Stevenson keeps running into La Salle teammates as he tries to return to GAP Junior Boys final

 

   John Stevenson went to the 101^st Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) Junior Boys’ Championship at The Ridge at Back Brook in Ringoes, N.J. to defend the title he won a year ago and a La Salle intra-squad match broke out.

   Stevenson, playing out of LuLu Country Club, was a senior on a La Salle team that was the runnerup in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State last fall.

   As the defending champion, Stevenson was awarded the top seed in the championship flight and who did he draw in the opening round of match play Tuesday morning but La Salle teammate Ethan Martin, who was also a senior and represented the Explorers in the state Class AAA team competition last fall.

   Stevenson, clearly comfortable in match play, eased past Martin, playing out of Talamore Country Club, 5 and 3, to advance to Tuesday afternoon’s quarterfinals. Stevenson will be joining head coach Ben Feld’s Drexel program at the end of the summer. Martin will play his college golf at West Chester.

   It wasn’t a fellow Explorer Stevenson faced in the quarterfinals, but a familiar Catholic League foe in St. Joseph’s Prep senior Aidan Farkas, a product of the junior program at Llanerch Country Club. Farkas, the Catholic League individual champion last fall, finished in seventh place in the PIAA Class AAA individual chase last fall at Penn State.

   As you would expect, it was a tight, tense battle in the second match of the day in some withering heat for the Catholic League rivals with Stevenson rallying late to claim a 1-up victory and advance to Wednesday morning’s semifinals.

    Stevenson gained wins at the third, fourth and fifth holes to turn an early 1-down deficit into a 2-up lead. But Farkas patiently chipped away, getting wins at the eighth, 12^th and 14^th holes to take a 1-up lead with four holes to play.

   But Stevenson had one more burst left as he picked up back-to-back wins at the 16^th and 17^th holes and got a half at the finishing hole at the Tom Fazio-designed 6,555-yard, par-71 Ridge at Back Brook layout to pull out the victory.

   At the 418-yard, par-4 16^th hole, Stevenson’s 9-iron from 140 yards finished 10 feet from the cup and his two-putt par gave him the win as Farkas’ approach left him short and resulted in a bogey,

   At the 175-yard, par-3 17^th hole, Stevenson knocked a 7-iron 15 feet from the hole in the fringe. He blew his first putt 10 feet past the hole, but made the clutch comebacker for par while Farkas’ par putt lipped out enabling Stevenson to take a 1-up advantage to the 18^th tee.

   So who does Stevenson draw in Wednesday morning’s semifinals as he bids for a return trip to the GAP Junior Boys final for the second straight June? Well, the third recent La Salle graduate to make the match-play bracket at The Ridge at Back Brook, North Hills Country Club’s Sebastian Botero, of course.

   Botero claimed a 2 and 1 decision over Malvern Prep senior Michael Henry, playing out of Overbrook Golf Club, in another quarterfinal match.

   Botero had to go to the 18^th hole in the round of 16 to pull out a 2-up victory over recent Archmere Academy graduate Jake Lairdieson, playing out of The Springhaven Club. Lairdieson helped the Auks capture the state team crown at the Delaware Championships last month at Maple Dale Country Club.

   Henry, the runnerup in the Bert Linton Invitational, the Inter-Ac League’s individual championship, last fall at Aronimink Golf Club, survived a tough test in the opening round against fellow Overbrook member Lannon Boyd, a co-medalist in the Central League Championship as a sophomore at Radnor last fall. The pair battled to extra holes before Henry won the match on the 20^th hole.

   On the other side of the bracket, Saucon Valley Country Club’s Thomas Young, the medalist in Monday’s qualifying for match play with a sparkling 2-under 69, reached the semifinals with a hard-fought 2-up victory over Philadelphia Country Club’s Harrison Brown, a junior on The Haverford School’s Inter-Ac League championship team last fall.

   Young avoided being an upset victim in Tuesday morning’s opening round when he pulled out a victory over North Hills Country Club’s Declan McLane, a junior at St. Joseph’s Prep, on the 20^th hole.

   Young’s semifinal opponent will be Noah Wallace of Chesapeake Bay Golf Club as Wallace, a recent Northeast High graduate, claimed a 1-up decision over Kennett Square Golf & Country Club’s Grant Burkhart of Salesianum.

   Wallace reached the quarterfinals by rolling to a 6 and 4 victory over Saucon Valley’s Colin McAskin in Tuesday morning’s opening round.

   It is a testament to the depth of junior talent in the Philadelphia region that Tatnall School senior Jack Homer will be playing in the First Flight semifinals Wednesday morning.

   Homer, who lost in a playoff for the individual title in the Delaware Championships last month at Maple Dale, was one of the two players who was unable to survive a playoff among five players for the final two spots in the match-play bracket, despite carding a solid 4-over 75.

   Homer, playing out of Wilmington Country Club, earned a 2 and 1 victory over White Manor Country Club’s Eamon Cochran in a First Flight quarterfinal match Tuesday afternoon.

   Homer’s semifinal opponent will be Honeybrook Golf Club’s Ian Larsen, who’s coming off a solid freshman season at Downingtown West last fall. Larsen was also a 2 and 1 winner over Rolling Green Golf Club’s Eddie Gephardt in his quarterfinal match.

   Watched Fieldstone Golf Club’s Davis Conaway capture the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac’s individual crown as a freshman at Malvern Prep in the fall of 2022. He finished in a tie for third place in the Bert Linton as a sophomore at Aronimink last fall. The kid’s got game.

   But Conaway, too, will be involved in a First Flight semifinal Wednesday morning after he cruised to a 5 and 4 victory over Anthony Proud, a GAP Youth on Course entry, in a quarterfinal match.

   Conaway’s semifinal opponent will be Ridley sophomore Declan Conner, who is representing The Skramble House of Golf. Conner captured a 4 and 3 victory over Central League rival Brad McDermott, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore at Radnor last fall. McDermott is playing out of Aronimink.