Stetson's summer roll carries him into second round of U.S. Junior Amateur at Daniel Island

 

   Episcopal Academy senior Hunter Stetson is having himself a summer.

   Stetson got the early jump on Josh Duangmanee of Fairfax, Va. by winning the first three holes and was way too solid to let that advantage get away as he claimed a 2-up victory in the opening round of match play in the U.S. Junior Amateur Wednesday at the Daniel Island Club’s Ralston Creek Course in Charleston, S.C.

   Stetson, a product of the junior program at Aronimink Golf Club, won the first hole at the 7,367-yard, par-72 Ralston Creek layout with a birdie and then picked up wins at two and three with pars to grab a 3-up lead.

   Duangmanee, who will join the program at Atlantic Coast Conference power Virginia next month, kept fighting back, but Stetson never gave up his lead. When Duangmanee made birdies at the fifth and sixth holes, Stetson matched him to maintain his 3-up advantage.

   Stetson finally made a bogey at the eighth hole and Duangmanee took advantage by winning the hole with a par. But Stetson answered right back with a birdie at the ninth hole to restore his 3-up lead.

   The only other bogey on Stetson’s scorecard came at the 10^th hole, but Duangmanee couldn’t capitalize, making a bogey of his own.

   Duangmanee made a birdie at the 14^th hole to take the hole and cut his deficit to 2-down and creeped within 1-down with a birdie and a win at 17.

   But Stetson showed some toughness with a win at the last with a birdie, his fifth of the day, to earn the 2-up victory. Duangmanee didn’t lose this match, Stetson won it.

   Stetson, who has been one of the Inter-Ac League’s top players the last two falls, earned a second-round date with Tyler Sanford of Montgomery, Texas. All Sanford, a junior at Lake Creek High School, did in his opening-round match was dismantle Ratchanon TK Chantananuwat of Thailand and No. 26 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) with a 6 and 4 victory.

   Sanford has been playing well at Daniel Island as he finished in third place in qualifying for match play, including a 5-under 67 at Ralston Creek in Tuesday’s second round.

   Stetson finished in second place in the Inter-Ac’s individual points race during the six invitationals that make up the league’s regular season last fall. He then finished in third place in the Bert Linton Inter-Ac individual championship at Llanerch Country Club in defense of the Bert Linton crown he won as a sophomore at Bluestone Country Club in the fall of 2021.

   Stetson’s golf game has heated up at just the right time this summer.  He was the runnerup two weeks ago in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, a one-day, 36-hole test against probably the deepest field of junior talent in the region at the Toftrees Resort outside of State College.

   That earned Stetson a trip to next week’s Boys Junior PGA Championship, another of the top national events for juniors which tees off Monday at Hot Springs Country Club in Hot Springs, Ark.

   The Stetson-Sanford match will tee off at 9 a.m. Thursday. The winners of Thursday morning’s second-round matches will then square off in the round of 16 Thursday afternoon. If weather permits, there will only be eight players still standing in the battle for the title by the end of the day Thursday.

   Another impressive winner in Wednesday’s opening round was Will Hartman of Charlotte, N.C. who reached the U.S. Junior Amateur out of a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Chambersburg Country Club.

   Hartman cruised to a 5 and 4 decision over Stanley Lin of Chinese Taipei. That earned him a second-round match with Jay Leng Jr. of San Diego, Calif. Leng advanced to the second round with a 4 and 3 victory over Colin Salema of Matthews, N.C.

   Tommy Morrison, the 6-foot-9 tall Texan who was the qualifying medalist, beat back a tough challenge from Johnnie Clark of Mesa, Ariz. to reach the second round with a 2 and 1 victory.

   Morrison of Dallas graduated high school early and joined the Texas program in January. He was in the lineup for the Longhorns in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. in the spring.

   Clark began his Wednesday by making a par on the ninth hole at the Beresford Creek Course to survive a playoff among 14 players battling for the last seven spots in the match-play bracket. Clark and six other players made pars and the bulky playoff was completed in just one hole.

   Clark made a birdie on the sixth hole to draw even with Morrison. But Morrison finally took control of the match when he won the 11^th, 14^th and 15^th holes, all with birdies, to take a 3-up lead.

   Morrison will take on Chi Chun Chen of Chinese Taipei in Wednesday’s second round. Chen rolled to a 6 and 5 decision over Dylan Burcham of Valencia, Calif. in his opening-round match.