Stetson gets off to strong start with a 70 in opening round of U.S. Junior Amateur at Daniel Island

 

   Episcopal Academy senior Hunter Stetson, a product of the junior program at Aronimink Golf Club, continued his strong play this summer by carding a 1-under-par 70 at the Daniel Island Club’s Beresford Creek Course in Charleston, S.C. in Monday’s opening round of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.

   Stetson has been one of the top players in the Inter-Ac League the last couple of falls, winning the crown in the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual championship as a sophomore at Bluestone Country Club in the fall of 2021 and finishing third in the Bert Linton last fall at Llanerch Country Club.

   Two weeks ago, Stetson was the runnerup in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, a one-day 36-hole test at the Toftrees Golf Resort outside of State College. That finish also punched Stetson’s ticket to the Boys Junior PGA Championship, another major national junior event which tees off next Monday at the Hot Springs Country Club in Hot Springs, Ark.

   Three days after his runnerup finish at Toftrees, Stetson was the runnerup in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 24^th Christman Cup, one of GAP’s major junior championships. It was another one day, 36-hole test at Gulph Mills Golf Club, the Donald Ross classic in King of Prussia.

   The golf courses were tough enough, but both double rounds were played with the July heat and humidity turned up on high.

   Stetson, who earned his spot in the U.S. Junior Amateur at a GAP-administered local qualifier at the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve, turned his round around on the outgoing nine, his second nine of the day, on the 7,039-yard, par-71 Beresford Creek Course, which appeared to be the slightly less tougher of the two qualifying sites at Daniel Island.

   Starting off the 10^th tee, Stetson made bogeys at the 11^th, 14^th and 16^th holes before making the turn to the front side. Stetson proceeded to make a birdie at the second hole and then rattled off three straight birdies at six, seven and eight to end up in a large group tied for 26^th place.

   Stetson will get his shot at the 7,367-yard, par-71 Ralston Creek Course in Tuesday’s second round. The top 64 finishers after two rounds of stroke play will make the match-play bracket with matches getting under way Wednesday morning.

   Downingtown West senior Nick Gross, the PIAA Class AAA champion as a sophomore in 2021 at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County, struggled a little in his opening round, posting a 4-over 75 at the Beresford Creek Course and was in a group tied for 142^nd place.

   A year ago, Gross began a summer surge in the U.S. Junior Amateur at the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon, earning a spot in the match-play bracket and winning a match before falling in the second round.

   A month later the kid, still not quite 16, stunned the amateur golf world by reaching the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J.

   Gross teed it up in a couple of Elite Amateur Series events against the top amateur players in the world in June.

   He missed the 54-hole cut in the Sunnehanna Amateur at Sunnehanna Golf Club, the A.W. Tillinghast classic in Johnstown, with a 3-over 213 total and played all four rounds in the Northeast Amateur Invitational at Wannamoisett Country Club, the Donald Ross jewel in Rumford, R.I., finishing in 60^th place with a 12-over 288 total.

   Starting off the 10^th tee at the Beresford Creek Course, Gross opened with a birdie, but it would be his only birdie of the day. He made bogeys at the 15^th, 16^th, second, sixth and seventh holes to fall back to 4-over.

   Gross has some work to do Tuesday at the Ralston Creek Course, but he’s put himself in plenty of high-leverage situations in the last few years.

   Joining Gross at 4-over was Penn-Trafford senior Nick Turowski, although his 4-over was a 76 at the Ralston Creek Course.

   Turowski, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, punched his ticket to the U.S. Junior Amateur in a qualifier at the Avalon Field Club in Newcastle. Turowski finished in a tie for sixth place in last month’s Pennsylvania Golf Association Junior Boys’ Championship at Hershey Country Club’s East Course.

   Caden Blanchette, a senior at Northeastern High in Manchester, York County, landed in the group tied for 186^th place with a 6-over 78 at the Ralston Creek Course. Blanchette, who finished in a tie for fourth place in the Pennsylvania Junior Boys at Hershey East, was the medalist in a GAP-administered qualifier at Chambersburg Country Club.

   Joshua Bai of New Zealand and Andrew Gregory, a native South Carolinian from Spartanburg, were tied at the top of the leaderboard at 6-under as each carded a 66 at the par-72 Ralston Creek Course. Gregory will join the program at ASUN champion Liberty later this summer.

   Carson Kim of Yorba Linda, Calif., Tommy Morrison of Dallas, Texas and Will Hartman of Charlotte, N.C. also shot 66s, but they came at the par-71 Beresford Creek Course and left them in a tie for third place at 5-under.

   Kim recently signed a letter of intent to join the program at Atlantic Coast Conference power Georgia Tech later this summer. Morrison is coming off a solid freshman season with Big 12 power Texas as he helped the Longhorns reach the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. in May.

   Hartman, a Class of 2025 competitor, also emerged from the GAP-administered qualifier at Chambersburg.