Ryan takes it up a notch with victory over Stimmel in R. Jay Sigel Match Play final

   You win the District One Class AAA Championship and finish in a tie for third in the PIAA Class AAA Championship. You win the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship. Josh Ryan had established himself as one of the top junior players in Pennsylvania.

   But this, winning the 17^th edition of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship against some of the best of your elders from all over the Commonwealth, that’s another thing entirely.

   Ryan, playing out of The 1912 Club where he won the GAP Junior Boys’ last month, gutted out a 1-up victory over 52-year-old Rick Stimmel in the R. Jay Sigel Match Play final Wednesday afternoon at the Country Club of York. That says he’s not just one of the best junior players in Pennsylvania, he’s one of the best amateur players in the state, period.

   Home-schooled by Commonwealth Connections Academy, Ryan represents Norristown High on the golf course. Assuming there is a high school golf season this fall and assumptions keep going right out the window in the year of the coronavirus pandemic, Ryan will be trying to become a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier.

   But this week at the Country Club of York, a Donald Ross classic, Ryan displayed the kind of poise under pressure that belies the fact that he’s about to enter his senior year of high school.

   I don’t think Ryan has a ton of match-play experience, so maybe surviving some tough matches in the GAP Junior Boys’ had a little something to do with what happened this week. Or maybe winning one of the biggest junior crowns in the Philadelphia area gave him a jolt of confidence to go along with his considerable talent.

   Ryan fell behind Stimmel, 3-down, when the qualifying medalist ripped off wins at the second, third and fourth holes. If the kid was every going to get rattled, you’d figure it might happen there.

   But Ryan got on a roll of his own, winning four straight holes from the seventh through the 10^th to turn a 3-down deficit into a 1-up advantage. Ryan added to his lead by taking the 12^th hole.

   Stimmel, however, has played the Country Club of York like he owns the place, even though he had never laid eyes on the course before this week. He picked up wins at the 13^th and 15^th holes to draw even.

   Ryan had to be feeling it now, right? The old guy was coming at him hard. Tough spot, right? Nah. Ryan won the 16^th hole to grab a 1-up lead and preserved it with halves at 17 and 18 to take the title.

   With the usual match-play concessions, Ryan fired a 5-under 67, Stimmel, playing out of Diamond Run Golf Club, a 4-under 68. Nobody gave this match away. Ryan went out and won it.

   Ryan’s day began with another hard-fought victory, a 3 and 1 semifinal win over Nemacolin Country Club’s Brett Young, who was coming off an epic 5 and 4 upset of six-time R. Jay Sigel Match Play champion Nathan Smith in Tuesday afternoon’s quarterfinals.

   Young got the jump by taking the first hole … and never won another hole. Young and Ryan halved the next seven holes before Ryan, playing with the same kind of patience Young displayed in his win over Smith, finally got a win at the ninth hole to even the match.

   Ryan won the 10^th hole to put his nose in front. He won the 14^th hole to build a 2-up advantage and then closed out the match by taking the 17^th.

   Stimmel cruised to a 5 and 3 victory over Aronimink Golf Club’s Max Siegfried, who, I’m pretty sure, has another year of eligibility left at Villanova, in the other semifinal.

   Stimmel was really good at the Country Club of York. I’m sure his front-nine 29, his second nine of the day, in Monday’s qualifying round will be a career highlight. And he kept knocking off one young challenger after another. Until he got to the youngest one of all.