Siegfried outlasts Maude to reach semifinals of R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship

   It was a meeting of Haverford School golf standouts a generation apart, well a half a generation anyway. It was Merion Golf Club vs. Aronimink Golf Club, two of the Philadelphia area’s most prestigious golf addresses in different corners of Delaware County.

   And it was Max Siegfried, the more recent Ford standout and a product of the junior program at Aronimink, who prevailed, edging the Ford star from the early 2000s, Tug Maude, 1-up, Tuesday to earn Siegfried a spot in the semifinals of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 17^th R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship at the Country Club of York.

   If you’re a member at Aronimink, playing for a trophy with Jay Sigel’s name on it has a little added significance. Sigel has traveled the world as one of the finest amateur players this country has ever produced and then as a PGA Tour Champions standout. But he has always listed Aronimink Golf Club as his home course.

   Siegfried will take on qualifying medalist Rick Stimmel, the western Pennsylvania 50-something out of Diamond Run Golf Club who seemed to get stronger as a long two-match day wore on. Stimmel rallied for a 3 and 2 victory over Hartefeld National Golf Club’s Brandon Raihl, who starred scholastically at Conrad Weiser and played some college golf at La Salle.

   On the other half of the bracket, The 1912 Club’s Josh Ryan, who is playing some pretty good golf this summer, including a victory in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship, will take on Nemacolin Country Club’s Brett Young, who was a hockey guy all the way through college at California of Pennsylvania before discovering maybe golf was his best sport.

   All Young did in Tuesday afternoon’s quarterfinals was claim a 5 and 4 victory over Pinecrest Country Club’s Nathan Smith, a six-time winner of the R. Jay Sigel Match Play and as good a practician of match-play golf as you’ll find anywhere. Young didn’t allow Smith to win a single hole, so yeah, I think maybe golf is his best sport.

   Ryan is home-schooled by Commonwealth Connections Academy and represents Norristown High on the golf course. He won the District One Class AAA Championship and finished in a tie for third at the state tournament as a junior last fall.

   In a meeting of two of the most talented junior players in the state, Ryan claimed a 4 and 3 victory over the Country Club of Harrisburg’s Garrett Engle in the final quarterfinal match. Engle, an Oklahoma recruit – yes, Oklahoma as in the Sooners – has represented Central Dauphin, but, like Ryan, is home-schooled and has passed up the PIAA individual postseason.

   Siegfried, following in the footsteps of older brother Cory, the 2010 Pennsylvania Amateur champion, started his college career at Virginia and then came home and joined Jim Wilkes’ program at Villanova.

   He faced a tough opponent in Maude, who has picked his spots in his return to competitive golf the last three years or so after concentrating on work and family for a decade. Maude reached the R. Jay Sigel Match Play semifinals a year ago at Llanerch Country Club.

   Maude won the first hole, but Siegfried picked up wins at the fourth and sixth holes to go 1-up. Maude finally drew even again with a win at the 13^th hole, but Siegfried answered right back with wins at 14 and 15 to go 2-up.

   Maude creeped within 1-down by taking the 16^th hole, but Siegfried was gritty, getting halves at 17 and 18 to pull out the 1-up victory in the only match of the day to reach the 18^th green at the par-72 Donald Ross design at the Country Club of York.

   Siegfried’s day began with an equally hard-fought 2 and 1 victory over a GAP stalwart in LuLu Country Club’s Michael Brown Jr., whose 2018 Patterson Cup win was the third GAP major championship on his resume.

   Maude pulled out a 2 and 1 triumph over Indiana Country Club’s Kyle Grube, who will return to Robert Morris for a graduate season after losing the spring portion of his senior year to the coronavirus pandemic, in another tightly-contested opening-round match.

   After Stimmel rolled to a 4 and 3 victory over Loch Nairn Golf Club’s Austin Barbin, a sophomore on the Maryland golf team, it looked like he was running out of gas when he fell 3-down to Raihl after seven holes.

   But Stimmel, who went off on the Country Club of York’s front nine to the tune of a 7-under 29 in Monday’s qualifying round, got it going on the back nine this time. After cutting into his deficit with a win at the eighth hole, Stimmel picked up wins at 11 and 12 to get even with Raihl.

   Then Stimmel won the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th holes and it was over.

   It’s hard to understate what Young did in his win over Smith, beating the match-play maestro at his own game. Young won the first hole and grinded his way through seven straight halves. Wins at the ninth and 10^th holes gave him a 3-up lead and then he was 5-up after taking the 12^th and 13^th holes. Smith never won a hole.

   Young opened his day with a 3 and 2 win over Hannastown Golf Club’s Mark Goetz, a redshirt junior at West Virginia who starred scholastically at The Kiski School.

   It was a really impressive day for Ryan, who has always been a nice player, making the PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of his first three seasons with Norristown. But he is taking it to another level this summer.

   Ryan took out Penn State senior Louis Olsakovsky, who reached the final of the R. Jay Sigel Match Play a year ago at Llanerch, 4 and 3 in Tuesday morning’s opening round.

   Ryan displayed some pretty good match-play chops in his victory over Engle, grabbing a 3-up lead through six holes and never letting Engle get off the mat. Engle won the 11^th hole to cut his deficit to 2-down, but Ryan closed him out with back-to-back wins at 14 and 15.