Jackson does Pennsylvania proud with run to third round in U.S. Junior Amateur at Inverness

   Preston Summerhays, a 16-year-old from Scottsdale, Ariz., and yes he’s from that Summerhays family, defeated Bo Jin, a 17-year-old from China, 2 and 1, in a scheduled 36-hole final to capture the U.S. Junior Amateur title Saturday at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

   And I’ll get to what sounds like a terrific match, in which the biggest lead either player had was 3-up and no more than two holes separated the finalists in the 17 holes played in the afternoon.

  But when I last left the U.S. Junior Amateur – hey, there was a lot going on this week with a U.S. Amateur qualifier at Cedarbrook Country Club, the 115^th Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Open Championship at Huntingdon Valley Country Club and St. Davids Golf Club’s Brynn Walker earning a ticket to next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur – Palmer Jackson, whom I watched capture the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, had, for the second year in a row, earned a ticket to match play with rounds of 72 and 74 for a 4-over 146 total.

   The U.S. Junior Amateur is one of the biggest events in junior golf, with youngsters from all over the world trying to get into the field. It might be a little intimidating for a kid from Pennsylvania, but you know what, Jackson, a recent Franklin Regional graduate, represented the Keystone State pretty darn well.

   Jackson, who will join the Notre Dame golf program later this summer, went one step further than he had a year ago at Baltusrol Golf Club when he claimed a 3 and 1 decision over Gordon Sargent of Birmingham, Ala. in Wednesday’s opening round of match play. Sargent has committed to join the powerhouse Vanderbilt program in the summer of 2021.

   But in Thursday morning’s round of 32, Jackson shook up the whole tournament with a stunning 1-up victory over the defending champion, Michael Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Mass.

   There were all kinds of upsets in two rounds of match play Thursday, probably none bigger than Summerhays, the eventual champion, knocking off Akshay Bhatia of Wake Forest, N.C. and the No. 4 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), in the round of 16.

   But Jackson’s win over Thorbjornsen was equally unexpected. Thorbjornsen, who will join the Stanford program in the summer of 2020, had played the weekend after making cut on the number at last month’s U.S. Open at the Pebble Beach Golf Links. He had edged Bhatia, 1-up on the 36^th hole, in a thrilling U.S. Junior Amateur final a year ago at Baltusrol’s Upper Course.

   And Jackson didn’t back down for one second. He made back-to-back birdies at the eighth and ninth holes to grab a 2-up lead. The talented Thorbjornsen fought back, as you would expect. He won the 12^th hole with a par and the 15^th hole with a birdie to square the match.

   But Jackson got a nose in front again by winning the 17^th hole with a par and emphatically shut the door when he chipped in for birdie from the back of the 18^th green.

   It looked like Jackson was on his way to a spot in the quarterfinals when he grabbed a 2-up lead over Kelly Chinn of Great Falls, Va. by winning the 12^th hole with a par and the 13^th hole with a birdie in their round-of-16 showdown Thursday afternoon.

   The 16-year-old Chinn, the qualifying medalist a year ago at Baltusrol, put up back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 to square the match, but Jackson regained a 1-up edge by winning the 17^th hole with a par.

   Chinn, however, birdied the 18^th hole to send the match to extra holes and won the 19^th hole with a par to end Jackson’s run.

   Jackson, who plays out of Hannastown Golf Club in Greensburg, was so impressive in becoming Franklin Regional’s first state golf champion last fall. He made six birdies in a seven-hole stretch at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort and pulled away to a four-shot victory over a strong field. He was just as impressive talking about his victory afterwards, giving credit to his fellow competitors and describing how much winning a state championship meant to him.

   And last week at the Inverness Club he did a state that has produced its share of World Golf Hall of Fame members proud with his showing in the U.S. Junior Amateur.

   My last post from the U.S. Junior Amateur chronicled the sparkling 2-under 69 in the second round of qualifying that earned Jack Wall, a recent Christian Brothers Academy graduate from Brielle, N.J., a spot in match play.

   Wall, who will join the South Carolina program later this summer, suffered a 2 and 1 setback at the hands of Ben Brogden of Little Rock, Ark. in Wednesday’s opening round of match play. Wall plays out of the Manasquan River Golf Club.

   Got a chance to watch a lot Wall’s round-of-16 victory over recent Central Bucks East graduate Patrick Sheehan in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Stonewall’s Old Course and the kid can really play.

   Summerhays is the son of Boyd Summerhays, a swing coach to several PGA Tour players, most notably Tony Finau. Boyd Summerhays is also the swing coach to his brother, Korn Ferry Tour player Daniel Summerhays. Preston Summerhays is also the great nephew of Bruce Summerhays, who has three PGA Tour Champions victories to his credit.

   Preston Summerhays’ golf genes were on display both times he played the 17^th hole at Inverness Saturday. Intentionally playing down the adjacent 16^th fairway off the tee, Summerhays birdied the 17^th hole and added another birdie at the 18^th hole to trim a 3-down deficit to Jin to just 1-down as the match broke for lunch.

   Summerhays won the 28^th and 29^th holes with birdies to take a 2-up lead before Jin won the 31^st hole with a conceded eagle to get within 1-down.

   But Summerhays closed the match in dramatic fashion at the 35^th hole, that same 17^th hole. He played down 16 again, but this time faced a tougher approach over trees to the green. He lofted a pitching wedge up and over the trees to eight feet and holed the putt to claim the U.S. Junior Amateur crown.

   One of the benefits of wining the U.S. Junior Amateur is an exemption in next year’s U.S. Open and one of Summerhays’ biggest supporters, Finau, and Summerhays were already planning a practice round at Winged Foot Golf Club in June of 2020.

   Summerhays had rolled to a 4 and 3 victory over Joseph Sugdin, No. 41 in the WAGR, in Friday afternoon’s semifinals, erasing a 2-down deficit by winning six of the next seven holes.

   Jin rolled in a dramatic 25-foot birdie putt on the 18^th hole to pull out a dramatic 1-up victory over Chinn in a terrific match in the other semifinal.

   Summerhays and Jin both faced back-nine deficits in their quarterfinal matches Friday morning before rallying to reach the semifinals.

   Summerhays was 3-down after 11 holes to the last remaining Buckeye in the field, 18-year-old Austin Greaser of Vandalia, Ohio before Summerhays won five of the next seven holes to claim a 2-up victory. Greaser will join the North Carolina program later this summer.

   Jin was 2-down after 12 holes to Deven Ramachandran, an 18-year-old Seton Hall sophomore from San Rafael, Calif., before winning three of the next four holes in a 1-up victory.