Benjamin Saggers keeps making steady progress through the
junior ranks.
An eighth-grader at the Saints Phillip & James School in
Exton, Saggers was a fixture on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour
leaderboards in the 12-and-under nine-holers division. Last year he reached the
final of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior-Junior Boys’
Championship before falling to Joshua Ryan, who went on to have a strong
freshman season playing for Norristown High.
In this week’s edition of the GAP Junior-Junior Boys’
Championship, the 70th, at Merchantville Country Club in Cherry
Hill, N.J., the 13-year-old Saggers, playing out of Applecross Country Club,
again advanced to the final.
And this time, with his experience from last year’s final in
the bank, Saggers captured the title with a 4 and 3 victory over Matthew Homer,
an eighth-grader at The Tatnall School, in Wednesday’s 18-hole final over the
5,885-yard, par-72 Merchantville layout.
“It means a lot to win because I came so close last year,”
Saggers told the GAP website. “To get back to the final this year was a
confidence booster for me today. I was glad I had another chance to win. I knew
what I had to do today and I stayed focused.”
The final was even through eight holes when Saggers grabbed a
1-up lead. A bad drive at the par-4 ninth forced him to make a spectacular
recovery shot out of the trees on to the green, 40 feet from the cup. He then
converted a bomb of a putt for an unlikely birdie.
A classic match-play turnaround on the par-5 11th
proved decisive. Saggers had some tree issues on his approach and sent it just
off the back of the green while Homer had a decent look at birdie from 10 feet.
But Saggers got it up and down for par and Homer had an untimely three-putt for
bogey to fall 2-down.
Saggers sent in a 25-foot birdie on the next hole, the par-3
12th, to take a 3-up lead. He finished off the match by making a
tough three-footer for par at the par-3 15th.
It was a pretty good week for Homer and his brothers, who
play out of Wilmington Country Club.
Matthew Homer claimed medalist honors Monday with a 2-under
34. Brother Jeffrey Homer, Nicholas Ciocca of Aronimink Golf Club and Win
Thomas, a GAP Youth on Course entry who is a standout on the Philly PGA’s
Junior Tour, shared second place, each matching par with a 36.
By the time the opening-round matches were completed Monday
afternoon, Matthew and Jeffrey Homer were joined in the quarterfinals by
brother Jack. So to review, there were eight boys left in the championship
bracket and three of them were Homers.
Something had to give in the quarterfinals with an all-Homer
matchup between Matthew and Jack and Matthew Homer pulled out a 2 and 1
decision. Matthew Homer began his journey to the final with a 2 and 1 victory
over Tommy Marshall of Medford Lakes Country Club in the opening round.
Saggers rolled to a 5 and 4 victory over Nathan Guertler of
Tavistock Country Club in his opening-round match before taking out Jeffrey
Homer, 2 and 1, in the quarterfinals.
That set up a rematch of last year’s semifinal between
Saggers and Henry Stone of Bidermann Golf Club, who edged Thomas, 2 and 1, in
his quarterfinal match, and Saggers again got by Stone with a hard-fought 2-up
victory. Matthew Homer, meanwhile, claimed a 2 and 1 victory over Aronimink’s
Ciocca in his semifinal match.
The early-round matches were nine holes with the final
scheduled for 18 holes.
Ben Rubanich of RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve captured
first-flight honors when Kidder Urban of Bellewood Country Club conceded the
final match.
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