Palmer Jackson, who captured the PIAA Class AAA Championship
as a senior at Franklin Regional last fall, and Austin Barbin, who claimed the
title in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 105th Junior Boys’
Championship this summer, had top-10 finishes Friday as the 44th
Boys Junior PGA Championship concluded at the Keney Park Golf Course in Windsor,
Conn.
Jackson, who will join the Notre Dame program in a few
weeks, finished up with a solid 1-under-par 69 over the 6,446-yard, par-70
Keney Park layout, giving him four rounds in the 60s and a sparkling 15-under
265 total. That left him in a tie for seventh place with David Ford of
Peachtree Corners, Ga., who closed with a 5-under 65.
Barbin of Elkton, Md. capped his remarkable summer of junior
golf with a sizzling 6-under 64 that left him in a tie for ninth place with three
other players at 14-under 266. Barbin, who will join the Maryland program later
this month, had earned his ticket to Keney Park by winning the Philadelphia
Boys Junior PGA Championship at The Springhaven Club.
Jackson improved on his tie for 23rd in last
year’s Boys Junior PGA Championship at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville,
Ky.
Jackson offset a bogey at the fourth hole with birdies at
the first and sixth holes to make the turn at 1-under for the day. After a
birdie at the 10th hole, Jackson stumbled with bogeys at the 11th
and 12th holes before bouncing back with back-to-back birdies at the
14th and 15th holes. A bogey at the 16th hole
dropped him back to 15-under for the tournament.
Barbin, winner of state Junior crowns in Delaware and
Maryland this summer, had eight birdies and two bogeys in his final round.
Barbin graduated from Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear, Del. in the spring.
The youngsters at Keney Park seemed to be thinking birdie
every time they put a peg in the ground. So it was probably appropriate that a
40-foot birdie putt from the back of the 18th green by Jack Heath of
Charlotte, N.C. proved to be the winning shot.
Heath entered the final round five shots behind the
blistering pace set by Jake Beber-Frankel, a 17-year-old from Miami, Fla. But
Heath’s birdie bomb at the last gave him an 8-under 62 and a record 21-under
259 total.
“I knew if it went in, I would most likely win and it went
in,” Heath, who plans to join the San Diego State program in the summer of
2020, told the PGA of America website. “It’s why I play golf.”
The left-hander began his ascent up the leaderboard when his
58-degree lob wedge from 45 yards away at the par-5 second hole found the
bottom of the cup for an eagle. After a bogey at the seventh hole, Heath made
birdies at the eighth and ninth holes.
Heath made another bogey at the 10th hole, but
then he went off starting with a birdie at the 12th hole. Heath made
another eagle at the 14th hole and birdies at the 15th
and 17th before his finishing flourish at the 18th hole. He
was 6-under for his last seven holes.
You could tell all week that it was going to take some kind
of birdie barrage like that to win the championship. Heath’s 259 total bettered
the previous record of 266 set by Akshay Bhatia two years ago at the Country
Club of St. Albans’ Lewis & Clark Course in St. Albans, Mo. That was a
par-72 course, but Heath still crushed the record.
Bhatia made it two straight wins in the Boys Junior PGA
Championship with a dramatic chip-in for eagle at the 18th hole at
Valhalla a year ago. Pretty sure he was eligible to go for three in a row, but
the teen phenom from Wake Forest, N.C. didn’t have a whole lot left to prove at
this level.
Bhatia is No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR),
which should make him a lock to represent the United States in the Walker Cup
Match Sept. 7 and 8 at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England. Pretty sure the
plan is for him to turn pro after that.
Canon Claycomb of Bowling Green, Ky. couldn’t get a 20-foot
birdie putt to fall at the 18th hole and settled for a runnerup
finish to Heath at 20-under 260. Claycomb, who will join the Alabama program in
January in time for the spring semester, had a final round of 4-under 66.
Andy Mao of Johns Creek, Ga. also had a chance to catch
Heath with a birdie try from 30 feet, but he missed the putt as well as the
comebacker and made bogey. Mao, who will join the program at Atlantic Coast
Conference power Georgia Tech later this month, also closed with a 4-under 66
to finish alone in third place at 19-under 261.
Brett Roberts of Coral Springs, Fla. fired a final round of
6-under 64 to end up alone in fourth place at 18-under 262. Roberts plans to
join the Florida State program in the summer of 2020.
Beber-Frankel, who had established a single-round and course
record with his 10-under 60 in the second round, cooled off with a final-round
71 to finish alone in fifth place at 17-under 263. Beber-Frankel plans to join
the Stanford program in the summer of 2020.
Tyler Goecke of Xenia, Ohio got it going in the final round
with a 6-under 64 to take sixth place at 16-under 264. Goecke will join the
Wright State program later this month.
Jolo Timothy Magcalayo of the Philippines fell out of the
top 10 as he carded a final round of 1-over 71 to end up among the group tied
for 15th at 12-under 268.
Magcalayo has come to the States each of the last two
summers to test his game against top junior competition. He tuned up for the
summer season with a victory in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop
at Back Creek Golf Club in May.
Magcalayo arrived at Keney Park fresh from a victory in the
AJGA Junior at Chicopee, presented by John D. Mineck Foundation, at Chicopee
Country Club in Chicopee, Mass.
Central York senior Carson Bacha, who won the Class AAA East
Regional at Golden Oaks Golf Club last fall, finished up with an even-par 70 to
end up alone in 62nd place at 2-over 282. Bacha, who plans to join
the Auburn program in the summer of 2020, finished in a tie for 23rd
in the Junior Boys PGA Championship two years ago the Country Club of St.
Albans.
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