Ryan, Lofland advance to semifinals of GAP Junior Boys' Championship at Overbrook with a pair of match wins

    It only seems like a thousand years ago that Josh Ryan, home-schooled by Commonwealth Connections Academy and representing Norristown High on the golf course, and Conestoga’s Morgan Lofland were two of the best high school juniors on the Pennsylvania scholastic scene.

   But the fall of 2019 wasn’t really all that long ago, was it?

   That’s when Ryan captured the District One Class AAA crown at Turtle Creek Golf Club and finished in a tie for third place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort. It was the third time Ryan had qualified for the state tournament.

   That’s when Lofland got a share of the Central League individual crown for the second straight year, captured the Class AAA East Regional title at Golden Oaks Golf Club, qualifying for the PIAA Class AAA Championship for the second time in three years and going on to finish in ninth place at Heritage Hills.

   But a triumphant senior season of scholastic golf was not to be for either Ryan or Lofland.

   Norristown never allowed its athletes to compete in the fall due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. There was no title defense for Ryan at Turtle Creek. Surely, Ryan would have joined that elite group of District One golfers who are four-time PIAA qualifiers.

   Lofland was sidelined for much of the fall with a mononucleosis-type virus. But pandemic issues conspired to keep the Central League from putting together a qualifying tournament in time to give its players a chance to get into the District One Championship, so Lofland wouldn’t have had a chance to make a run at a third trip to the state tournament.

   They have moved on, of course. Ryan is headed for Liberty, a powerful Division I program that qualified for the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. this spring. Lofland will join Greg Nye’s Penn State program later this summer as the Nittany Lions try to return to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2017. The good news is that, with the pandemic in retreat, they should get a whole season, something a lot of college golfers have been denied in each of the last two years.

   Ryan and Lofland dodged the raindrops Tuesday to win two matches each and advance to the semifinals of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 107^th Junior Boys’ Championship at Overbrook Golf Club.

   Ryan and Lofland have both displayed some proficiency at the often tricky art of match-play golf. Ryan is the defending champion in the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship, a victory he followed up with an eye-opening triumph in the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship.

   After falling in the quarterfinals in last year’s GAP Junior Boys’ Championship, Lofland reassessed his approach to match play and his new game plan worked well enough last week to get him to the semifinals of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Cedarbrook Country Club, where he fell to eventual champion Conor McGrath.

   Ryan, playing out of The 1912 Club, where he captured the GAP Junior Boys a year ago, rolled to a 7 and 5 victory over Michael Lynch of the Country Club of Scranton in Tuesday’s morning opening round. He proceeded to make short work of Christopher Dorey of Metedeconk National Golf Club, a semifinalist at The 1912 Club a year ago, with a decisive 6 and 4 verdict.

   The rain held off for a little while Tuesday morning, but was coming down hard enough in the middle of the day to briefly make the course unplayable. Play resumed at 2 p.m. I’m sure, at a couple points, rain gear was prominent.

   Lofland, playing out of Phoenixville Country Club, captured qualifying medalist honors for the second year in a row with a 2-under 68 over the 6,299-yard, par-70 Overbrook layout Monday.

   He opened match play with a 3 and 2 victory over Emmaus senior Matt Zerfass, who was representing Brookside Country Club of Allentown.

   Lofland, however, found himself 2-down with four holes to play against Wilmington Country Club’s Jeffrey Homer, a Tatnall School junior. Lofland proceeded to win three of the last four holes, the 15^th, 16^th and 18^th, to pull out a 1-up victory.

   Jeffrey Homer wasn’t the only member of Team Homer in the quarterfinals. Twin brother Matthew reached the semifinals with a 2 and 1 victory over Louis Giovi of Mercer Oaks Golf Club.

   Matthew Homer will be Ryan’s semifinal opponent Wednesday morning.

   Lofland’s semifinal opponent will be Jack Tarzy of Medford Lakes Country Club. Tarzy ended the bid of recent Strath Haven graduate Jackson Debusschere with a hard-fought 2 and 1 decision in Tuesday afternoon’s quarterfinals.

   Tarzy opened the day with an impressive 4 and 3 victory over West Chester Rustin senior Ryan D’Ariano, who was representing Penn Oaks Golf Club.

   Debusschere, a product of The Springhaven Club’s solid junior program, pulled out a 1-up victory over La Salle sophomore Scott Hughes, who was playing out of Cedarbrook, to reach the semifinals. Neither player ever led by more than 1-up. Debusschere won the 16^th hole to go 1-up, Hughes evened the match by taking the 17^th and Debusschere answered by winning the 18^th.

   Such is the depth of talent in the Philadelphia region that Spring Mill Country Club’s Corey Haydu, who reached the final against Ryan a year at The 1912 Club, had to settle for a spot in the first flight this year.

   But Haydu, who, I’m pretty sure, graduated from La Salle this spring, reached the semifinals of the first flight by beating Merion Golf Club’s John Bradbeer in 19 holes Tuesday. I never could figure out if the Catholic League allowed its golfers to compete last fall. Haydu had helped the Explorers finish in third place in the PIAA Class AAA team chase in 2019.

   The Central League finally got around to staging a league championship the week following the PIAA Championship and Bradbeer capped his senior season at Harriton by winning the individual crown with an even-par 72 at Downingtown Country Club.

   Haydu’s opponent in the first flight semifinals will be another member of the Country Club of Scranton’s Team Lynch, Thomas Lynch, who also had to go to a 19^th hole to defeat Logan Wagner of Meadia Heights Golf Club.

   The other semifinal will pit Saucon Valley Country Club’s Evan Eichenlaub against Laurel Creek Country Club’s Matthew Normand.

   Eichenlaub, a Moravian Academy junior, also had to go to a 19^th hole before pulling out a quarterfinal victory over Sean Kelly of Bucknell Golf Club. Normand claimed a 3 and 2 decision over Philadelphia Country Club’s Tyler Zimmer, a key member of The Haverford School’s 2019 Inter-Ac League championship team, but whose season this past year was a casualty of the pandemic.