A year ago Charlie Baker carded a 34 at Merion Golf Club’s
West Course to enable Haverford School to pull out the Inter-Ac League
championship in the sixth and final regular-season invitational that capped a
hotly contested race among the Fords, Episcopal Academy, Penn Charter and
Malvern Prep.
Wednesday, Baker fired a sparkling 32 in the invitational
hosted by Episcopal Academy at Gulph Mills Golf Club to make sure that
Tuesday’s sixth and final regular-season invitational at Huntingdon Valley
Country Club won’t matter – at least as far as crowning an Inter-Ac champion is
concerned.
Baker’s round -- pretty sure Gulph Mills is his home course -- led Haverford School to a ridiculous 176 total
that enabled it to complete its fifth straight invitational sweep, thus running
its league mark to 25-0. The Fords can’t be caught at Huntingdon Valley.
Malvern Prep, the runnerup Wednesday with a solid 187 total, is in second place
at 18-7 with Episcopal Academy, which was third at Gulph Mills at 192, in third
at 17-8.
The Churchmen still have designs on finishing second, but
they’ll need a strong showing at Huntingdon Valley. Germantown Academy is
fourth at 8-16-1, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy is fifth at 5-19-1 and Penn
Charter is sixth at 1-24.
What Haverford School will be chasing Tuesday is a little
bit of history. Since the Inter-Ac went to a regular season of six
invitationals when it switched from playing in the spring to the fall, only the
great Haverford School team of 2012 that featured Scott Jaster as a senior and
Cole Berman as a junior, has accomplished a perfect 30-0 run, sweeping all six
mini-tournaments. Probably the best high school team I’ve had a chance to
observe.
Three years ago a Malvern Prep team that featured Marty
McGuckin as a senior, Matt Davis as a sophomore and John Updike as a freshman,
took a 25-0 mark into the final invitational of the season at Waynesborough
Country Club, but Max Siegfried and Haverford School managed to tie the Friars
and deny them a 30-0 run through the Inter-Ac. Malvern Prep finished 29-0-1.
I’ve never been able to determine exactly what class all
these Haverford School guys are, but I’m pretty sure it was the seniors who
took over Wednesday at Gulph Mills.
Although Baker is a junior, I know A.J. Aivazoglou is
a senior and he capped two solid days of golf – more on Tuesday’s invitational
hosted by Germantown Academy at Bluestone Country Club later in this post –
with a 35. I looped for Aivazoglou, who plays out of Rolling Green Golf Club,
in a U.S. Amateur qualifier at Stonewall in the summer of 2017. The left-hander
has a world of talent.
I’m pretty sure Mac Costin, who I’m also pretty sure is the
son of Haverford School head coach Gui Costin, is a senior and he added a 36.
I’m not positive Sam Walker is a senior, but he’s certainly one of the Fords’ experienced
players and he matched Costin’s 36.
Peter Garno has to be a senior because it seems like he’s
been a fixture on Lancaster Pike for 10 years. The lacrosse standout can play a
little golf, too, and his 37 was the final counter for the Fords Wednesday.
Malvern Prep was led by two of its seniors Wednesday in its
runnerup finish as Matt Civitella and Andrew Curran each carded a 35. Freshman
Keller Mulhern, whose potential has turned into production this fall, added a
37. Another senior, Kevin Hagan, had a 49 and junior Ryan Kennedy was the final
counter for the Friars with a 41.
Episcopal Academy was led by senior co-captain Michael Zeng,
who carded a 36. Senior J.R. Rauscher added a 38. Michael Zeng’s younger
brother, junior Jacob Zeng, and senior James LeRoux each posted a 39 and
sophomore Shane Lawler was the final counter for the Churchmen with a 40.
Jacob Zeng has something to play for at Huntingdon Valley
Country Club Tuesday. The 39 he shot Wednesday at Gulph Mills was his highest
round in Inter-Ac competition and he’ll take a commanding lead in the
individual standings going into the final invitational.
Zeng’s record against the rest of the league stands at
200-24-11. The next three players in standings are Haverford School players
with Costin in second at 192-25-18, Aivazoglou in third at 193-33-9 and Walker
in fourth at 189-31-15. Malvern Prep’s Civitella is fifth at 188-33-14 and
Haverford School senior David Hurly is sixth at 189-37-9.
The regular-season individual winner is always a testament
to consistency. Penn Charter’s Brian Isztwan, off to a solid start as a
freshman at Harvard, was the winner the last two years. He is the only player to
repeat and the only two-time winner.
Jacob Zeng has left himself a little bit of wiggle room, but
nobody knows better than he does how talented the guys are that are chasing
him.
Aivazoglou had the best round of the day Tuesday at
Bluestone, a 1-under 35, as The Haverford School swept that invitational with a
182 total.
Sophomore Jake Maddaloni, who has come up huge for the Fords
a couple different times this fall, matched par with a 36. Garno, Costin and
Zak Summy each carded a 37.
It was a measure of the Fords’ depth just to look at the
three scores that didn’t count at Bluestone as Walker carded a 38, Hurly, the
native of South Africa who is one of the most talented players in the league,
had a 39, and Baker, who would come back a day later with his brilliant 32 at
Gulph Mills, had a 40.
Episcopal Academy edged Malvern Prep by three shots for
second with a 189 total, led by Jacob Zeng and LeRoux, both of whom signed for
a 1-over 37.
Rauscher and Lawler each carded a 2-over 38 and Robbie
Copit, the Churchmen’s other senior co-captain, added a 39.
Malvern Prep finished third with a 192 total, led by an
even-par 36 for Updike, a senior who has been one of the Inter-Ac’s best
players throughout his four years with the Friars. Senior Chuck Andress added a
38 and Kennedy and Civitella each posted a 39.
The Friars’ final counter was a 40 and three players landed
on that number, Curran, Hagan and Mulhern.
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