Palmer Jackson, who capped his scholastic career at Franklin
Regional by winning the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, put himself in
solid position to make the match-play bracket in the U.S. Junior Amateur
Championship by opening with a 1-over-par 72 Monday at the Inverness Club, a
Donald Ross design in Toledo, Ohio.
Jackson, who will play collegiately at Notre Dame, was among
the group tied for 18th place after he offset four bogeys with three
birdies at the 7,348-yard, par-71 Inverness layout. The top 64 finishers after
Tuesday’s second round will advance to match play, which gets under way
Wednesday.
Jackson made the match-play bracket a year ago at Baltusrol
Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., but was knocked out in the opening round. He
was the co-medalist in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered
qualifier at Carlisle Country Club.
The medalist in a GAP-administered qualifier at Berkshire
Country Club, Austin Barbin of Elkton, Md., who has been absolutely on fire
over the last month, finally cooled off Monday with a 6-over 77 that left him
in the group tied for 89th place and with work to do to get into match
play.
Barbin owns wins in the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship, last
week’s Christman Cup and both the Maryland and Delaware Junior Championships
this summer.
One of the other players who emerged from the Berkshire
qualifier, Jolo Timothy Magcalayo of the Philippines, gave himself a shot to
make the match-play bracket in the U.S. Junior Amateur for the second straight
year as the 16-year-old carded a 4-over 75 and is among the group tied for 54th
place.
It’s the second straight year that Magcalayo has come to the
Philadelphia area to test his game against top junior competition in the United
States. He has launched his campaign the last two springs by teeing it up in
Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour events.
Magcalayo qualified for match play at Baltusrol a year ago
and won a match before falling in the second round. He had a pretty wild round
Monday, including a pair of double bogeys, four bogeys and four birdies.
Jack Wall of Brielle, N.J., a quarterfinalist in last
month’s BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Stonewall, was among the group tied for 67th
with a 76. Wall, a recent Christian Brothers Academy graduate, will join the
South Carolina program later this month.
It was a tough start for Richie Kline, a key contributor for
a Unionville program that won the 2017 PIAA Class AAA team crown and was the
runnerup last fall. Kline, who plays out of Kennett Square Golf & Country
Club, carded an 84 and was in the group tied for 149th.
Kline will play collegiately at Indiana University of
Pennsylvania. He also earned his ticket to the Inverness Club out of the
Berkshire qualifier.
Leading the way were a couple of players who appear in the
top 50 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), William Mouw of Chino, Calif.
and Australian Karl Vilips, each of whom carded a 2-under 69.
Vilips, No. 47 in the WAGR, had the lone bogey-free round
over the tough Inverness layout.
Vilips and Mouw, who will join the Pepperdine program at the
end of the summer, both earned tickets into the match-play bracket at Baltusrol
a year ago and both exited in the second round. Mouw made it into match-play in
last summer’s U.S. Amateur at the Pebble Beach Golf Links and reached the
round-of-16 before getting knocked out.
Akshay Bhatia of Wake Forest, N.C., the runnerup in the U.S.
Junior Amateur at Baltusrol a year ago and No. 4 in the WAGR, headed a group of
seven players tied for third at 1-under 70, a shot behind Vilips and Mouw.
Bhatia appears likely to represent the United States in the
Walker Cup Match later this summer at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake,
England. The left-hander’s explosiveness was on display when, after using a
3-iron off the tee at the 527-yard, par-5 13th hole, he lashed a
4-iron from 230 yards away onto the green and holed a 35-foot putt for an
eagle.
Ricky Castillo of Yorba Linda, Calif. and No. 22 in the WAGR
was also in the group at 1-under. Castillo will join the Florida program later this
summer.
Rounding out the group tied for third at 1-under were: William
Moll of Houston, Brett Roberts of Coral Springs, Fla., Connor McKinney of
Scotland, Bo Jin of China and George Duangmanee of Fairfax, Va. Moll will join
the powerhouse Vanderbilt program later this summer.
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