Mulhern's consistency earns him a semifinal showdown with Ryan in GAP Junior Boys at Bala

    Keller Mulhern was the best player during the Inter-Ac League’s six regular-season invitationals during his senior season at Malvern Prep last fall.

   The league measures every player against the rest of the league during the six nine-hole mini-tournaments. The player who leads the individual standings at the end of the regular season is the one who is the most consistent against as good a scholastic golf league as you’ll find anywhere in Pennsylvania. Last fall that player was Mulhern.

   It was the same kind of consistency that enabled Mulhern to win a pair of matches in the 108^th Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys’ Championship Tuesday and earn a date in the semifinals Wednesday morning with The 1912 Club’s Josh Ryan, the co-medalist in qualifying for match play and the two-time defending champion.

   In Tuesday afternoon’s quarterfinals, Mulhern, playing out of Whitford Country Club, grinded out a 2-up decision over Christian Deussing of Jericho National Golf Club.

   Deussing had survived the match of the day earlier Tuesday when he pulled out a 1-up victory over Wilmington Country Club’s Anthony Ciconte, a recent graduate of the Tatnall School, in the opening round.

   It looked like Ciconte was going to take a 2-up lead when he stiffed a sand wedge to three feet at the little 97-yard 16^th hole. But Deussing had the answer as his sand wedge found the bottom of the cup for his first career hole-in-one. More importantly, it evened the match.

   The two made matching birdies at the 17^th hole to send the match to the 362-yard, par-4 finishing hole at Bala all even. A poor approach sealed Ciconte’s fate, but Deussing put the finishing touch on a remarkable eagle-birdie-birdie finish by holing his 40-foot birdie putt.

   Mulhern had a little easier time in advancing out of Tuesday morning’s opening round with a 4 and 2 verdict over Lake-Lehman sophomore Michael Lugiano, playing out of Huntsville Golf Club. Then Mulhern tasked with trying to cool off Deussing.

   Mulhern put a nose in front against Deussing when the Saint Joseph’s recruit lofted a lob wedge from 86 yards away at the 12^th hole to six feet and converted the birdie try to take a 1-up lead. Mulhern drained a tough 10-foot slider for par on the short, par-3 16^th hole to maintain his 1-up lead.

   When Mulhern’s chip shot at Bala’s closing hole stopped in gimme range, it gave him a par that secured a hard-fought 2-up victory.

   “I just got to play my game,” Mulhern said as he looked forward to his semifinal showdown with Ryan. “I’ve got to stick with my game plan I set so far. I know where the good results happen. If you can put as many wedges in your hand as possible, good things happen.”

   Ryan, who finished in a tie for fourth place in last summer’s Pennsylvania Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s iconic East Course, reached the semifinals with a 2 and 1 victory over Mulhern’s future teammate at St. Joe’s, Matthew Zerfass, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Emmaus who was playing out of Brookside Country Club in Allentown.

   Ryan’s day began with a 3 and 2 victory over Penncrest senior Eli Shah, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall who was playing out of Penn Oaks Golf Club.

   Wilmington Country Club’s Matt Homer, a Tatnall School senior, rallied from 4-down with five holes to play to edge Llanerch Country Club’s Aidan Farkas on the 19^th hole to reach the semifinals.

   Homer fell to Ryan in last year’s GAP Junior Boys semifinals at Overbrook Golf Club and kept alive his hopes of a possible meeting in the final with Ryan this year. Homer went on last summer to capture a victory in another of GAP’s major junior events, the Jock MacKenzie Memorial at Sandy Run Country Club.

   Homer rattled off wins at the 14^th, 15^th, 16^th and 17^th holes to draw even with Farkas and then rammed home a four-footer for par at the closing hole to send the match to an extra hole. Homer hit a wedge from 42 yards away at the 336-yard, par-4 first hole to three feet and made the birdie putt to put the finishing touch on his remarkable comeback.

   Homer began his day with a 4 and 3 decision over Seiji Sako of McCall Golf Club in an opening-round match.

   Homer’s semifinal opponent will be Merion Golf Club’s Nathan Guertler, a Merchantville, N.J. resident.

   Guertler knocked off Huntsville’s Nick Werner, who had shared medalist honors with Ryan in qualifying for match play, 2 and 1, in their quarterfinal match. Werner finished in a tie for sixth place in the PIAA Class AA Championship as a freshman at Wyoming Seminary last fall.

   Guertler reached the quarterfinals with a 4 and 3 win over Laurel Creek Country Club’s Carson Thompson in the opening round.

   Commonwealth National Golf Club’s Kevin Lydon, a recent Central Bucks West graduate, reached the quarterfinals of last week’s BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Philadelphia Country Club, but had to settle for a spot in the first flight in the GAP Junior Boys at Bala. Such is the level of competition in the junior ranks these days.

   In a meeting of PIAA Class AAA qualifiers from last fall, Lydon claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Penn Oaks’ Ryan D’Ariano to reach the first flight semifinals. D’Ariano is a recent West Chester Rustin graduate.

   Lydon will meet Little Mill Country Club’s Jack Orr in the semifinals as Orr cruised to a 5 and 4 decision over John Curran of Chester Valley Golf Club in another First Flight quarterfinal.

   Ethan Martin, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore at La Salle last fall playing as a GAP Youth on Course entry, pulled out a 1-up victory over The Springhaven Club’s Tyler Debusschere in another first flight quarterfinal.

   Martin has been the hottest player on the Philadelphia Section PGA’s Junior Tour with several recent victories, including a two-day event at Hickory Valley Golf Club in which he was the overall winner against a field that included a lot of older junior players. Debusschere, a senior at Strath Haven, helped the Panthers claim the Central League title last fall.

   Martin’s semifinal opponent in the first flight is Carlisle Country Club’s James Ulsh, a PIAA Class AA qualifier for Trinity last fall. Ulsh edged La Salle senior Kevin Lafond, playing out of Blue Bell Country Club, 2 and 1, in another quarterfinal match. Lafond helped the Explorers win the Catholic League and District 12 Class AAA crowns and finish in third place in the PIAA Class AAA team chase last fall.