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Sunday, July 15, 2018

Pochet surges to repeat win in Christman Cup at Whitford


   Ben Pochet had already established that he was the best player in District One during his final two years at Spring-Ford when he won the Class AAA title for the second straight year last fall at Turtle Creek Golf Club.
   Thursday at Whitford Country Club Pochet, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 2017 Junior Player of the Year, added another nice line to his overall junior resume when he cruised to a three-shot victory in one of the GAP’s major junior championships, the Christman Cup. He became the first repeat winner in the 19-year history of the Christman Cup, having claimed the title a year ago on a steamy day at Stonewall’s North Course.
   The Christman Cup is a tough test, something I can attest to, having caddied in the 36-hole event a year ago. But Pochet came on strong with a spectacular afternoon round of 5-under 67 over the 6,601-yard, par-72 Whitford layout that was reminiscent of the 7-under 65 he fired in the second round of the District One Championship at the Turtle that enabled him to rally for a repeat win.
   Pochet, playing out of Spring-Ford Country Club, had opened with a 2-over 74 and the second-round 67 gave him a 3-under 141 total, three shots clear of runnerup Kevin Smith, the Strath Haven junior who plays out of The Springhaven Club.
   Smith and Joshua Ryan, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman representing Norristown High last fall, had each carded a 2-under 70 to share the lead after 18 holes. Ryan was a Junior Players Club entry.
   Pochet actually was at 5-over through 13 holes of his morning round before righting the ship. He birdied  three of his last five holes, including back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18 to finish his round and give him plenty of momentum going into the afternoon round.
   Starting on No. 10 in the afternoon, Pochet proceeded to rattle off four straight birdies to begin his round, giving him six straight going back to the final two holes of his morning round.
   It started with a pair of bombs, a 40-footer at the 10th and a 30-footer at the 11th, that got him to even-par for the day. He reached the par-5 12th in two and two-putted for a birdie there.
   Then Pochet’s pitching wedge approach at 13 finished two feet from the hole and he converted that for an easy birdie.
   On the first hole, Pochet fired an 8-iron from 167 yards to 12 feet and made the putt to get it to 5-under for the round and 3-under for the championship.
   He stumbled a little with bogeys at a couple of the par-3s on the front nine, the second and the fifth. Pochet figured he needed at least a par on his final hole – turned out that would have been more than good enough – so he played the par-5 strategically, taking an iron off the tee and making it a three-shot hole. Pochet’s third shot left him 12 feet for birdie and he rolled it in for a finishing birdie.
   Pochet will join Ben Feld’s Drexel program in a few short weeks. He didn’t feel like he was playing that  well this summer, but the Christman Cup victory will certainly give him a boost.
   “There’s definitely some pressure to keep performing now that I’m on Drexel’s team,” Pochet told the GAP website. “Drexel bases their fall lineup to start based on how you play in the summer because of how late they start school. Coach Feld sent an e-mail (Thursday) that said that two of the guys have separated themselves and the others haven’t been good. Today definitely helped me a lot.”
   Smith, who has really had a nice summer, added a 2-over 74 in the afternoon to finish alone in second at even-par 144.
   Smith and Pochet are tied in the race for the Harry Hammond Award going into Monday’s Jock MacKenzie Memorial at Sandy Run Country Club. The Harry Hammond Award is the stroke-play championship for the juniors and combines a player’s score from the Junior Boys’ Championship, the Christman Cup and the Jock MacKenzie for a 72-hole total.
  Pochet, who also finished second behind Marty McGuckin in the 2016 Christman Cup, and Smith outdistanced a really strong field of local junior standouts.
   It was another three shots behind Smith to third place as Radley Run Country Club’s Jake McCloskey, a member of Unionville’s PIAA Class AAA championship team last fall, added an even-par 72 to his opening-round 75 for a 3-over 147 total.
   Andrew Wallace of Green Valley Country Club posted a solid 1-over 73 in the afternoon after opening with a 75 and finished alone in fourth at 4-over 148.
   Ryan struggled a little in the afternoon after his opening-round 70 as he carded a 79 to head a group of three players tied for fifth at 5-over 149.
   Joining Ryan at that figure were Makefield Highlands Golf Club’s Greg DeLuca, who finished third in the District One Class AAA Championship with Neshaminy last fall, and Saucon Valley Country Club’s Drew Warner. DeLuca added a 74 to his opening-round 75 while Warner added a 76 to a solid opening round of 1-over 73.
   Stephen Lorenzo of Manufacturers Golf & Country Club was the only player beside Pochet to better par in the afternoon as he fired a 1-under 71, which, combined with an opening-round 79, left him among a trio of players tied for eighth at 150.
   Joining him at that figure were Rolling Green Golf Club’s A.J. Aivazoglou, a member of The Haverford School’s Inter-Ac League championship team as a junior last fall (and whose bag I carried in a U.S. Amateur qualifier at Stonewall last summer), and Nikita Romanov, a Junior Players Club entry out of Wilmington, Del. Aivazoglou added an afternoon 74 to his opening-round 76 and Romanov opened with a solid 73 and fell back a little in the afternoon with a 77.
   Spring Mill Country Club’s Liam Hart, who was the PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep last fall, had one of the better rounds in the afternoon with an even-par 72, which, combined with his opening-round 79, left him among three players tied for 11th at 151.
   Also at 151 were Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Conor McGrath, who, I’m pretty sure, is following big brother Liam to Temple later this summer, and Anthony Barr, who was the qualifying medalist in the Junior Boys’ Championship on his home course at Blue Bell Country Club earlier this summer. McGrath added a 77 to his opening-round 74 while Barr also fell back a little in the afternoon with a 78 after opening with a solid 1-over 73.
   Austin Barbin, a Junior Players Club entry out of Elkton, Md., shared 14th place with Matthew Lafond, another Blue Bell entry, at 8-over 152. Barbin, who qualified for match play in both the BMW Philadelphia Amateur and the Junior Boys’ Championship last month, added a 77 to his opening-round 75 while Lafond posted a pair of 76s.
   Two of Aivazoglou’s teammates on Haverford School’s reigning Inter-Ac League champions, Gulph Mills Golf Club’s Charlie Baker and Merion Golf Club’s Mac Costin, headed a group of six players who rounded out the top 20 by finishing tied for 16th at 9-over 153.
   Baker improved by three shots from his opening-round 78 with a 75 in the afternoon while Costin added a 77 to his opening-round 76. I’m pretty much ready to install the Fords as the preseason favorite to repeat in the Inter-Ac this fall.
   Pochet’s fellow Spring-Ford member and Pioneer Conference rival at Pope John Paul II, J.T. Spina, was also in the group tied for 16th at 153. Spina, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in each of his last two scholastic seasons who will join the Saint Joseph’s program later this summer, opened with a 74 before backing off a little with a 79 in the afternoon.
   Rounding out the group of six that landed at 153 were Penn Oaks Golf Club’s Ryan D’Ariano (77-76), The Country Club of Scranton’s Troy Kelleher (76-77), and Yardley Country Club’s Griffin Fall (76-77).







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