Cleary closes out junior career in style by cruising to victory in AJGA's Imperial Headwear Junior Classic

   It’s been nearly three years since a trio of teen-agers from Wilmington very nearly stole the show in the final edition of the USGA Women’s State Team Championship on The Club at Las Campanas’ Sunrise Course in Santa Fe, N.M.

   They were just kids -- Jennifer Cleary and Esther Park were 16 and Phoebe Brinker was 15 – the youngest team in the field and they finished second, just a shot behind the champion Tennessee.

   Brinker finished second in the overall individual scoring and Cleary finished 14^th. The scores from Park, who will be a sophomore at Georgetown, weren’t counted in the three-count-two format, but a team is a team and I’m quite certain she contributed in ways that good teammates always do.

   And none of them has done anything but get better ever since, the memory of playing that well on a national stage giving them a burst of confidence that has never really gone away.

   While Brinker was finishing in a tie for second place in qualifying for match play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur and winning a match down the road at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md. this week, Cleary was winning the final event of her career as a junior, claiming a five-shot victory in the Imperial Headwear Junior Classic, an American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) stop at DuPont Country Club just outside of Wilmington.

   They had their senior seasons of their scholastic careers, Cleary at Tower Hill and Brinker at  Archmere Academy, taken from them by the coronavirus pandemic this spring. But their futures are bright.

   They will be Atlantic Coast Conference rivals, Cleary at Virginia and Brinker at Duke.

   Tropical Storm Isaias delayed the start of the Imperial Headwear, which has become the local stop on the AJGA circuit. With Tuesday’s round wiped out by Isaias, the field played 36 holes Wednesday.

   And after opening with a 1-under 70 on the DuPont Course, once the home of the LPGA Championship, Cleary unleashed a masterpiece in Wednesday afternoon’s second round, a sparkling 5-under 66 that enabled her to take control of the girls division. It was brutally efficient, five birdies, no bogeys.

   Cleary closed with another solid 1-under 70 in Thursday’s final round for a 7-under 206 total. It was her third AJGA victory, her third top-3 finish in AJGA play in 2020 and her 15^th career AJGA top-10 finish.

   “This is my last (AJGA tourney), so it’s special,” Cleary told the AJGA website.

   Only one other girl in a strong field, Eunice Kim of Edgewater, N.J., was able to finish under par for the tournament. Kim fired a pretty impressive 4-under 67 of her own in Wednesday’s second round to creep within four shots of Cleary. Kim matched par in the final round with a 71 to finish alone in second place at 2-under 211.

   Sue Lee of Lorton, Va. opened the tournament with a bang, a sparkling 5-under 66 and trailed Cleary by three shots after a 2-over 73 in Wednesday afternoon’s second round. A final-round 74 left Lee alone in third place at even-par 213.

   Alexia Stiehl of Fort Mill, S.C. also matched par in the final round with a 71 to finish alone in fourth place at 4-over 217, four shots behind Lee. Elizabeth Tucci of New Market, Md. was another four shots behind Stiehl in fifth place at 8-over 221. Tucci finished up with her second straight 74 after opening with a 73.

   Christina Carroll of Bear, Del., who will join the Delaware program later this month, Episcopal Academy senior Lauren Jones and Emmaus senior Michelle Cox finished in a tie for sixth place, a shot behind Tucci at 9-over 222.

   All three were solid throughout. Carroll opened with a 75 and added a 73 in Wednesday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 74 in posting her highest career AJGA finish.

   Jones, who lost her junior season to the pandemic this spring, opened with a 74 and added a 73 Wednesday afternoon before finishing up with a 75. Jones plays out of Merion Golf Club.

   Cox has been a PIAA Class AAA qualifier each of the last two falls, finishing in fourth place last fall. After rounds of 75 and 76 Wednesday, Cox matched par in Thursday’s final round with a 71.

   It was a nice showing for Lower Merion sophomore Sydney Yermish, the District One Class AAA champion as a freshman last fall. Yermish, an impressive runnerup in the Junior North & South Amateur Girls’ Championship at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina earlier this summer, closed with a 2-over 73 to share ninth place with Katie Dzialga of Greenwich, Conn. and Kaylee Chen of Denver, Colo.

   Yermish opened with rounds of 76 and 74 in Wednesday’s double-round. Dzialga and Chen each closed with a 77.

   Cleary’s Tower Hill teammate, senior Rylie Heflin, finished in 19^th place, closing with an 80 for a 233 total. Heflin, an Avondale resident, plays out of Hartefeld National Golf Club.

   Sawyer Brockstedt, the talented youngster from Rehoboth Beach, Del., ended up a shot behind Heflin in 20^th place at 234, finishing up with her best round of the week, a 4-over 75. Brockstedt was the only Class of 2025 competitor in the field.

   Mount St. Joseph senior Clare Gimpel was three shots behind Brockstedt in 21^st place. Gimpel, who helped the Mount capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown last fall, sandwiched an 81 with a pair of 78s. Gimpel is a product of the junior program at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club.

   Haverford High senior Riley Quartermain was a shot behind Gimpel in 22^nd place with a 238 total. A product of the Llanerch Country Club junior program, Quartermain opened with a solid 75 and added an 80 in Wednesday’s second round before closing with an 83.

   On the boys side, Solomon Petrie of Akron, Ohio birdied the first hole of a playoff to beat Jake Griffin of Kensington, Md. for his first career AJGA victory as the pair both landed on 3-under 210 after the regulation 54 holes.

   Griffin had the lead after firing rounds of 67 and 72 in Wednesday’s double-round for a 3-under 139 total. Petrie, who opened with a 2-under 69 before adding a 1-over 72 in Wednesday’s double-round, caught Griffin with another 2-under 69 while Griffin matched par with a 71.

   Jackson Brimfield of Chapel Hill, N.C. and Ethan Chelf of North Potomac, Md. finished in a tie for third place, each ending up at 1-under 212. Brimfield sandwiched a 1-under 70 in Wednesday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 71s. Chelf, who fired a 3-under 68 in Wednesday afternoon’s second round, closed with a 1-over 72.

   Penn Charter senior Patrick Isztwan finished in a tie for fifth place for the second straight year as he matched par in the final round with a 71 to end up at even-par 213. The Richmond-bound Isztwan, the Inter-Ac League’s best performer during its six regular-season invitationals as a junior last fall, opened with a 1-under 70 before adding a 1-over 72 in Wednesday afternoon’s second round.

   Isztwan, who plays out of Huntingdon Valley Country Club, was joined at 213 by Reed Sweigart of Roswell, Ga. Sweigart was 2-under after adding an even-par 71 to his opening-round 69 before closing with a 2-over 73.

   The next highest local finisher after Isztwan was Conestoga senior Morgan Lofland, who has really made the most of his competitive opportunities this summer. The Class AAA East Regional winner last fall, Lofland added a 1-under 70 to his opening-round 72 before closing with a 74 to finish among the group tied for 10^th place with a 3-over 216 total.

   Karl Frisk, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Spring Grove last fall, finished among the group tied  for 13^th place at 4-over 217 after matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Norristown’s Josh Ryan, who has really had himself a summer, finished in a tie for 18^th place at 6-over 219. Ryan, home-schooled by Commonwealth Connections Academy, captured the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship and the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship.

   Ryan, who won the District One Class AAA crown last fall while representing Norristown High, opened with a solid 1-under 70 and added a 74 in Wednesday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 75.

   Haverford School senior Tyler Zimmer carded his second straight 2-over 73 to get into the top 20, finishing in a tie for 20^th place at 7-over 220. Zimmer was the runnerup to Isztwan in the regular-season individual rankings for the Inter-Ac champion Fords and the runnerup in the Bert Linton Inter-Ac individual championship at Gulph Mills Golf Club last fall.

   Matt Lafond, the Catholic League champion at La Salle as a senior last fall, and West Chester Rustin senior Ryan D’Ariano, who finished in seventh place in last fall’s District One Class AAA Championship, each landed in the group tied for 25^th place at 222 at DuPont.

   Both closed with a 3-over 74 and both had their best showings in Wednesday afternoon’s second round, Lafond matching par with a 71 and D’Ariano carding a 1-over 72.

   Devon Prep senior Ryan McCabe, a top-three finisher in the PIAA Class AA Championship each of the last two falls, got it going in the final round, firing a 3-under 68 that got him in the group tied for 31^st place at 224. McCabe, a Media resident, is a product of the junior program at The Springhaven Club.

   Zimmer’s Haverford School teammate and fellow senior Jake Maddaloni and Jack Hamilton, who, I’m pretty sure, is the Jack Hamilton who was a District One Class AAA qualifier at Radnor as a senior last fall, ended up in a tie for 35^th place at 226.

   Maddaloni, who was third behind Isztwan and Zimmer in the Inter-Ac’s regular-season individual chase last fall, closed with his second straight 4-over 75. Hamilton sandwiched a 78 in Wednesday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 74s.

   Kevin Smith, who led Strath Haven to the first Central League and District One-Class AAA titles in the history of the program last fall, and Devon Prep freshman Nick Ciocca, winner of the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship earlier this summer, were among the group tied for 37^th place at 228.

   Smith, another product of Springhaven’s junior program, closed with his best round of the tournament a 2-over 73. Smith will join the Saint Joseph’s program later this month.

   Ciocca, a product of the Aronimink Golf Club junior program, was solid in Wednesday’s double-round, adding a 75 to his opening-round 74, before closing with a 79. Ciocca had the second-highest finish for a Class of ’24 competitor.

   La Salle senior Corey Haydu, who fell to Ryan in the GAP Junior Boys’ final earlier this summer, finished in the group tied for 39^th place at 229. Haydu, who helped the Explorers finish third in the PIAA Class AAA team chase last fall, sandwiched a 5-over 75 with a pair of 77s.

   Malvern Prep junior Keller Mulhern, Evan Barbin, the youngest of the golfing Barbins of Elkton, Md., and Newtown Square’s Jack Davis finished in a tie for 44^th place at 231.

   Mulhern got a little better each round, adding a 77 to his opening-round 79 before closing with a 75. Barbin, whose big brother Zach won his second GAP major of the summer with a victory in the Patterson Cup the same day the Imperial Headwear concluded, had his best effort in Wednesday afternoon’s second round, a 3-over 74, before closing with an 80.

   Davis struggled in Wednesday afternoon’s second round with an 82, but opened with a 74 and closed with a 75.

   Merion’s John Bradbeer finished in a tie for 47^th place at 232. His best round came Wednesday afternoon, a 4-over 75, and he closed with an 80.

   Unionville senior Roy Anderson took 49^th place at 233. He opened with a solid 75 and added a 78 in Wednesday afternoon’s second round before closing with an 80.

   It was Haverford School’s third straight Inter-Ac crown last fall and Charlie Baker was right in the middle of all three of them. Baker, who finished third in the Bert Linton Inter-Ac individual championship at Gulph Mills, ended up in 50^th place at DuPont at 234. After a pair of 80s in Wednesday’s double-round, Baker closed with a solid 3-over 74.