Haverford School's Brown prevails in playoff to capture title in Jock Mackenzie Memorial at Sandy Run

 

   It’s starting to look like The Haverford School is going to have a very good chance to repeat as the Inter-Ac League champion this fall.

   Members of last fall’s Inter-Ac champions have been popping up on Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP), Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour and Pennsylvania Golf Association leaderboards all summer.

   In GAP’s 40^th Jock Mackenzie Memorial July 15^th, one of those Fords, senior Harrison Brown, playing out of Philadelphia Country Club, finished at the top of the leaderboard in the Junior Boys division, capturing the title in a playoff with the hottest GAP junior player of the summer, recent La Salle graduate John Stevenson, playing  out of Sunnybrook Golf Club, and recent Wilmington Friends School graduate Robbie Lohkamp, playing out of DuPont Country Club, after each carded a 2-under-par 70 at Sandy Run Country Club in Oreland.

   Brown’s fellow Ford, junior Sean Curran, playing out of Merion Golf Club, finished among a group of six players that matched par with 72s over the 6,547-yard, par-72 Sandy Run layout and finished in a tie for fifth place in the Jock Mackenzie.

   Another Haverford School senior, J.P. Hoban, playing out of The 1912 Club, finished among the group tied for 49^th place with a 7-over 79.

   Senior Gregor Weissenberger, who captured the Bert Linton Memorial for the Inter-Ac’s individual crown last fall on his home course at Aronimink Golf Club, and sophomore Nicky Nemo, another Merion guy, have also been playing solid golf this summer.

   When Brown teed it up in the Jock Mackenzie three summers ago, it marked the first competitive junior event in which he competed. This summer, Brown was good enough to finish atop a field of nearly 100 of the best junior golfers in the Philadelphia area who gathered at Sandy Run.

   Brown got it to 3-under for his round with back-to-back birdies at the 16^th and 17^th holes before giving a shot back on the final hole when an errant drive led to a bogey.

   Brown’s 2-under 70 left him in a tie with Stevenson, winner of GAP’s other two major championships for juniors this summer, the Junior Boys’ Championship at The Ridge at Back Brook last month and the Christman Cup at Huntingdon Valley Country Club earlier this month, and Lohkamp.

   All three players were long with their approach shots on the first hole of the playoff, the 335-yard, par-4 18^th at Sandy Run, but Brown, to the right of the green, had the best angle at the pin and chipped to four feet. Stevenson couldn’t get a 23-footer for par to fall and Lohkamp couldn’t convert his 15-foot par putt. Brown then buried his four-footer for par to claim the title.

   “I feel like this tournament has shown my progression well over the years from it being my first-ever golf tournament to winning today,” Brown told the GAP website. “I think this course fits my game well. I hit it pretty far off the tee, I know where to miss and I putted well today, so that was helpful.”

   Stevenson did not leave Sandy Run empty-handed as he prepares to join the program at Drexel next month.

   Stevenson won the Harry Hammond Award, which included his scores from qualifying for match play in the GAP Junior Boys (73), the two rounds of the Christman Cup (a pair of 72s) and the 70 he recorded in the Jock Mackenzie. It added up to a 4-over 287 total that was nine shots clear of runnerup Jack Homer, a senior at The Tatnall School who plays out of Wilmington Country Club.

   It capped a couple of remarkable summers on the GAP Junior circuit for Stevenson as he became the first player to repeat as the winner of both the GAP Junior Boys and Christman Cup. And he very nearly completed a sweep of all three of GAP’s major junior championships this summer, coming up just a shot short of that feat with his playoff loss in the Jock Mackenzie.

   La Salle junior John Gavaghan, playing on his home course at Sandy Run, came up just a shot short of joining the playoff as he finished in fourth place with a 1-under 71.

   Homer was one of the five players who joined Merion’s Curran in the tie for fifth place at even-par 72.

   Turned out the Jock Mackenzie was just a tuneup for the Philadelphia Open the next two days at Applebrook Golf Club for Homer and he displayed just how talented the junior players in this region are. Homer was just two shots out of the lead after opening with a 2-under 68 at Applebrook before adding a 4-over 74 in the second round to finish in a tie for 24^th place with a 2-over 142 total.

   Rounding out the group at even-par were Jackson Lane of Riverton Country Club, Ridley High sophomore Declan Conner, who was representing The Skramble House of Golf, Moorestown Field Club’s Brady Crow, and Overbrook Golf Club’s Cole Berry, a junior at West Chester Rustin who was a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall.

   A couple more of the top returning players in the Inter-Ac, Episcopal Academy sophomore Liam Crowley, playing out of Aronimink, and Malvern Prep senior Michael Henry, another Overbrook entry, headed a trio of players tied for 11^th place at 1-over 73.

   They were joined at 1-over by Cedarbrook Country Club’s Nolan Corcoran, Stevenson’s teammate on the La Salle team that was the PIAA Class AAA runnerup last fall. Corcoran has another year left with the Explorers.

   Recent Wilson graduate Kayla Maletto, playing out of Berkshire Country Club, captured the top spot in the Junior Girls division as she carded a solid 9-over 81.

   Maletto, who will join the program at Creighton next month, made birdies on the ninth and 17^th holes and had eight pars on her scorecard. Maletto capped an outstanding scholastic career at Wilson with a sixth-place finish in last fall’s PIAA Class AAA in her third appearance at the state tournament.

   Conestoga sophomore Corinne McReynolds, playing out of Whitford Country Club, was the only other competitor in the Junior Girls division and she finished five shots behind Maletto in second place with an 86. McReynolds was a member of the Pioneers’ District One Class AAA championship team last fall.

   Boosted by an eagle at the 368-yard, par-5 15^th hole, Llanerch Country Club’s William Quartermain claimed top honors in the Junior-Junior Boys division with a 2-over 38.

   Quartermain needed just a 7-iron to cover the 164 yards he had into the 15^th green and he converted his eagle try from 25 feet. He also had five pars on his scorecard, finishing up with three straight pars.

   Henry Sokol of Green Valley Country Club and Jack Metroka of Huntingdon Valley finished in a tie for second place, a shot behind Quartermain, as each posted a 3-over 39.

   Gavin Lane, another member of Riverton’s Team Lane, took fourth place with a 42 and Jack Sokol, the other half of Green Valley’s Sokol twins, and Llanerch’s Ryan Comly finished in a tie for fifth place, each signing for a 43.