Michael Deussing of Jericho National Golf Club stuck a 9-iron to six feet and converted the birdie try on the second hole of a playoff to defeat Ben Saggers of Applecross Country Club and claim the title in the 39th Jock MacKenzie Memorial, the final Golf Association of Philadelphia major championship of the summer for junior golfers, July 17th at Sandy Run Country Club.
Deussing, a senior at The Hun School of Princeton, and Saggers, a recent Bishop Shanahan graduate who will be joining head coach Brian Quinn’s Temple program later this summer, both had some adventures on the closing 18th hole at the 6,544-yard, par-72 Sandy Run layout.
Deussing drove it out of bounds on the 337-yard, par-4 finishing hole, but managed to limit the damage to a bogey. Saggers, meanwhile, needed to hole a 30-foot bomb to save par.
Both ended up with a 3-under-par 69 and headed for extra holes. The second playoff hole was the 135-yard, par-3 10th at Sandy Run and Deussing hit it close to capture the crown.
Deussing was going in the wrong direction when he made bogeys at the fourth, fifth and sixth holes. But he got right back on track when his wedge shot from 50 yards away at the 320-yard, par-4 seventh hole found the bottom of the cup for an eagle.
Deussing then reached the putting surface in two at the 537-yard, par-5 eighth hole with a 3-wood and two-putted for birdie. He had just 40 yards left into the 308-yard, par-4 ninth hole, hit it to six feet and converted the birdie try to get it to 2-under for his round.
Deussing made a bogey at the par-3 10th hole, where he would eventually win the championship. Birdies at the 11th, 13th and 17th holes got him to 4-under for his round before he drove it out of bounds at the last, leading to a bogey.
Saggers put together a solid round that featured five birdies and two bogeys to earn himself a spot in the playoff. After making a bogey at third hole, he rattled off birdies six, seven and nine. Saggers made a bogey at the short 10th hole, but birdies at 13 and 16 got him to 3-under before he came up with the big par save at the last.
“I’m happy to come out on top,” Deussing told the GAP website. “I came in here trying to play as well as I can. Even though some of the best GAP (junior competitors) aren’t here, there were a lot of good players in the field. It’s pretty cool (to win).”
It was probably fitting that Wilmington Country Club’s Homer twins, Matt and Jeff, finished in a tie for third place, each carding a 2-under 70 to finish a shot out of the playoff between Deussing and Saggers.
The 70 for Jeff Homer earned him the Harry Hammond Award for the second time. The Harry Hammond Award combines a player’s scores from qualifying for match play in the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship, the 36 holes of the Christman Cup and the Jock MacKenzie.
Jeff Homer also won the Harry Hammond, named for the Philadelphia region’s biggest supporter of junior golf and the co-owner of Penn Oaks Golf Club, in 2021.
Jeff Homer was typically steady all summer with a 73 in qualifying for match play in the GAP Junior Boys at LuLu Country Club and rounds of 71 and 73 in the Christman Cup at Gulph Mills Golf Club to go with the 70 he posted at Sandy Run for a 2-over 287 total.
Deussing’s strong showing at Sandy Run enabled him to earn runnerup honors in the Harry Hammond Award standings with a 4-over 289 total.
Jeff Homer joined a list of two-time Harry Hammond Award winners that includes Ron Robinson (2016, 2017), Cole Berman (2012, 2013) and Billy Stewart (2000-2001).
The Homer brothers, who have been scholastic standouts at the Tatnall School, have been a constant presence on the leaderboards of GAP junior events the last few summers. When Jeff Homer clinched the Harry Hammond Award at the Jock MacKenzie in 2021, it came on the heels of his Christman Cup victory with Matt Homer capturing the title in the Jock MacKenzie that same day at Sandy Run.
The GAP website indicated that Jeff Homer is headed for Delaware, although there is no mention of him playing golf for the Blue Hens and he does not appear on the 2023-2024 Delaware roster.
College golf is a big commitment, but if Patty Post, who just received an extension as the director of golf for both the men’s and women’s programs at Delaware, is looking for reinforcements for her men’s roster, she might find a pretty good player on campus in Newark.
Saucon Valley Country Club’s Evan Eichenlaub, who capped an outstanding scholastic career at Moravian Academy by finishing in fourth place in the PIAA Class AA Championship last fall at Penn State, and North Hills Country Club’s Declan McLane, looks like he’s a junior at St. Joseph’s Prep, finished in a tie for fifth place, each recording a 1-under 71.
There was one more Homer in the top 10 in the Jock MacKenzie as the younger brother of Jeff and Matt, Jack Homer, a junior at Tatnall, headed a group of five players tied for seventh place at even-par 72.
Rounding out the group at even-par were another North Hills guy, Chris Vahey, Honeybrook Golf Club’s Ian Larsen, who will join the program at reigning District One Class AAA champion Downingtown West next month, Connor Matteo of Blue Ridge Trail Golf Club and Brian Cotter of the Legacy Club at Woodcrest.
Sunnybrook Golf Club’s Gabi Courtney was the lone entry in the Junior Girls division and carded a solid 85. Courtney, a recent Mount St. Joseph’s graduate, is headed for The Catholic University of America.
Max Leung of White Manor Country Club captured the title in the Junior-Junior Boys division, carding a 1-over 37 on Sandy Run’s 2,729-yard, par-36 back nine at Sandy Run.
After making bogeys at the 12th and 13th holes, Leung, an eighth-grader at Episcopal Academy, needed just a 9-iron to reach the green at the 368-yard, par-5 15th hole from 135 yards away and holed a 10-foot putt for eagle. A bogey at the 17th hole dropped Leung back to 1-over.
Henry Sokol of Green Valley Country Club’s Team Sokol was the runnerup as he finished four shots behind Leung with a 5-over 41.
Sandy Run’s Nicholas Stampone, using his home-course advantage, finished three shots behind Henry Sokol in third place with a 44. Jack Sokol, the other member of Green Valley’s Team Sokol, was a shot behind Stampone in fourth place with a 45.
Justin Delfidio of Manufacturers Golf & Country Club, John Peyton of Union League National Golf Club, William Quartermain of Llanerch Country Club and Alitya Rege, a GAP Youth on Course entry, finished in a tie for fifth place, each registering a 46.
William Thorkelson, a Philadelphia Junior Tour entry, finished alone in ninth place with a 49.
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