Jeremy Wall of Manasquan River Golf Club was recounting the
traffic nightmare that cost his younger brother Jack a shot at 2014 BMW
Philadelphia Amateur champion Jeff Osberg in the quarterfinals of this year’s
edition of the Philly Am at Stonewall last month.
An overturned dump truck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike would
delay Jack Wall’s drive from the Jersey Shore to the northwest corner of
Chester County enough that he would be forced to forfeit his match to Osberg.
“I’m not afraid to tell you, he’s a better player than I
am,” Jeremy Wall nonchalantly threw into his telling of the story.
Pretty high praise from big brother, especially considering
that a couple of days later Jeremy Wall would become the first repeat winner of
the BMW Philadelphia Amateur in 25 years by beating Osberg, 3 and 1, in the
scheduled 36-hole final.
That ill-timed Turnpike mishap nearly cost Jeremy Wall as
well. He missed his starting time, but only had to concede the first hole. He
proceeded to lose the next three holes of his quarterfinal match before
rallying past Andrew Cornish on his way to a second straight BMW Philadelphia
Amateur title.
Jack Wall, a recent Christian Brothers Academy graduate, had
opened his bid to make match play in the U.S. Junior Amateur with a 5-over-par
76 Monday at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
But with no traffic to slow him down Tuesday, Jack Wall
bounced back in a big way with a sparkling 2-under 69 that earned him a ticket
into the match-play bracket with a 3-over 145 total.
Match play gets under way Wednesday morning after eight players
decide who will get the last seven spots in the bracket in playoff.
And Jack Wall, who will join the South Carolina program
later this summer, will still be playing.
Jack Wall started on the back nine in Tuesday’s second round
of qualifying. When he bogeyed the third hole, he was 6-over with six holes to
play. He proceeded to birdie three of those holes, the fourth, seventh and
ninth holes, and par the rest to easily advance to match play. His 145 total
left him among the group tied for 23rd.
Joining Jack Wall in the match-play bracket will be Palmer
Jackson, who became the first Franklin Regional player to capture a PIAA
Championship when he won the Class AAA crown last fall.
The Notre Dame-bound Jackson added a 3-over 74 to his
opening-round 72 to finish among the group tied for 26th at 4-over
146. It is the second straight year that Jackson has made it into match play in
the U.S. Junior Amateur, one of the marquee events in junior golf.
The 8-for-7 playoff that will open Wednesday’s proceedings
will feature players who finished at 8-over 150.
Two of the three players who earned a ticket to Inverness in
the Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Berkshire
Country Club, Austin Barbin of Elkton, Md. and Jolo Timothy Magcalayo of the
Philippines, came up a shot short of that playoff as each landed on 9-over 151.
Barbin, who was coming off a scorching month on the local
junior circuit, bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a 3-over 74 Tuesday.
Last week, Barbin added a Christman Cup win to the GAP Junior Boys’ crown he
claimed last month. In between, Barbin, who will join the Maryland program
later this summer, also won state junior titles in Maryland and Delaware. Oh
yeah, and he was the medalist in the qualifier at Berkshire.
Magcalayo, who reached the second round of last year’s U.S.
Junior Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., added a 76 Tuesday
to his opening-round 75. Magcalayo has launched his last two summers of junior
golf by teeing it up in events on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour.
The third player who advanced to Inverness out of the
Berkshire qualifier, Richie Kline of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club,
shaved four shots off his opening-round 84 with an 80 Tuesday for a 164 total.
Kline, who helped Unionville win the 2017 PIAA Class AAA
team title and finish as the runnerup last fall, will play collegiately at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Three players headed for Division I programs later this
summer shared medalist honors at 4-under 138 over the tough Donald Ross design
at Inverness.
William Moll, a Vanderbilt recruit from Houston, and Ricky
Castillo, a Florida recruit from Yorba Linda, Calif. and No. 22 in the World
Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), each added a 3-under 68 to an opening-round 70.
William Mouw, a Pepperdine recruit from Chino, Calif. and No. 26 in the WAGR,
carded a second straight 69 to get a piece of medalist honors along with Moll
and Castillo.
Defending champion Michael Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Mass.
fired a 3-under 68 Tuesday to finish in a tie for fourth with Luke Potter, a
phenom from Encinitas, Calif., at 3-under 139.
Thorbjornsen, who played the weekend in last month’s U.S.
Open at the Pebble Beach Golf Links after making the cut on the number, opened
with an even-par 71 Monday. Thorbjornsen will join the Stanford program in the
summer of 2020.
Potter, who just completed his freshman season at La Costa
Canyon High, also fired a 68 Tuesday after opening with a 71.
Heading a group of four players tied for sixth at 1-under
141 was Akshay Bhatia of Wake Forest, N.C. Bhatia, No. 4 in the WAGR, lost in
the final to Thorbjornsen at Baltusrol a year ago in a terrific match. Bhatia
added a steady even-par 71 to his opening-round 70.
He was joined at that figure by Brett Roberts of Coral
Springs, Fla., Bo Jin of China, and Brian Ma of Milpitas, Calif. Roberts and
Jin each added an even-par 71 to an opening-round 70 while Ma opened with an
even-par 71 and added a 70 in Tuesday’s second round.
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