John Stevenson used his home-course advantage to the fullest Thursday as he cruised to the title in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 109th Junior Boys’ Championship at the Donald Ross gem that is LuLu Country Club.
The 17-year-old Stevenson, who will be a senior on the golf team for perennial Catholic League power La Salle, grabbed an early lead and rolled to a 4 and 3 decision in the final match Thursday afternoon over Saucon Valley Country Club’s Winston Kelenc-Blank to put his name on the Peg Burnett Trophy.
Earlier in the day, Stevenson was equally impressive in a 7 and 6 victory over Jericho National Golf Club’s Michael Deussing in the semifinals.
“It feels great,” Stevenson, an Ambler resident, told the GAP website. “Even just to make it through to match play and to make it to the final is just amazing. Last year, I didn’t even make it to match play. It’s a different story this year.”
Stevenson jumped out to a 3-up lead with wins at the first, fourth and fifth holes, although he pointed to a par save at the third hole when he was forced to lay up after his drive found a fairway bunker as an early turning point in the title match.
The 18-year-old Kelenc-Blank, a Rumson, N.J. resident who will join the program at Lafayette later this summer, cut his deficit to 2-down by winning the sixth hole, but Stevenson spurted away again with wins at seven, eight and nine to expand his lead to 5-up.
Kelenc-Blank bounced back with back-to-backs wins at the 10th and 11th holes that cut the deficit to 3-down.
But Stevenson maintained his advantage by grinding out halves on the next three holes. When Kelenc-Blank was bunkered with little green to work with at the par-3 15th hole, Stevenson’s two-putt par was good enough for the win that sealed his 4 and 3 victory.
Stevenson was the low man for La Salle as the Explorers finished in fourth place in the PIAA Class AAA team competition last fall at Penn State.
Stevenson’s semifinal opponent, the 17-year-old Deussing, is a Solebury resident who will be a senior The Hun School of Princeton in the fall.
Kelenc-Blank cruised into the final with a 6 and 5 victory in the semifinals over Spring Ford Country Club’s Jaden Minter. Minter, a recent Spring-Ford High graduate, was the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s individual champion last fall while helping the Rams claim the PAC team crown for the second straight season.
The Central League’s individual champion, recent Conestoga graduate Kyle Mauro, playing out of Waynesborough Country Club, edged Wilmington Country Club’s Matt Homer in 19 holes to claim the title in the first flight.
Homer, a recent Tatnall School graduate who had been to the semifinals of the GAP Junior Boys the last two summers, sent the match to extra holes by winning the 18th hole to even the match. But the 18-year-old Mauro bounced back to take the 19th hole and win the match.
Mauro had reached the first-flight final with a 3 and 2 victory over Philadelphia Country Club’s Harrison Brown, a junior on the golf team at Inter-Ac League power Haverford School. Homer claimed a 4 and 3 victory over Penn Oaks Golf Club’s Eli Shah, a recent Penncrest graduate who was a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in each of the last two falls, in the other first-flight semifinal.
No comments:
Post a Comment