J.P. Hoban plays out of McCall Golf Club, but after defeating Jax Puskar, 3 and 2, in Thursday’s final to capture the 72nd Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior-Junior Boys’ Championship at West Chester Golf & Country Club, it wasn’t where he plays, it was where he practices and with whom he practices that the 13-year-old Havertown resident wanted to give credit for his victory.
The place is the M-Golf Range & Practice Center, a modest driving range that’s right on West Chester Pike in Newtown Square, but you sort of have to know where it is to find it. It’s owned and operated by my fellow Archbishop Carroll Class of 1973 graduate Mike Owsik.
There’s only one instructor there and that would be Stu Ingraham, who’s been one of the best players among club pros in the country for forever. Not sure the last time I heard Stu, who, I’m pretty sure, turned 60 this year or maybe late last year, rattle off the number of lessons he’s given in his life, but it’s a lot.
And Hoban made it quite clear that if anyone was responsible for the trophy he was holding up, it was Stu Ingraham and the people at M-Golf. I saw the shout-out some of the M-Golf crew gave to Hoban on Twitter as he prepared for the title match, so I wasn’t surprised to hear him mention the range and Ingraham after his win.
“I want to thank my coach of seven years, Stu Ingraham, for everything he’s done for me, including lessons in the pouring rain,” Hoban told the GAP website after he completed his march through the match-play bracket at the nine-hole West Chester layout. “I also want to thank M-Golf for the countless times they left the gate open for me to get some early morning work in.”
The 13-year-old Puskar, a Kennett Square resident who plays out of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club, provided most of the drama in the days leading up to the final. He finished in 13th place in Monday’s qualifying for match play with a 7-over-par 43 over the 2,456-yard, par-36 West Chester layout . You know what they say about match play, once you get in, anything can happen.
Hoban was 1-down to Puskar in the 18-hole final after Puskar won the sixth hole. But Hoban drilled his tee shot at the 150-yard, par-3 seventh hole to five feet and made the birdie try to even the match. And he was on his way.
Hoban reached the 450-yard, par-5 eighth hole in two with a 9-iron and two-putted for birdie to go 1-up. Hoban won the next three holes with pars and parred two more after that to take a commanding 4-up lead with five holes to play.
Puskar, so tough all week in match play, cut his deficit to 3-down by winning the 14th hole, but he ran out of holes at the 16th and the title went to Hoban.
Medalist honors in Monday’s qualifying round went to defending champion Jack Homer, an eighth-grader at Tatnall School who plays out of Wilmington Country Club. All Homer did was birdie the first three holes on his way to a spectacular 4-under 32.
Homer’s clubmate at Wilmington, Fletcher Jones, Mark Heinz of Huntingdon Valley Country Club and Nick Warner of Wyoming Valley Country Club, shared second place, each landing on 1-over 37, five shots behind Homer.
Hoban, Nick Linkchorst of the Golf Course at Glen Mills, Brady Crow of the Moorestown Field Club and Paul Reilly of Hidden Creek Golf Club shared fifth place, each posting a 4-over 40.
Rounding out the top 10 were Evan Gross of Applecross Country Club, Sean Curran of Merion Golf Club and Zach Moua of St. Davids Golf Club, each of whom signed for a 5-over 41 to finish in a tie for ninth place.
Hoban’s toughest test on his way to the final came from Merion’s Curran, a Haverford School student who lost to Homer in the Junior-Junior Boys final a year ago at Flourtown Country Club. Curran had Hoban 1-down heading to the ninth tee in the nine-hole match in Tuesday morning’s opening round, but Hoban won the ninth hole to send the match to extra holes and then won it on the 10th hole to advance to Tuesday afternoon’s quarterfinals.
That earned Hoban a matchup in Tuesday’s afternoon quarterfinals with his cousin, Liam McFadden of Overbrook Golf Club. Trust me, you grow up in Delco, you’re going to run into your cousin on the golf course here or there. Hoban pulled out a 2 and 1 decision over McFadden.
Putting his disappointing qualifying round in the rear-view mirror, Puskar claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Huntingdon Valley’s Heinz in his opening-round match.
Puskar showed a flair for the dramatic in the quarterfinals, holing out from a bunker on the 11th hole of the match, the 376-yard, par-5 second hole, for a walkoff eagle that eliminated Ian Larsen of Honeybook Golf Club.
Larsen is the son of Scott Larsen, the back-to-back Junior-Junior Boys’ champion in 1987 and 1988. I remember Scott Larsen as the best player in the Ches-Mont League at Downingtown when I was covering high school golf at The Mercury in Pottstown.
Homer, meanwhile, was rolling, claiming a 3 and 1 victory over Evan Hawkes of Yardley Country Club in the opening round and a 3 and 2 win over the Golf Course at Glen Mills’ Linkchorst in Tuesday afternoon’s quarterfinals.
It looked like Homer was on his way to the final Wednesday when he grabbed a 2-up lead after four holes of his semifinal match with Puskar, Homer’s teammate on the Delaware I team, based at Hartefeld National Golf Club, that reached the PGA Junior League Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. in 2018. But Puskar rallied to pull out a 1-up decision.
Hoban earned his spot in the final with a 3 and 2 victory over Hidden Creek’s Reilly in Wednesday’s other semifinal match.
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