Having conquered just about every challenge junior golf can
offer in the Philadelphia area, Austin Barbin of Elkton, Md. will take his game
to the national level when he tees off in the U.S. Junior Amateur Monday at the
Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
Barbin, playing out of his Pennsylvania base, Loch Nairn
Golf Club, captured the weather-shortened Christman Cup Thursday at The 1912
Club in Plymouth Township with a sparkling 4-under-67. The Christman Cup is
part of the Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Series, presented by
Citadel.
The Christman Cup is scheduled as a one-day, 36-hole test,
but Thursday’s wild afternoon weather forced GAP officials to shorten it to 18
holes.
Barbin, who will join the Maryland program at the end of the
summer, added the Christman Cup to a remarkable run of successes that began
with his 5 and 4 victory over Patrick Sheehan of Talamore Country Club in the
final of last month’s 105th GAP Junior Boys’ Championship at
Coatesville Country Club.
Two days later Barbin was the medalist in the U.S. Junior
Amateur qualifier at Berkshire Country Club. Since then he has added victories
in the Maryland Junior Amateur, the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship
at The Springhaven Club, the better-ball Francis X. Hussey Memorial with
brother Evan at Rolling Green Golf Club and the Delaware Junior Amateur.
Barbin is the first player to complete a GAP Junior
Boys-Christman Cup double since The ACE Club assistant pro Billy Stewart did it
in 2001 when he was a junior standout at Llanerch Country Club.
“It’s unreal,” Barbin told the GAP website. “It’s just been
one of those summers. My dad (Andy) has been helping me with my swing. I’ve
just had a really good swing thought that I’ve been sticking with. It’s been
carrying me, especially with my irons. It’s been a really fun ride.”
Sheehan, the District One Class AAA champion as a senior at
Central Bucks East last fall, was again a frustrated runnerup to Barbin,
carding a solid 3-under 68 over the 6,520-yard, par-71 1912 Club layout.
Sheehan will join the Penn State program at the end of the summer.
Barbin and Sheehan, bombers both, dominated the par-5s at
The 1912 Club, the refurbished and reinvented Plymouth Country Club.
Barbin reached the 518-yard, par-5 third hole in two with an
8-iron from 182 yards and two-putted for birdie. It was just an 8-iron again
into the 495-yard, par-5 sixth hole from 175 yards and another two-putt birdie.
He needed some fancy wedge work on the par-5 12th
and 17th holes, flopping one to four feet for birdie at the 12th
and another to five feet after sending his approach over the green in two at
the 17th and converting both birdie opportunities.
Barbin quickly answered his only bogey of the day at the
eighth hole by knocking a 58-degree wedge from 70 yards away to 10 feet at the
398-yard, par-4 ninth hole and holing the putt.
Sheehan had three birdies and an eagle on the par-5s, but it
wasn’t enough to slow down the Barbin express.
The last two Bert Linton Inter-Ac League champions, Penn
Charter junior Patrick Isztwan, who was a freshman when he captured the title
in 2017 on his home course at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, and recent
Malvern Prep graduate Andrew Curran, who captured the title last fall at
Sunnybrook Golf Club, were among a talented foursome tied for third at 1-under 70. Curran plays out of
Philadelphia Cricket Club.
Joining them at that figure were Rolling Green’s A.J.
Aivazoglou, who helped The Haverford School win the last two Inter-Ac team
titles, and Manufacturers Golf & Country Club’s Steve Lorenzo, a PIAA Class
AAA qualifier as a junior at La Salle last fall.
Barbin’s fellow Loch Nairn representative, Nikita Romanov,
finished alone in seventh place as he matched par with a 71. Romanov, a recent
Mount Pleasant High graduate, will join the La Salle program at the end of the
summer.
Aivazoglou’s Haverford School teammate Jake Maddaloni, a
product of the Aronimink Golf Club junior program, headed a group of thee
players tied for eighth place at 1-over 72. Maddaloni will be a junior for the
Fords this fall. Indian Valley Country Club’s Thomas Butler, a recent Souderton
graduate, and Llanerch’s Joseph Morganti, a St. Joseph’s Prep senior, also
landed in the tie for eighth at 1-over.
Springhaven’s Kevin Smith, a senior at Strath Haven, and
Alec Stern of Philadelphia Country Club shared 11th place, each
posting a 2-over 73.
Kennett Square Golf & Country Club’s Bennink twins,
Connor and William, headed a group of eight players tied for 13th at
3-over 74. The Benninks led the way for Unionville as it won back-to-back
District One Class AAA team crowns and a PIAA Class AAA team title in 2017.
Also in the group at 3-over were Penn Oaks Golf Club’s Ryan
D’Ariano, a sophomore at West Chester Rustin, Springhaven’s Jackson
Debusschere, a junior at Strath Haven, Merion Golf Club’s John Bradbeer,
Huntingdon Valley’s Bryce Fazio and Blue Bell Country Club’s Matthew Lafond and
Laurel Creek Country Club’s Alec Ryden.
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