Strath Haven's Kleinschmidt takes medalist honors in qualifying for match play in GAP Junior Boys' Championship

 

   Luca Kleinschmidt, coming off a junior season at Strath Haven during which he earned a trip to the District One Class AAA Championship, claimed medalist honors in qualifying for match play in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 111^th Junior Boys’ Championship Monday at Merion Golf Club’s West Course with a solid 1-under-par 69.

   Kleinschmidt, playing out of The Springhaven Club, finished a shot ahead of Merion’s own Sean Curran, arguably the best scholastic golfer in the region during his junior season at The Haverford School last fall.

   As a Merion looper once upon a time, I got to play the West on Mondays. It’s a neat course, although I suspect it’s a little short at 5,856 yards for the way these kids hit the ball these days. Looks like it held up pretty good on a dreary day for golf.

   Kleinschmidt got off to slow start as he opened his round at the par-4 12^th hole. Much like its more famous sister a couple of miles up Ardmore Avenue, Merion’s iconic East Course, the ninth green finishes nowhere near the clubhouse, so the 12^th tee was the logical alternate starting point.

   With the greens running a little slower than he expected, Kleinschmidt made a couple of three-putt bogeys at the 12^th and 14^th holes. He overpowered the par-5 16^th hole for a birdie, then got it going on the front side at the West.

   He was a little more familiar with the front since Strath Haven has played Central League rival Haverford High at the West with only the first nine holes needed for a scholastic match.

   After draining a 20-foot birdie putt at the short, par-4 first hole, Kleinschmidt stiffed a 5-wood from 240 yards away at the par-5 third hole to two feet for an easy eagle. He made a bogey at the tough par-4 fifth hole, but bounced back with birdies at the short par-4 eighth and at the ninth.

   That gave Kleinschmidt a 4-under 31 on the West’s outgoing nine and had him at 3-under for his round with two holes to go.

   Kleinschmidt flew the green with his approach at the par-4 11^th hole, which has always been one of the more challenging holes at the West, and the resulting double bogey dropped him back to 1-under.

   Still, he was the only player in the field to finish in red figures.

   KIeinschmidt’s opening-round opponent in match play Tuesday morning will be Springhaven clubmate Jason DiRita, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Archbishop Carroll last fall by finishing in a tie for ninth place in the PIAA Class AA Championship.

   There were eight players involved in a playoff for the final six spots in the championship flight match-play bracket and DiRita was one of the survivors.

   Such was the level of competition for the coveted 16 spots in the match-play bracket that a couple of guys who shot 3-over 73, LedgeRock Golf Club’s Nathan Radwanski, who wrapped up his scholastic career by finishing in a tie for fifth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Governor Mifflin, and Williamsport Country Club phenom Logan McGinn, were playoff casualties and were bumped into the first flight.

   Those round-of-16 matches are under way as I wrap up this post Tuesday morning. Pretty sure the winners will turn right around and play quarterfinal matches in the afternoon.

   After leading Haverford School to the Inter-Ac League team crown last fall, Curran captured the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac individual championship with a 5-under 67 at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club and followed that up a week later by claiming the individual title in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Championship with another sparkling 5-under 67 at Radley Run Country Club.

   It was a little bit of a bumpy ride on the front nine for Curran at Merion West, a course I’m sure he’s quite familiar with, as, after making a birdie at the par-5 third hole, he made back-to-back bogeys at four and five. Curran made a birdie at the short par-4 eight hole before closing out the front with a bogey at nine as he made the turn at 1-over.

   Curran, however, was in complete control on the incoming nine with a birdie at the par-5 16^th hole and eight pars as he matched par with a 70.

   Curran’s opening-round opponent in match play will be Saucon Valley Country Club’s Colin McAskin, who is coming off a solid freshman season at Blair Academy. McAskin was another of the survivors of the 8-for-6 playoff after he posted a 3-over 73.

   Nicky Nemo, Curran’s teammate on Haverford School’s Inter-Ac championship team and a Merion clubmate, and Overbrook Golf Club’s Lannon Boyd, a senior at Radnor who will be one of the Central League's top returning players this fall, finished a shot behind Curran in a tie for third place, each recording a 1-over 71.

   The respective 1-2 finishers in last month’s Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship at the St. Anne’s Golf Links in Middletown, Del., Sussex Central’s Jake Hollerback, playing out of Baywood Greens, and Tatnall School’s Jack Homer, playing out of Wilmington Country Club, headed a group of six players who finished in a tie for fifth place at 2-over 72.

   Hollerback was wrapping up his sophomore season when he beat Homer, who was completing an outstanding scholastic career at Tatnall, by two shots in the rain-shortened DIAA Championship at St. Anne’s.

   A couple more guys from the Delaware scholastic scene, Homer’s Tatnall School teammate and Wilmington clubmate Beckett Chipman and Salesianum junior Grant Burkhart, playing out of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club, were also among the group tied for fifth place at 2-over. Chipman will also be a junior at Tatnall this fall.

   Rounding out the group at 2-over were Souderton junior Wyatt Underwood, a GAP Youth on Course representative, and State College junior Luke McGraw, a PIAA Class AAA Championship qualifier last fall.

   GAP also crowned a Junior team champion Monday and, as you might expect, homestanding Merion captured the title with a solid 8-over 218 total.

   Backing up Curran’s 70 and Nemo’s 71 was William Forman, who, like Curran and Nemo, will be back for Haverford School this fall, with a 7-over 77 in the four-score-three format. Rounding out the Merion lineup was Mac Traynor with an 83.

   Traynor wrapped up his scholastic career at Malvern Prep last fall with a top-10 finish in the Bert Linton Invitational at Whitemarsh Valley.

   Overbrook, behind Boyd, finished two shots behind Merion in second place with a 10-over 220 total and Wilmington, behind Homer and Chipman, was another shot behind Overbrook in third place with an 11-over 221 total in a tight three-team race.