Conestoga senior Morgan Lofland has certainly had his
moments on the golf course this spring and summer.
Lofland, who finished ninth in the PIAA Class AAA
Championship to cap his junior season last fall, won a 36-hole Precision Pro
Golf Open event on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour at Hickory Valley
Golf Club, was the runnerup in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at
Bellewood Country Club and fired a brilliant 6-under-par 64 at The 1912 Club to
claim medalist honors in qualifying for match play in the Golf Association of
Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship.
Lofland celebrated the Fourth of July by firing a 59 in two
tours around his home course, the challenging nine-hole layout at Phoenixville
Country Club.
But maybe setting a tournament record with a 6-under 66
Monday at Sandy Run Country Club that gave him a three-shot victory in the Jock
MacKenzie Memorial, a GAP junior major, was the best moment of all.
Lofland had to be at his best as he stared down playing
partner Josh Ryan, who was coming off a remarkable victory in last week’s R.
Jay Sigel Match Play Championship at the Country Club of York. Lofland’s been
working hard on his game and he’s seeing his efforts paying dividends.
“I’m working every single day,” Lofland told the GAP
website. “I try not to take days off unless it’s necessary. My ball-striking is
where it needs to be today.”
Recent St. Joseph’s Prep graduate Joey Morganti, who will
join Brian Quinn’s Temple program this season, birdied three of the last four
holes to sneak past Ryan into second place with a 3-under 69. Morganti is a
product of junior program at Llanerch Country Club.
Ryan, who is playing out of The 1912 Club, where he won
GAP’s Junior Boys’ crown last month, was a shot behind Morganti in third place
with a solid 2-under 70. Ryan is home-schooled through Commonwealth Connections
Academy, but represents Norristown High on the golf course. He won the District
One Class AAA Championship and finished in a tie for third place in the PIAA
Class AAA Championship as a junior last fall.
Lofland didn’t get off to a great start as he missed the
green at the par-3 second hole and made bogey. He got that shot back when his
approach from a bunker at the 331-yard, par-4 fourth hole left him with a
tap-in for birdie.
Lofland was just trying to keep up with Ryan when both
players rattled off three straight birdies at the seventh, eighth and ninth
holes.
Lofland drove the green at the 331-yard, par-4 seventh hole
and just missed for eagle from 15 feet. He nearly reached the 551-yard, par-5
eighth green in two, chipping for four feet and converting that birdie putt. A
wedge to 12 feet at the 308-yard, par-4 ninth hole resulted in a third straight
birdie.
When Lofland drove it poorly at the par-5 11th
hole and made bogey, he was still trailing Ryan by two shots. But that all
changed in the homestretch as two-shot swings between the two at both 13 and 14
suddenly put Lofland in control.
Lofland knocked a pitching wedge to 17 feet at the 369-yard,
par-4 13th hole and converted the birdie try and, again with the
pitching wedge in his hands from 145 yards out, stuck his approach at the
425-yard, par-4 14th hole to a foot. Ryan missed the green and made
bogey on both holes.
After reaching the green in two at the par-5 15th
hole and two-putting for a third straight birdie, Lofland finished things off
with a flourish as he holed out from 60 yards away with a 60-degree wedge at
the 368-yard, par-4 17th hole for an eagle.
The Jock MacKenzie is always played at Sandy Run in honor of
the man who was the club’s head pro for more than three decades. Penn Oaks Golf
Club’s Kevin Huntingdon had established the Jock MacKenzie record with a
4-under 68 in 2006.
Two of the three players who finished in a tie for fourth
place at 1-under 71, Haverford School teammates Jake Maddaloni and Charlie
Baker, were the main combatants in the battle for the Harry Hammond Award,
which puts together scores from GAP Junior Boys’ qualifying, the Christman Cup,
which was shortened from 36 to 18 holes this year due to coronavirus
considerations, and the Jock MacKenzie.
Maddaloni, a Bucknell recruit who still has his senior season
on Lancaster Avenue ahead of him, carried a two-shot lead over Baker into the
Jock MacKenzie and his 71, which included birdies at the 15th and 16th
holes, nailed down the Harry Hammond Award as he finished with a 2-under 212
total.
Maddaloni, a product of the junior program at Aronimink Golf
Club, had carded a 1-over 71 at The 1912 Club in the GAP Junior Boys’ qualifier
and added a 1-under 70 at LuLu Country Club in a runnerup finish in the
Christman Cup.
Baker, who plays out of Merion Golf Club, was a key player
in three straight Inter-Ac League championships for The Haverford School. Baker
matched Maddaloni’s 71 at The 1912 Club, but fell behind his fellow Ford with a
1-over 72 at LuLu.
If you’re wondering why Haverford School has dominated an
Inter-Ac League that is so strong on the golf course, Maddaloni and Baker are
two big reasons for the Fords’ recent success.
Rounding out the trio tied for fourth place at 1-under was RiverCrest
Golf Club & Preserve’s Conrad Benford, a recent Owen J. Roberts graduate.
Benford was a Class AAA East Regional qualifier as a senior last fall.
Green Valley Country Club’s Andrew Wallace, who reached the
PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of his last two seasons at Harriton, headed
a group of three players tied for seventh place at even-par 72.
He was joined at that figure by Loch Nairn Golf Club’s Evan
Barbin, the youngest of the golfing Barbins of Elkton, Md., and Cardinal
O’Hara’s Thomas Larkin, who plays out of Paxon Hollow Country Club.
Golden Oaks Golf Club’s Elijah Ruppert, who finished in a
tie for third place in the PIAA Class AA Championship as a junior at Brandywine
Heights last fall, was part of a threesome that rounded out the top 10, landing
in a tie for 10th place at 1-over 73.
Ruppert’s 73 was matched by Commonwealth National Golf
Club’s Kevin Lydon, who shared fourth place in the District One Class AAA
Championship with Wallace as a sophomore at Central Bucks West last fall, and
Wilmington Country Club’s Jeffrey Homer, a sophomore at the Tatnall School.
Bent Creek Country Club’s Connor Strine, a PIAA Class AAA
qualifier as a junior at Manheim Township last fall, RiverCrest’s Luke Watson,
a Spring-Ford senior, and Applecross Country Club’s Evan Drummond finished in a
tie for 13th place, each signing for a 2-over 74.
Manufacturers Golf & Country Club’s Steve Lorenzo, who
wrapped up his scholastic career at La Salle last fall by helping the Explorers
finish third in the PIAA Class AAA team chase, and The Springhaven Club’s Tyler
Debusschere, who helped Strath Haven win the first Central League title in
program history as a freshman last fall, shared 16th place, each
posting a 3-over 75.
Blue Bell Country Club’s Matt Lafond, a teammate of
Lorenzo’s at La Salle and the Catholic League individual champion, headed a group
of four players who rounded out the top 20, finishing in a tie for 18th
place at 4-over 76.
Henry Pilliod, a GAP Youth on Course entry who was a PIAA
Class AAA qualifier as a senior at Berks Catholic last fall, was also in the
group at 4-over.
Rounding out the quartet tied for 18th place were
Philadelphia Country Club’s David Fitzgerald, a teammate of Wallace’s at
Harriton, and another Manufacturers entry, Ajeet Bagga, who, I’m pretty sure,
will be joining the Germantown Academy program this fall.
Whitemarsh Valley Country Club’s Clare Gimpel, a member of
Mount St. Joseph’s PIAA Class AAA championship team as a junior last fall,
edged Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Molly Gregor by a shot to claim top
honors in the Junior Girls’ Division over a Sandy Run layout that measured
5,579 yards for the girls.
Gimpel carded a solid 85 while Gregor was right on her heels
with an 86. Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Nora Blatney finished in third place
with a 91.
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