After stumbling a little earlier in the week, Malvern Prep, behind senior Will Aprahamian and freshman Davis Conaway put the finishing touches on an Inter-Ac League championship season for the Friars as they swept to victory in The Haverford School Invitational Thursday at The 1912 Club.
With Aprahamian and Conaway each carding a 2-over-par 37 over The 1912 Club’s par-35 front nine, Malvern Prep posted a team total of 191, two shots clear of Germantown Academy.
Malvern Prep had taken over the top spot in the standings when it won on its home course at Waynesborough Country Club and held on over the final three of the six invitationals that comprise the Inter-Ac’s regular season.
The Friars’ victory at The 1912 Club, their third in the six invitationals, left them with a 25-5 mark. Pretty sure it is Malvern Prep’s first Inter-Ac title since the 2015 team that included Marty McGuckin, Matt Davis and John Updike made a dominant run to the crown.
Germantown Academy made a spirited defense of the Inter-Ac crown it won in 2021, the Patriots keeping the pressure on with a victory in Tuesday’s Springside Chestnut Hill Invitational at Sunnybrook Golf Club, the Patriots’ second invitational victory of the season.
Their victory at Sunnybrook, combined with a runnerup finish in Thursday’s finale at The 1912 Club left the Patriots in second place in the final standings with a 22-8 mark.
Germantown Academy’s talented junior Ajeet Bagga had a big week as he was the individual medalist at a tough Sunnybrook layout Tuesday with a sparkling 2-under 34 and again Thursday at The 1912 Club with an even-par 35.
Those two strong showings enabled Ajeet Bagga to land at the top of the Inter-Ac’s regular-season points standings. The two individual wins gave Ajeet Bagga 494 points as he piled up a 240-28-14 record against the rest of the league during the Inter-Ac’s six regular-season invitationals.
Episcopal Academy junior Hunter Stetson, who will defend his Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual title Wednesday at Llanerch Country Club, stubbornly battled Ajeet Bagga for the regular-season points title. Stetson finished just five points behind Ajeet Bagga in second place with 489 points and a 238-31-13 record against the rest of the league.
Conaway, Malvern Prep’s precocious freshman, and Aprahamian, the Friars’ veteran leader, finished third and fourth, respectively, in the individual points race with Conaway six points behind Stetson with 483 points and Aprahamian another 11 points behind his teammate with 472 points.
Backing up Conaway and Aprahamian at The 1912 Club was junior Marshall Kain, who recorded a 3-over 38. Freshman Thomas Ploszy contributed a solid 4-over 39 and sophomore Michael Henry was the final counter for the Friars with a 5-over 40.
Ajeet Bagga’s even-par 35 helped Germantown Academy finish two shots behind Malvern Prep in second place with a 193 total.
Perennial Inter-Ac power Haverford School finished three shots behind Germantown Academy in third place at The 1912 Club with a 196 total. The Fords were led by sophomore J.P. Hoban, who signed for a 2-over 37.
That left Haverford School in third place in the final standings with a 21-9 record. The Fords’ mark is a little deceiving because they were in the hunt in every Inter-Ac invitational, but couldn’t win one.
Episcopal Academy took fourth place at The 1912 Club with a 204 total behind a 1-over 36 by Stetson. Penn Charter finished in fifth place with a 215 total and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy landed in sixth with a 223 total.
Penn Charter, which owned an invitational win on its home course at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, finished in fourth place in the final standings with a 12-18 mark, Episcopal Academy was fifth with a 10-20 record and Springside Chestnut Hill was sixth with a 0-30 record.
Ajeet Bagga’s 2-under 34 at in the Springside Chestnut Hill Invitational at Huntingdon Valley Tuesday gave Germantown Academy the team win with a 189 total and kept things tight going into Thursday’s finale at The 1912 Club.
Haverford School, behind an even-par 36 from Sean Curran, was the runnerup at Huntingdon Valley with a 200 total, a shot better than Malvern Prep, which finished in third place with a 201 total.
Malvern Prep took a 20-5 record into the final invitational at The 1912 Club with Haverford School and Germantown Academy tied for second place, each with an 18-7. Still, Malvern Prep controlled its destiny and its win at The 1912 Club sealed the deal.
Backing up Ajeet Bagga for the Patriots at Huntingdon Valley was junior Will Irons, who signed for a 1-over 37. Senior Charley Ota and sophomore Kiran Bagga each added a 3-over 39. GA head coach Dave Martin had his pick for his final counter from among senior Serena Bagga, the oldest of the Bagga siblings, junior Daniel Shin and freshman Lucas Albert, each of whom came in with a 40.
In the years since the Inter-Ac moved its season from the spring to the fall and adopted the current invitational format, only Haverford School, Malvern Prep and Episcopal Academy had won the title until Germantown Academy captured the crown a year ago. The Patriots certainly put up a fight in defense of that title.
Malvern Prep was led at Huntingdon Valley by Aprahamian as the senior had two birdies on his way to a 2-over 38. Kain and Henry backed up Aprahamian, each posting a 4-over 40. Junior Shane Powelson added a 41 and sophomore Brody Bell had the final counter for the Friars with a 42.
Episcopal Academy was eight shots behind Malvern Prep in fourth place with a 209. The Churchmen were led by Jack Crowley, who posted a 3-over 39.
Penn Charter finished in fifth place with a 216 total. The Quakers were led by the 3-over 39 carded by eighth-grader Jasper Dittus.
Host Springside Chestnut Hill finished a shot behind Penn Charter in sixth place with a 217 total.
The top 18 finishers in the regular-season points race are automatic qualifiers for Wednesday’s Bert Linton Inter-Ac individual championship at Llanerch, the underrated layout on West Chester Pike in Haverford Township that played host to the 1958 PGA Championship.
Each coach also gets a wild-card pick into the Bert Linton field. The plan is for me to head down to Llanerch and do some live blogging.
Stetson defeated GA’s Irons in a playoff after each carded a 6-over 77 in gusty winds at Bluestone Country Club a year ago.
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