Ciocca wins boys title, Yermish falls in playoff for girls crown in Imperial Headwear Junior Classic at DuPont

    I hadn’t checked the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) website in a while, thinking the Imperial Headwear Junior Classic was a little later in August. Turns out it was a couple of weeks ago, but still worth recapping …

   The Imperial Headwear Junior Classic at DuPont Country Club outside of Wilmington, Del. is the local stop on AJGA circuit and a couple of local players, Devon Prep sophomore Nick Ciocca and Lower Merion junior Sydney Yermish, had strong showings in the event, which wrapped up Aug. 5.

   Ciocca, coming off an appearance in the Boys Junior PGA Championship at the Kearney Hills Golf Links in Lexington, Ky., last month, earned his first AJGA victory by an impressive three-shot margin.

   Yermish, who made the cut and played four rounds in last month's Girls Junior PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., lost in a playoff to Brooke Oberparleiter of Jupiter, Fla. for the title.

   And, as always, there were a lot of local players taking their shot in the big leagues of junior golf, some wrapping up their junior careers and others whose junior careers are just starting to take flight.

   Ciocca, a product of the junior program at Aronimink Golf Club, had topped the field in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship in June at Valley Country Club in June for the second straight year. That earned him a ticket to Kearney Hills for the national event, a trip he had been denied by the coronavirus pandemic a year ago.

   Ciocca, a PIAA Class AA qualifier as a freshman last fall, failed to make the cut at Kearney Hills, but he was on top of his game at DuPont.

   He got a share of the lead on the strength of an opening round of 4-under-par 67 on DuPont’s 6,994-yard, par-71 DuPont Course and never looked back, closing with a 1-under 70 for a 7-under 206 total.

   Ciocca’s explosiveness was on display in the opening round as followed up a birdie at the fourth hole with an eagle at the par-5 seventh. He made bogeys at the ninth and 10^th holes, but then finished strong with birdies at 13, 15 and 17.

   Ciocca followed that up with a steady 2-under 69 that featured birdies at the seventh and 11^th holes and 16 pars and gave him a two-shot lead heading into the final round.

   Ciocca got off to a fast start in the final round with back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes. He stumbled a couple of times with three bogeys the rest of the way, but again finished strong, a birdie at the 16^th hole giving him a final-round 70. He had basically dominated a strong field.

   “I had no idea an AJGA win would come this soon,” Ciocca told the AJGA website. “It means so much to me.”

   Runnerup Jack Irons is listed as being from Naples, Fla, but Irons has always spent his summers competing in junior events in the Philadelphia while spending time with family in South Jersey. This summer he took it up a notch by reaching the final of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Cerdabrook Country Club before falling to Temple senior Conor McGrath.

   After opening with a 2-over 73, Irons surged into contention with a sizzling 5-under 66 in the second round that got him within three shots of Ciocca. Irons closed with a 1-under 70 to finish alone in second place with a 4-under 209 total.

   Benjamin Newfield of Arlington, Va., who had surged into contention with a sparkling 6-under 65 in the second round, closed with a 1-over 72 and shared third place with Aryan Vuradi of Brambleton, Va., each landing on 3-under 210. Vuradi had matched Ciocca’s opening-round 67 and added a 72 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Josh Ryan, who was coming off a really strong tie for fourth place in the Pennsylvania Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course, closed with a solid 2-under 69 to finish alone in fifth place with a 1-over 214.

   Ryan, who repeated as the winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship this summer at Overbrook Golf Club, had opened with a 3-under 68, but struggled to a 77 in the second round. Ryan plans to join the program at Division I power Liberty next summer after taking a gap year.

   Jeff Homer, a junior at the Tatnall School playing close to his Wilmington, Del. home, and Logan Paczewski, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Dallas, shared sixth place, each finishing up with a 3-over 216 total.

   Homer, a winner of the Christman Cup, a major junior championship in GAP, at Chester Valley Golf Club last month, bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a 2-under 69 and closed with a 1-under 70. Paczewski, coming off an appearance in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst Village, N.C., got off to a strong start with a 3-under 68 before backing off a little with a 4-over 75 in the second round. He closed with a 2-over 73.

   Henry Stone of Kennett Square, a junior at Tower Hill, bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a 73 in the second round before closing with a solid 1-under 70 to finish in a tie for 15^th place with a 7-over 220 total.

   Jack Tarzy of Medford, N.J., a semifinalist in the GAP Junior Boys at Overbrook, closed with a 1-over 72 to finish in a tie for 18^th place with an 8-over 221 totral. After opening with a 76, Tarzy added a 2-over 73 in the second round.

   Recent Conestoga graduate and Penn State-bound Morgan Lofland and recent Spring Grove graduate Karl Frisk, whom Lofland defeated in a playoff to win the Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ Championship at Hershey Country Club’s East Course earlier this summer, finished in a tie for 20^th place at 222.

   Lofland added a 77 to his opening-round 75 before finally solving the DuPont Course with a 1-under 70 in the final round. Frisk, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, opened with a 1-under 70 and added a 78 in the second round before finishing up with a 74.

   Evan Barbin, the youngest of the golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md., landed in the group tied for 24^th place at 224 as he added a final-round 76 to the pair of 74s he posted in the first two rounds. Barbin joined older brothers Zach and Austin in making the 36-hole cut and playing in the final round of last week’s Pennsylvania Open at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s classic Wissahickon Course.

   Also joining the group at 224 was Zachary Loninger of Crosswicks, N.J. as he closed with a 1-over 72. Loninger had opened with a 77 before adding a 75 in the second round.

   Jeff Homer’s twin brother Matt, who won GAP’s final junior major championship of the summer when he captured the Jock MacKenzie Memorial at Sandy Run County Club, finished in a tie for 30^th place. Matt Homer added a 77 to his opening round of 2-over 73 before closing with a 75.

   Recent Strath Haven graduate Jackson Debusschere finished in the group tied for 34^th place as he closed with a final round of 3-over 74 after registering a pair of 78s in the first two rounds.

   Scott Hughes of Ambler joined Debusschere in the group tied for 34^th place as he sandwiched a 2-over 73 in the second round with a pair of 77s.

   Malvern Prep senior Keller Mulhern finished in a tie for 40^th place as he opened with a 4-over 75 and added a 78 in the second round before finishing up with a 76.

   Patrick Isztwan, a recent Penn Charter graduate who will join the Richmond program this month, finished in a tie for 46^th place at 233. Isztwan, winner of the Bert Linton Memorial Inter-Ac League individual title as a freshman in 2017, struggled to an 80 in the opening round before bouncing back with a 76 and finishing up with a 77.

   Also landing in the group at 233 was Jack Davis of Newtown Square as he also opened with an 80, rebounded with a 75 and closed with a 78.

   Solanco junior Logan Wagner finished alone in 49^th place with a 235 total as he struggled a little after opening with a 3-over 74, adding an 81 in the second round and closing with an 80. Wagner earned a trip to last month’s U.S. Junior Amateur at the Country Club of North Carolina.

   Unionville junior Win Thomas finished in a tie for 50^th place at 236 as he added an 80 to his opening-round 79 before finishing up with his best round of the week, a 7-over 77.

   Wissahickon senior Christian Matt finished alone in 53^rd place at 238 as he bounced back from an opening-round 83 with a 76 in the second round before closing with a 79.

   Matt has had some success in a couple of GAP events before and after the Imperial Headwear, though, as he teamed with his uncle Keith Matt to win the 19^th Deeg Sezna at Merion Golf Club’s West Course before heading for DuPont and then joining up with his dad Ken to capture a title in the Father & Son (Younger) at Bent Creek Country Club the week after the AJGA event.

   Might try to wrap up those two events in one post at some point in the next week or two.

   On the girls side, Yermish, the District One Class AAA champion as a freshman in 2019, had grabbed a one-shot lead heading into the final round as she matched par in the second round with a 71 after opening with a 1-under 70. Yermish was at 1-under 141 after 36 holes.

   Oberparleiter of Jupiter, Fla. had added a 73 to her opening round of 2-under 69 and was Yermish’s closest pursuer at even-par 142. Oberparleiter, however, caught Yermish with a final round of 3-over 74 as Yermish carded a 4-over 75, both landing on 3-over 216. Oberparleiter captured her first AJGA victory on the first hole of a playoff.

   Yermish, who plays out of Rolling Green Golf Club, got off to a solid start in the opening round with birdies at the sixth and ninth holes. She fell back with a bogey at the 11^th hole and a double bogey at 12 before finishing strong with birdies at 13 and 18.

   Yermish was up and down on the outgoing nine at the DuPont Course, which measured 5,925 yards for the girls, in the second round and was 1-over for the round after a double bogey at the sixth hole and a bogey at seven. But Yermish righted the ship by making birdies at the ninth and 11^th holes and then rattling off seven straight pars.

   Yermish made bogeys at the 10^th and 13^th holes to fall back to 4-over the tournament in the final round, but a birdie at the DuPont Course’s finishing hole got her into the playoff with Oberparleiter.

   It was the third top-10 finish in an AJGA event for Yermish, who was denied a chance to defend her District One title last fall when the Central League was unable to put together a district qualifier in time due to shifting coronavirus protocols among the school districts that make up the league.

   Yermish came up short in qualifiers for the U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship and the U.S. Women’s Amateur this summer. She did tee it up in the Girls Junior PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. last month. Yermish survived the 36-hole cut with a pair of 3-over 76s before adding a pair of 78s as she finished in a tie for 65^th place with a 16-over 308 total.

   Helen Young of Clarksville, Md. had matched Oberparleiter’s 2-under 69 and shared the lead after the opening round. She added a 4-over 75 in the second round before closing with a 74 as Young finished alone in third place with a 5-over 218 total, two shots behind the top two.

   Sussex Academy senior Hannah Lydic of Ocean View, Del. closed with a 1-over 72 to gain a share of fourth place with a 6-over 219 total. She also earned low-Lydic honors as younger sister Sarah, a sophomore at Sussex Academy, finished two shots behind Hannah Lydic and was alone in seventh place with an 8-over 221 total.

   Sarah Lydic led her sister through two rounds as she matched par in the second round with a 71 after opening with a 73. Hannah Lydic had opened with a 74 and added a 2-over 73 in the second round and was three shots behind Sarah Lydic. Hannah Lydic’s final-round 72 enabled her to overtake Sarah Lydic, who closed with a 77.

   West Chester East senior Victoria Kim, the reigning PIAA Class AAA champion, and Clare Gimpel, who graduated from Mount St. Joseph earlier this year, finished in a tie for 11^th place, each landing on 15-over 228.

   Kim bounced back from an opening-round 80 with a 1-over 72 before closing with a 76. Gimpel, who helped the Mount capture the 2019 PIAA Class AAA team crown, added a 77 to her opening-round 76 before finishing up with a 75.

   Riley Quartermain, who graduated from Haverford High earlier this year, finished in a tie for 15^th place at 234. Quartermain, who will join the North Carolina program later this month, sandwiched a 3-over 74 in the second round with a pair of 80s.

   Archbishop Wood senior Chaela Barnett finished alone in 19^th place with a 237 total as added a final-round 81 to the pair of 78s she registered in the first two rounds.

   Danielle Higbee of Mickleton, N.J. finished alone in 22^nd place with a 264 total as she added an 87 to her opening-round 85 before finishing up with a 92.