Lofland fires 64 at The 1912 Club to claim medalist honors in GAP's Junior Boys' Championship qualifying

   Clearly, Conestoga senior Morgan Lofland was ready when the coronavirus-enforced restrictions on the game of golf were lifted in early May.

   When the Philadelphia Section PGA’s Junior Tour resumed its schedule earlier this month, Lofland, who finished ninth in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, jumped on the opportunities he got to compete on the golf course again.

   Lofland beat a strong field to win the two-day Precision Pro Golf Open event at Hickory Valley Golf Club’s Ambassador and Presidential Courses. He notched another victory in the Rehoboth Junior Open at Rehoboth Beach Country Club in Delaware.

   He was right there all day Monday in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood Country Club, finishing in a tie for second place in the 36-hole test, a shot behind the winner, Nicholas Ciocca.

   All of which proved to be prelude for the spectacular 6-under-par 64 Lofland fashioned at The 1912 Club in Plymouth Meeting Tuesday that gave him medalist honors in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 106^th Junior Boys’ Championship.

   Playing out of Phoenixville Country Club, Lofland, the Class AAA East Regional champion on his way to the state tournament last fall, blitzed the 6,645-yard, par-70 layout with identical nines of 32 that included an eagle on the front nine and three birdies on his final four holes. His 6-under total was one shot off the qualifying record in relation to par set by former Unionville standout Nick Gianelos in 2016 at Tavistock Country Club.

   Lofland finished four shots clear of a very talented field as John Cooley of Bidermann Golf Club and Cardinal O’Hara standout Thomas Larkin, playing out of Paxon Hollow Country Club, shared second place, each carding a 68.

   Lofland was 1-under for his round after sandwiching a bogey at the second hole with birdies at the first and third holes. His 7-iron approach from 189 yards away at the par-5 sixth hole found a greenside bunker and Lofland holed out for eagle and was suddenly 3-under. It gave him the kind of momentum that often leads to a good round.

   Lofland was still 3-under after a birdie at the 12^th hole and a bogey at the 14^th. And that simply set the stage for a closing flourish.

   Lofland knocked a 56-degree wedge to six feet at the par-4 15^th hole and converted the birdie try. A 9-iron to the 155-yard, par-3 16^th hole left him with a tricky 15-footer that he holed to get it to 5-under. Lofland’s drive at the par-4 finishing hole left him 125 yards out of the fescue and over a tree to the green. No problem. A gap wedge finished six feet from the hole and he made that one, too.

   Lofland was the First Flight runnerup a year ago, falling to Billy Pabst Jr. at Coatesville Country Club. But this is an improved Lofland, a player more confident in his abilities. When match play commences Wednesday morning, he’ll not only be in the Championship Flight, he’ll be the qualifying medalist.

   “The difference between my game this year and last year is astronomical,” Lofland, who has shared the Central League individual title each of the last two falls, told the GAP website. “My ball-striking is a whole lot better, which is making a difference. Also, my mental game has improved.

   “The cut was always in my head last year. I was always thinking about what the cut might be at the start of the round, play a couple of holes and then feel my way around. I wasn’t going to do that today. I was just trying to stay around even-par.”

   You needed to be around even-par to make it into the match-play bracket in this very competitive field.

   Win Thomas of Concord Country Club was a shot behind Cooley and Larkin in fourth place with a 1-under 69. Thomas was a Junior Tour standout a couple of years ago and has been flying under the radar a little, but it doesn’t appear he’s forgotten how to play.

   Episcopal Academy senior Shane Lawler, playing out of Chester Valley Golf Club, and Llanerch Country Club’s Joey Morganti, a recent St. Joseph’s Prep graduate, shared fifth place, each matching par with a 70.

   Merion Golf Club’s Charlie Baker, a recent Haverford School graduate who helped the Fords capture three straight Inter-Ac League titles, headed a group of six players tied for seventh place at 1-over 71. Baker’s Haverford School teammate, Jake Maddaloni, a senior who plays out of Aronimink Golf Club, was also in the group at 71.

   Recent La Salle graduate Matt Lafond, the Catholic League champion last fall who helped the Explorers finish in third place in the PIAA Class AAA team chase, was also in the group at 1-over. Lafond plays out of Blue Bell Country Club.

   Philadelphia Country Club’s James Gradisek, an Inter-Ac rival of Baker and Maddaloni at Malvern Prep, also posted a 71. Gradisek will be a senior for the Friars. Penn Oaks Golf Club’s Jake Sokalsky, one of the two other players who shared the Central League individual title with Lofland as a senior at Garnet Valley last fall, also landed on 71.

   Rounding out the group at 1-over was John Peters of Carlisle Country Club. A senior at Carlisle, Peters finished in a tie for third in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall.

   Peters shared third in the state championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort last fall with Norristown’s Josh Ryan and Ryan, a GAP Youth on Course entry, was one of seven players who will battle it out Wednesday morning for the final four spots in match play after carding a 2-over 72. Ryan was the District One Class AAA champion at Turtle Creek Golf Club last fall.

   It tells you all you all need to know about the talent level that was gathered at The 1912 Club Tuesday that all 2-over got you was in a playoff for match play.

   Jericho National Golf Club’s Calen Sanderson, a Holy Ghost Prep senior who finished in a tie for second behind Ryan in the district tournament last fall, will also tee it up in the playoff.

   Evan Barbin, playing out of Loch Nairn Golf Club, will also be in involved in Wednesday morning’s playoff. The golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md. includes Zach, who captured the BMW Philadelphia Amateur crown last week at Lancaster Country Club, and Austin, the GAP Junior Boys’ champion a year ago at Coatesville.

   Rounding out the group vying for the last four berths in match play are: Brookside Country Club of Allentown’s Matt Zerfass, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore at Emmaus last fall, Matthew Homer of the golfing Homer family at Wilmington Country Club, Christopher Dorey of Metedeconk National Golf Club and Corey Haydu of Spring Mill Country Club.

   Gradisek’s 1-over 71 led Philadelphia Country Club to the title in the Junior Team Championship contested at The 1912 Club Tuesday.

   Tyler Zimmer, another member of The Haverford School’s Inter-Ac League championship team and the runnerup in the Bert Linton Inter-Ac individual championship at Gulph Mills Golf Club last fall, and recent Harriton graduate David Fitzgerald each added a 73 to give Philly a 217 total.

   The Springhaven Club claimed runnerup honors with a 224 total. Leading the way for Springhaven was Devon Prep senior Ryan McCabe, who has finished in a tie for third and a tie for second in the last two PIAA Class AA championships. McCabe carded a 73.

   Two members of the Strath Haven team that claimed the program’s first Central League and District One Class AAA team titles last fall, recent graduate Kevin Smith and senior Jackson Debusschere, backed up McCabe with respective rounds of 75 and 76.

   Zimmer, Fitzgerald, McCabe and Smith made it into the First Flight bracket and Debusschere will be involved in a playoff Wednesday morning in an attempt to join them.