I made my annual trek to
York County and saw some pretty good golf out of PIAA Class AAA champion Palmer
Jackson, a senior at Franklin Regional.
It sounded like the rounds were pretty similar. Jackson had
six birdies in his first 10 holes, but made a couple of bogeys down the
stretch. No disrespect to the Heritage Hills Golf Resort, but Sunnybrook is a
little tougher challenge.
I had a chance as a fledgling sports writer 40 years ago to
cover my first USGA championship, the 1978 U.S. Women’s Amateur, won by Canadian
Cathy Sherk, at Sunnybrook. It’s a tough track.
But it wasn’t for Curran Tuesday. He ripped off six birdies
and there was nary a bogey on his card.
He had finished 14th on the Inter-Ac’s
regular-season points list. Not bad in the most competitive scholastic golf
conference in Pennsylvania. I’m sure he was disappointed that the Friars
couldn’t get past Haverford School in any of the six regular-season
invitationals as they finished 21-9 and shared second place with Episcopal
Academy.
But Curran put it all behind him and played a spectacular
round of golf. And it’s not like everybody was going low. Haverford School
senior Peter Garno, who helped lead the Fords to their second straight Inter-Ac
crown, was the runnerup with a 1-over 73.
Charlie Baker, another key member in both of Haverford
School’s Inter-Ac title runs the last two falls, was a shot behind his teammate
Garno in third with a 2-over 74. Baker was the runnerup to Penn Charter’s
Patrick Isztwan in the last year’s Bert Linton at Huntingdon Valley Country
Club.
Episcopal Academy junior Jacob Zeng capped an outstanding
season that saw him finish atop the Inter-Ac’s regular-season points race by
taking third with a 3-over 75.
Malvern Prep’s senior standout John Updike shared fifth place
with Haverford School’s Sam Walker, each carding a 4-over 76.
Isztwan, a freshman when he won the Bert Linton on his home
course at Huntingdon Valley a year ago, carded a 77 in defense of his title and
shared seventh place with Justin Dougherty of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy,
who matched Isztwan’s 77.
A couple of Episcopal Academy seniors, Michael Zeng, one of
the Churchmen’s co-captains, and J.R. Rauscher, finished in a tie for ninth,
each posting a 78.
Haverford School senior David Hurly shared 11th place
with Germantown Academy’s Nick Schnur as each signed for a 79.
Malvern Prep senior Matt Civitella took 13th with
an 80, Haverford School senior A.J. Aivazoglou, the runnerup to Episcopal Academy’s
Jacob Zeng in the regular-season points standings, was 14th with an
81 and Penn Charter’s Dylan Topaz was 15th with an 82.
Mac Costin, another key member of Haverford School’s last
two title teams, shared 16th place with Springside Chestnut Hill’s
Andrew Lauerman at 83. A couple of Episcopal players accounted for the next two
spots on the leaderboard as senior James LeRoux was 18th with an 84
and sophomore Shane Lawler was 19th with an 84.
Episcopal Acdemy’s other senior co-captain, Robbie Copit,
finished in a tie for 20th with Malvern Prep senior Kevin Hagan,
each posting an 86. Malvern Prep junior Ryan Kennedy was 22nd with
an 88 and Haverford School’s Zak Summy was 23rd with a 91.
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