Higgins, Hyndman share a Philly Junior Tour victory at The Bucks Club

 

   Joey Higgins, a senior on the golf team at reigning Public League champion Philadelphia Academy Charter, and Logan Hyndman, a Newtown resident and a senior on the golf team at The Pennington School, each carded a solid 2-over-par 72 at The Bucks Club in Jamison to share the top spot in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop July 23^rd.

   Higgins had a steady round, finishing up with a birdie at the 18^th hole, and recording 14 pars, including a string of 10 straight pars from four through 13.

   Hyndman opened his round with back-to-back birdies at the first and second holes, added another birdie at 12 and had 10 pars on his scorecard, including a run of five straight pars from seven through 11.

   Luke Ladrido, a senior on the State College golf team that is coming off a tie for second place in the PIAA Class AAA team chase last fall, made birdies on the second, 12^th, 14^th, and 17^th holes and had six pars on his card, matching Hyndman’s run of five straight pars from 7 through 11, as he finished two shots behind Higgins and Hyndman in third place with a 4-over 74.

   Shane Cornell, a senior on the Avon Grove golf team and a District One Class AAA qualifier last fall, and Justin Wheeler of Warminster shared fourth place, each posting a 5-over 76, Justin Delfidio, an Ambler resident and a junior on the St. Joseph Prep golf team, was sixth with a 76 and Chase Kuech, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Upper Moreland last fall, and Alexander Liu of Radnor finished in a tie for seventh, each signing for a 77.

   Vaughn Smartt of Bryn Mawr took ninth place with a 78 and Charlie Ladrido, a senior on the state co-runnerup State College golf team – likely Luke Ladrido’s twin, but I’m not positive about that – and Luke Bergin of Wayne rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each tallying an 80.

   Bobby Stefanski of Newtown Square and Jackson Jones of Bryn Mawr finished in a tie atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division as each registered a 4-over 74.

   Bobby Stefanski made birdies at the 10^th and 17^th holes while touring the incoming nine at The Bucks Club in 1-under 33. He had 11 pars on his scorecard, including two separate strings of five consecutive pars from the fourth through the eighth holes and again from 12 through 16.

   Jones also made birdies at the 10^th and 17^th holes while touring The Bucks Club’s back nine in even-par 34 and had 12 pars on his card.

   Council Rock North sophomore Rithvik Nimma, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, heated up on The Bucks Club’s outgoing nine, making a birdie on the third hole and then ripping off three straight birdies at seven, eight and nine to tour the front side in 1-under 35 as he finished in third place with a 5-over 75. Nimma also had six pars on his card.

   Helmut Dang of Newtown Square took fourth place with a 76, Oliver Eckert, a sophomore on the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy golf team, was fifth with a 79 and Max Charbonneau of Wayne finished sixth with an 80.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division was a five-player logjam tied for seventh place at 82 that included a couple of Malvern guys in Nathan Barker and Jake Julian, Jack Ferry of Port Deposit, Md., James Park of Ambler and Connor Bates of Schwenksville.

   Conestoga senior Jill Burks, who led the Pioneers to the PIAA Class AAA team crown last fall, made a birdie at the fifth hole and had nine pars on her scorecard, including a string of four straight pars from nine through 12 as she claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 16-to-18 division with an 85.

   Burks will be trying to become a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier in the upcoming season.

   Mariana Walker, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Council Rock North last fall, had seven pars on her card as she rounded out a short field in the 16-to-18 division by finishing in second place with an 88.

   Elyssa Capaldo of Trooper had three pars on her scorecard, including back-to-back pars to open her round at the first and second holes, as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 93.

   Natalie Soporowski of Nazareth finished up her round with a par at the 18^th hole as she rounded out a short field in the 13-to-15 division by ending up in second place with a 103.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr, who was on a roll among the boys 12-and-under nine-holers, had eight pars on his scorecard, including six straight pars to finish up his round, as he captured another Philly Junior Tour victory with a 1-over 37.

   Ryan Kaye of Lansdale made a birdie at the fifth hole and had five pars on his card, finishing up his round with pars at seven, eight and nine, as he earned runnerup honors with a 3-over 39.

   Jack Kolmer of Wayne, coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory a day earlier at Raven’s Claw Golf Club, had five pars on his card, also closing out his round with three straight pars at the seventh, eighth and ninth holes, as he finished a shot behind Kaye in third place with a 40.

   Sid Joshi of Coopersburg and Andrew Herman of Telford shared fourth place, each carding a 43 and the foursome of Ryan Stefanski, another member of Newtown Square’s Team Stefanski, Michael Antolino of Richboro, Noah English of Villanova and Smith Rawes of Elkins Park finished in a tie for sixth, each tallying a 44.

   Kash Gray of Eagleville rounded out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished in 10^th place with a 46.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leng, Whaley survive tough semifinal tests to reach final of U.S. Amateur at Merion

 

   HAVERFORD – All of Jay Leng Jr.’s dreams are coming true this summer.

   The 20-year-old Stanford junior from San Diego, Calif. gutted out a 2 and 1 victory over Auburn sophomore Logan Reilly of Lovettsville, Va. in the semifinals of the 126^th U.S. Amateur before another large crowd of golf-mad Philly fans Saturday at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course to earn a spot in the final opposite Englishman Jack Whaley, a senior at Florida State.

   Whaley won his semifinal match against a gritty Carter Loflin of Duluth, Ga., who recently wrapped up his college career at Georgia in the spring, by holing a four-foot putt for bogey on the tough par-4 18^th hole at the iconic Hugh Wilson design that is the East Course.

   Leng had risen to No. 23 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) on the strength of his victory in the Western Amateur a couple of weeks ago at Beverly Country Club in Chicago, Ill.

   He hasn’t lost in match play since falling to Reilly’s Auburn teammate Josiah Gilbert in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. in the spring.

   By reaching the U.S. Amateur final, Leng and Whaley earned berths in next summer’s U.S. Open at the Pebble Beach Golf Links on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula and likely invitations to The Masters in April at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

   Neither Leng nor Reilly had his best stuff Saturday, but Leng made some big shots when he absolutely had to have them and Reilly got one extremely bad break. But that’s golf and that’s certainly match play.

   “I was very confident going into today,” Leng told the USGA website. “Then had a good range session. Better than (Friday). After the first few I holes, (I discovered) the greens were really firm (and) way faster and there were so many people and it kind of just took me by surprise.

   “I was a little bit more nervous than I thought and my game wasn’t very sharp today. But it was a good learning experience for (Sunday).”

   Leng and Reilly, No. 56 in the WAGR, took turns giving holes away early in the match and no hole was halved until the seventh.

   Leng had just finished making a mess of the long par-5 fourth hole, enabling Reilly to even the match, when Reilly yanked his tee shot at the tough par-4 fifth hole left of the creek. Leng found the fairway and hit a brilliant approach that finished 10 feet beyond the hole to a back-left pin that was barely legal.

   Reilly blocked his approach to the par-4 sixth hole, leaving himself short-sided in the right rough and a two-putt par gave Leng a 2-up advantage.

   After halving the seventh hole, Leng dumped his approach in the bunker that fronts the short par-4 eighth and took two shots to get out, all of which Reilly made moot by canning his 20-foot birdie try.

   Leng’s tee shot at the par-3 ninth hole finished 15 feet from the hole and Reilly was inside him at 10 feet. But a Leng make and a Reilly miss enabled Leng to build a 2-up lead again.

   Leng made a mess of the short par-4 11^th hole, the Bobby Jones hole, but Reilly again made it a moot point when his 18-footer for birdie that he didn’t have to make went in anyway.

   The 19-year-old Reilly may never get a worse break than the one the golf gods delivered on the par-4 12^th hole.

   Leng was safely on the green and Reilly’s approach bounded toward the hole. It was going to stop past the pin and spin back. Instead, it clanged hard off the stick and rolled off the front of the green and rolled and rolled to 30 yards short of the green.

   Leng would win the hole with a par to restore his 2-up lead.

   Reilly hit the exact same shot at the short par-3 13^th hole. It bounded past the pin and spun back to two feet. Reilly’s birdie left him 1-down going to Merion’s final five holes.

   Neither player drove it well at the par-4 14^th, Leng ending up in the right rough almost behind the 16^th green and Reilly in a bunker on the left that left him with an awkward stance. Both did well to make bogey.

   The match ultimately turned in Leng’s favor at the par-4 15^th hole. He must’ve taken a fairway finder off the tee because he was at least 30 yards, maybe 40 behind Reilly. But Leng’s approach, much like the shot he hit at the fifth hole, bounced toward the hole and curled around, finishing eight feet away on about the only line you could reasonably expect to make a putt.

   And make it he did, adding a fist pump after the ball disappeared. Leng was 2-up with three to play.

   Reilly missed the green at the tough par-3 17^th hole and he chipped it past the hole.
When Leng nuzzled his 35-foot birdie putt close to the hole, Reilly conceded the hole and the match.

   Leng will be trying to join that Tiger Woods fella and Lawson Little as the only Stanford players to win the U.S. Amateur when he tees off at 9 a.m. for the first round of a scheduled 36-hole final against Whaley. There is rain, possibly heavy rain, in the forecast for the afternoon. We’ll see.

   A win Sunday would make Leng or Whaley an automatic qualifier for their respective teams for the Walker Cup Match, which will be staged at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland next month.

   Pretty sure I spotted a very interested spectator in U.S. team captain Nathan Smith, the Pittsburgh native and a four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship winner, hanging out at the first tee before Saturday’s semifinal matches.

   I suspect he would lobby the USGA Team Selection Committee pretty hard for Leng, even if Leng would happen to fall in Sunday’s final.

   And the 22-year-old Whaley, No. 90 in the WAGR, would seem to be a logical addition to the Great Britain & Ireland side, no matter what happens Sunday.

   Whaley has appeared to be pretty loose the whole week, but he watched the 22-year-old Loflin battle back from 3-down deficits twice to finally even the match with a birdie at the 17^th hole.

   Loflin was a clear gallery favorite with Jack Hopkins, a 35-year veteran Merion looper, on the bag. Loflin has been profuse in his praise for what Hopkins has brought to the table this week.

   It has been my experience that a caddy’s voice has to resonate with a player for the team to work. Clearly, the advice Hopkins offered all week made sense to Loflin. You’re not out there telling a guy as talented as Loflin how to play. You’re there to help him process the data in front of him. The smart ones listen.

   As a one-time Merion looper many decades ago, I was certainly rooting for Loflin and Hopkins to make it to the final.

   The gallery erupted when Loflin made a 20-footer to save par at the 16^th hole and then waited and watched at the top of the hill as Loflin finally drew even at the tough par-3 17^th.

   Whaley drove it in the right rough at the iconic par-4 18^th hole and Loflin was in the left rough.

   Neither could reach the green out of the thick rough, but Loflin’s third shot went bounding off the back of the green. Whaley managed to keep his third shot on the green, although it was 40 feet from the hole.

   The rough again proved too thick for Loflin to get the ball any closer to the hole than 15 feet. Whaley’s first putt was four feet from the hole, but, when Loflin couldn’t get his putt for bogey to fall, that four-footer for bogey for Whaley was for the match.

   And the longest four-foot putt of his life tumbled into the cup.

   My week of live-blogging from Merion has come to an end. Hoping to catch a loop at Stonewall before the rain arrives Sunday, but I’ll do a little wrapup of the final. It was a tremendous week in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township and ran into a lot of old friends. I always do a year-in-review post at the end of December. Pretty sure nothing that happens between now and then will top my week at Merion as the lead item in that post.

 

 

 

 

 

Lugiano's run in the U.S. Amateur at Merion is halted by Reilly in quarterfinals

 

   HAVERFORD -- Michael Lugiano, a scholastic standout at Lake Lehman who is a junior at Liberty, had already proven that he can play amateur golf at the highest levels when he claimed the individual title in the NCAA Corvallis Regional in Oregon in May.

   His run to the quarterfinals of the 126^th U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course was no fluke.

   That run came to a crashing halt Friday as Auburn sophomore Logan Reilly of Lovettsville, Va. cruised into the semifinals with a 6 and 4 victory over Lugiano, but that did absolutely nothing to tarnish the week Lugiano had at Merion.

   It appears Lugiano, who plays out of Huntsville Golf Club, might have been a major contributor to the largest attendance ever measured at a U.S. Amateur.

   Making the U.S. Amateur a ticketed event is a fairly recent development.

   But half of Scranton – OK, a little bit of hyperbole there -- used to bus to Syracuse to see its favorite son, Gerry McNamara, play hoops at the Carrier Dome. McNamara will take over as the head coach at his alma mater in a few months.

   And a little of that dynamic seemed to be at work Friday. But give credit too, to the Philadelphia area golf fans, who prove over and over again that if you’re staging a big-time event at one of the region’s great golf courses, they’ll come out and watch.

   It happened with the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in May and it happened again Friday at Merion.

   Unfortunately for Lugiano, Reilly, who delivered the clinching point for the Tigers in their 4-1 victory over UCLA in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. in the spring, reveled in the huge gallery that was mostly rooting for Lugiano.

   “It was good, it was fun, that’s for sure,” Reilly told the USGA website. “I actually really enjoyed it. I loved how many people there were out there. Just gave me a little extra motivation, honestly.

   “Thank God, I got a couple of my friends that came out, so they were trying to get loud. It was great. Unbelievable atmosphere.”

   Reilly had five birdies on his scorecard, including a conceded birdie on the final hole of the match after Lugiano yanked his tee shot at the par-4 14^th out of bounds. But, as so often is the case, is was a par saver at the short par-4 seventh hole that might have turned the match in his favor.

   Reilly had taken a 2-up advantage when he dropped in an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-4 sixth hole.

   With the tee box at the seventh hole moved forward, Reilly and Lugiano both found the bunker on the left side of the green. Reilly’s bunker shot skittered off the green into another bunker on the other side of the green while Lugiano blasted it to 12 feet from the hole.

   Now short-sided, Reilly could do no better than hit it 20 feet past the pin. But he buried his par putt and Lugiano’s birdie try slid by and Reilly held his 2-up advantage.

   Lugiano drained a 15-footer for birdie at the short par-4 eighth hole to cut his deficit in half, but it was all Reilly after that.

   Lugiano pulled his tee shot at the par-3 ninth hole into the left greenside bunker and Reilly was able to restore his 2-up advantage with a par.

   Both players drove it into the yawning bunker in front of the green at the short par-4 10^th hole. Reilly nearly holed his bunker shot and had a tap-in for birdie while Lugiano’s seven-footer got a piece of the hole, but wouldn’t fall.

   Lugiano made a bit of a mess of the short par-4 11^th hole, driving it into the rough short of the creek and then chunking his approach, leaving him with an awkward stance alongside a bunker. Reilly’s two-putt par gave him the win and suddenly he was 4-up.

   After the two halved the par-4 12^th hole with pars, Reilly stuck his tee shot at the little par-3 13^th hole 12 feet from the wicker basket-topped stick and converted the birdie try. He was 5-up with five holes to play.

   When Lugiano hit his tee shot at the 14^th hole out of bounds, it was over.

   When Lugiano puts the disappointment behind him, he’ll realize what a positive this week was and, oh yeah, the exemptions. Pretty sure the quarterfinalists are exempt into next year’s U.S. Amateur at another American classic, Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., outside of Rochester, with the East Course and the West Course the handiwork of the master himself, Donald Ross.

   Pretty sure Lugiano is also exempt into Final Qualifying for next year’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Those local qualifiers can be a bear and Lugiano can skip that step.

   Reilly’s semifinal opponent will be Stanford junior Jay Leng Jr. of San Diego, Calif. and No. 23 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), who pulled away from Florida senior Jack Turner of Orlando, Fla. and No. 19 in the WAGR for a 6 and 5 decision, closing with a devastating burst of four consecutive birdies at the 10^th, 11^th, 12^th and 13^th holes.

   Got a chance to watch a lot of Leng’s 1-up victory over Tyler Watts of Huntsville, Ala. and No. 3 in the WAGR in Thursday’s round of 16 and Leng is going to be a tough out. Leng is coming off a victory in the Western Amateur at Beverly Country Club in Chicago, Ill.

   On the other side of the bracket, Carter Loflin of Duluth, Ga., who wrapped up his career at Georgia in the spring, reached the semifinals with a 3 and 2 victory over Colorado senior Brandon Knight of Pleasanton, Calif. It was the furthest any of the four quarterfinals got.

   Loflin was 2-down and staring at a bogey on the hardest hole on the golf course, the par-4 fifth, when he chipped in for an unlikely par and a win that cut his deficit to 1-down.

   He would go on to win the seventh, eighth, 10^th and 13^th holes with birdies and build a 3-up advantage that Knight was unable to cut into.

   Loflin’s semifinal opponent will be Englishman Jack Whaley, a senior at Florida State and No. 90 in the WAGR who rolled to a 5 and 4 victory over Moroccan Adam Bresnu, a senior at Texas Tech.

   Whaley picked up wins at the first and second holes with birdies and never looked back. Bresnu never even won a hole off Whaley.

   Whaley won the fourth hole with a par, the eighth with a birdie and the 11^th with a birdie to build a commanding 5-up advantage.

   Whaley is hoping his strong showing at Merion will earn him some consideration for a spot on the Great Britain & Ireland team that will take on the United States in the Walker Cup Match next month at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland.

   The Loflin-Whaley match kicks off Saturday’s two semifinals at 2 p.m. The Reilly-Leng match will follow right behind them, teeing off at 2:15 p.m.