Some of the best junior golfers on the planet are taking it
really, really low in the 44th Boys Junior PGA Championship at the
Keney Park Golf Course in Windsor, Conn. and Palmer Jackson, who claimed the
PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Franklin Regional last fall, is
right in the middle of the fray.
Jackson, who will join the Notre Dame program in a few
weeks, fired a sparkling 6-under-par 64 in Thursday’s third round and is alone
in fourth place at 14-under 196.
Jake Beber-Frankel, the 17-year-old son of Academy Award-
and Emmy Award-winning director David Frankel, smashed the 54-hole tournament
record with his 18-under 192 total after a third-round 65 over the 6,446-yard,
par-70 Keney Park layout, but Jackson, who plays out of Hannastown Golf Club,
is only four shots out of the lead.
Beber-Frankel broke the tournament and Keney Park course
records with his 10-under 60 in Wednesday’s second round. His 192 total was
seven shots better than the previous record of 199 set two years ago by Akshay
Bhatia at the Country Club of St. Albans’ Lewis & Clark Course in St.
Albans, Mo., although the Lewis & Clark Course was a par-72 layout and
Keney Park plays to a par of 70.
Jackson overcame a pair of bogeys on the front nine Thursday
with four birdies as he went out in 2-under 33. He had back-to-back birdies at
the 13th and 14th holes and again at the 17th
and 18th holes as he came in at 4-under 31 to stay in the hunt in
one of the biggest national events on the junior calendar each summer.
Jackson is coming off a solid showing in last month’s U.S.
Junior Amateur at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. He reached the third
round of match play by knocking off the defending champion, Michael
Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Mass., in the second round. Jackson finished in a
tie for 23rd in the Boys Junior PGA Championship a year ago at the
Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
Beber-Frankel, who plans to join the Stanford program in the
summer of 2020, came out of the gate strong with birdies at the first, second
and fifth holes. He finally made a bogey at the seventh – his sizzling
second-round 60 featured 10 birdies with nary a bogey on the card – before
closing out his front side with a birdie at the ninth hole.
Beber-Frankel of Miami, Fla. got it to 19-under with birdies
at the 12th, 14th and 16th holes before giving
up a shot with a bogey at the 17th hole.
“I definitely never had to ‘bounce back’ from a 60 before,”
Beber-Frankel told the PGA of America website. “It was a fun experiment to see what
happened.”
Despite the second-round 60, Beber-Frankel was still
trailing Canon Claycomb of Bowling Green, Ky. by a shot at the halfway point of
the tournament. Claycomb, who plans to join the Alabama program in January in
time for the spring semester next year, cooled off with a 2-under 68 that left
him two shots behind Beber-Frankel in second place at 16-under 194. Claycomb
finished in a tie for third a year ago at Valhalla.
Andy Mao of Johns Creek, Ga. matched Jackson’s 64 and sits
alone in third place, a shot behind Claycomb at 15-under 195. Mao will join the
program of Atlantic Coast Conference power Georgia Tech later this month.
Jolo Timothy Magcalayo of the Philippines headed a group of
three players tied for fifth at 13-under 197, a shot behind Jackson. Magcalayo,
who tuned up for his national junior campaign with a victory in a Philadelphia
Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Back Creek Golf Club in May, posted a solid
3-under 67.
Joining Magcalayo at 13-under were Jackson Rivera of Rancho
Santa Fe, Calif. and Jack Heath of Charlotte, N.C.
Rivera, who plans to join the Southern California program in
the summer of 2021, fired a 5-under 65 to get it to 13-under. Heath, who plans
to join the Tennessee program in the summer of 2020, cooled off a little after
rounds of 65 and 64 with a 2-under 68.
Austin Barbin of Elkton, Md., winner of the Philadelphia
Boys Junior PGA Championship at The Springhaven Club during a scorching stretch
of golf earlier this summer, carded a solid 1-under 69 and is in the group tied
for 16th at 8-under 202. Barbin will join the Maryland program at the end of this month.
Barbin, who also claimed a win in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s
105th Junior Boys’ Championship at Coatesville Country Club in June,
and Magcalayo both missed a playoff for the final seven spots in match play in
the U.S. Junior Amateur at the Inverness Club by a shot.
Central York senior Carson Bacha, the Class AAA East
Regional winner last fall at Golden Oaks Golf Club, signed for a 1-over 71 to
join the group tied for 66th at 2-over 212. 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 at the
Country Club of St. Albans.
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