Episcopal's Stetson claims PAISAA individual title with a 70 at Brookside

    Episcopal Academy junior Hunter Stetson has been right of the top of the list of players in the Inter-Ac League the last two falls.

   A year ago as a sophomore, Stetson captured the Bert Linton Inter-Ac individual crown in a playoff at Bluestone Country Club. He was the runnerup to Germantown Academy’s Ajeet Bagga in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Championship at The Golf Course at Glen Mills.

   Stetson was second behind Bagga this fall in the Inter-Ac’s regular-season individual points race, compiled during the six league invitationals.

   Stetson finished in third place in defense of his Bert Linton title Oct. 26^th at Llanerch Country Club, but he was right in the mix with eventual winner Davis Conaway, a talented Malvern Prep freshman, and Bagga, right to the finish, ending up three shots behind Conaway and two shots behind Bagga, the runnerup.

   Stetson, a product of the junior program at Aronimink Golf Club, turned the tables on Bagga in the PAISAA Championship, held on Halloween at Brookside Country Club in Pottstown. Stetson posted a solid 2-under-par 70 to capture the individual title by a shot over Mercersburg Academy’s Argyle Downes.

   Bagga, also a junior, shared third place with his Germantown Academy teammate Lucas Albert, a freshman, Malvern Prep’s Conaway and The Haverford School’s Sean Curran, each landing on 2-over 74.

   Bagga and Albert led Germantown Academy to a share of first place in the team standings with Curran and the Fords as both teams landed on 228 in the four-count-three format.

   It was the second straight PAISAA team crown for Germantown Academy as the Patriots captured the state private school title outright a year at The Golf Course at Glen Mills.

   Germantown Academy was the runnerup to Malvern Prep in a tight Inter-Ac team race this fall with Haverford School finishing in third place.

   Stetson got off to a slow start to his round as he made a bogey on his first hole in the shotgun start, the fifth at Brookside. But Stetson remained consistent and, when he holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the second hole, it gave him sole possession of first place.

   Stetson two-putted from 40 feet for par after reaching the putting surface on the 186-yard, par-3 fourth hole at Brookside, the final hole of his round, to secure the victory.

   Hill School senior Lucas Steinmetz, playing on the Blues’ home course, quite literally in The Hill’s backyard, shared seventh place in the individual standings with Germantown Academy junior Daniel Shin, each carding a 3-over 75. Shin was competing as an individual and was not part of the team scoring for the Patriots.

   Haverford School’s J.P. Hoban and Shipley’s Grayson Wingerter finished in a tie for ninth place, each signing for a 4-over 76.

   Hoban’s teammate Nicky Nemo, The Hill School’s Terry Shao and Kiski School’s Sebastian Waugaman finished in a tie for 11^th place, each recording a 6-over 78.

   Rounding out the counting scores in the team race for Germantown Academy was senior Charley Ota as he carded an 80 that landed him in a tie for 15^th place. The Patriots were able to toss the 81 posted by junior Will Irons as he finished in a tie for 18^th place.

   Curran’s 74, Hoban’s 76 and Nemo’s 78 were the counting scores that enabled Haverford School to get a share of the team title with GA. The Fords were able to toss the 81 turned in by Rory Nesbitt as he got a share of 18^th place along with Germantown Academy’s Irons.

   The Hill School, behind Steinmetz, finished four shots behind the top two in third place with a 232 total. Episcopal Academy, behind Stetson, was two shots behind The Hill in fourth place with a 234 total.

   Mercersburg Academy took fifth place with a 235 total, Malvern Prep was sixth at 236, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy was seventh at 247, Penn Charter was eighth at 257, Kiski School was ninth at 258 and Shipley finished 10^th at 290.