I know I’m falling
behind in my Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour coverage, including Tuesday’s
Harry Hammond Invitational, one of the highlights on the Junior Tour schedule,
but I had to see how the local contingent was doing in the Boys Junior PGA Championship.
I’ll catch up … I promise.
Carson Bacha, who finished fifth in the PIAA Class AAA
Championship as a freshman at Central York last fall, fired the second-best
round of the day, a 6-under 66, and was one of three local players to survive
the cut after two rounds of the Boys Junior PGA Championship at The Country
Club of St. Albans’ Lewis & Clark Course in St. Albans, Mo.
Bacha’s effort Tuesday, combined with an opening-round 72,
left him tie for sixth at 6-under 138. He is seven shots off the scintillating
pace set by Akshay Bhatia of Wake Forest, N.C., who shot a ridiculous and
record-setting 11-under 61 in Tuesday’s second round and is at 14-under 130.
Bacha had four birdies against his lone bogey of the day on
the front nine and three more birdies on the back nine. He was brutally
efficient on the Lewis & Clark Course’s par-5s, making birdie on all four
of them.
Bacha’s Central York teammate, Joe Parrini, who finished
tied for 11th in the state tournament as a junior at Heritage Hills
last fall, also made the cut in St. Albans, adding an even-par 72 to his
opening-round 73 for a 1-over 145 total.
Parrini also qualified for the U.S. Open sectionals in a
local qualifier at his home course, The Country Club of York, this spring.
Bacha and Parrini qualified for the Junior PGA Championship
out of the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour qualifier at Concord Country
Club.
Also making the cut at St. Albans was Kyle Vance, who was a
two-time District One champion during an outstanding scholastic career at
Methacton. Vance, who will start his collegiate career at Kansas State in a few
weeks, matched par with a 72 Tuesday after opening up with a 74.
Vance finished tied for third in the Junior PGA Championship a year
ago at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, R.I., which probably earned him a
return trip to this year’s tournament.
As for Bhatia, all he did was birdie all but one of the
holes on the back nine at the Lewis & Clark Course, which is where he
started. That’s right, he birdied every hole on the back nine except the 15th
for a mind-boggling 8-under 28.
The left-hander actually made a bogey on the first hole, but
made four more birdies on the front side. That’s 12 birdies. He broke the
tournament record of 62 held by, among others, Jordan Spieth and Brad Dalke,
who led Oklahoma to the NCAA team title this spring.
Poor Jacob Bridgeman, a Clemson recruit out of Inman, S.C., who
added a 68 to a sparkling opening round of 7-under 65. He somehow finds himself
trailing by three, despite sitting at 11-under 133.
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