Homer comes on strong in the afternoon to capture Christman Cup by four shots at Chester Valley

    The Christman Cup, one of the major championships for junior players on the Golf Association of Philadelphia schedule, is played in July, so you can almost count on the heat and humidity to be set on high.

   So, the suffocating heat that greeted the field for the 22^nd Christman Cup Wednesday at Chester Valley Golf Club, the underrated classic layout in East Whiteland, Chester County, was to be expected. Oh yeah, it’s a one-day, 36-hole event, too, so you’re out there all day.

   They’re kids, but that kind of heat can play tricks on you and the 6,284-yard, par-70 Chester Valley layout provided a unique challenge. When it hosted an annual stop for several years in the early days of the PGA Tour Champions – back when it was just called the Senior Tour – Chester Valley always drew raves from the senior pros, even on a golf course on which birdies were hard to come by and the winning score was often 4- or 5-under.

   Wilmington Country Club’s Jeffrey Homer overcame it all, the heat and the humidity, a difficult golf course, a tough field and he got stronger as the day wore on to capture the title by four shots with a 1-under 139 total.

   The 16-year-old Jeffrey Homer had teamed with twin brother Matt to finish in a tie for third place a day earlier in the 35^th Francis X. Hussey Memorial at Rolling Green Golf Club and the challenging green complexes at the William Flynn design at Rolling Green proved to be perfect preparation for the slick surfaces the players faced at Chester Valley.

   Jeffrey and Matt Homer will begin their junior year at the Tatnall School later this year and the Tatnall and Wilmington Country Club contingent fared well both at Rolling Green and at Chester Valley. Jeffrey Homer was quick to credit his caddy Wednesday, Tommy Ciconte, an up-and-comer for Tatnall.

   Tommy Ciconte’s older brother Anthony Ciconte will be a senior at Tatnall. He finished in a tie for fourth place in the Christman Cup and teamed with yet another member of Team Homer, Jack Homer, an incoming freshman at Tatnall, to earn runnerup honors in the Hussey. Between the two families, Tatnall has a pretty solid core of good players.

   But this day belonged to Jeffrey Homer. He opened with a 2-over 72, which left him a tie for the top spot with recent Devon Prep graduate Ryan McCabe, who plays out of The Springhaven Club, and Loch Nairn Golf Club’s Evan Barbin, a member of the golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md., after 18 holes.

   Starting off the 10^th tee for his afternoon round, Jefrrey Homer blitzed the incoming nine at Chester Valley for three birdies and a 3-under 32 that left him three shots clear of the field.

   Tommy Ciconte talked Jeffrey Homer into a 7-iron on the 177-yard, par-3 10^th hole and Jeffrey Homer drilled it to 15 feet and converted the birdie try.

   Jeffrey Homer used a pitching wedge from 111 yards away to knock it to five feet at the 401-yard, par-4 12^th hole and he dropped the putt. Jeffrey Homer then picked up a third birdie on Chester Valley’s back nine when his sand wedge from 98 yards out at the 404-yard, par-4 18^th hole finished three feet from the hole and he knocked in the putt.

   Jeffrey Homer’s closest pursuer on Chester Valley’s front nine was Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Patrick Isztwan, a recent Penn Charter graduate who captured the Christman Cup a year ago at LuLu Country Club.

   When Isztwan rolled in a 36-foot birdie putt on the 401-yard, par-4 sixth hole, he had creeped within two shots and Jeffrey Homer faced a testy five-footer for par. Jeffrey Homer had missed the green and his chip shot raced past the hole. A two-shot swing seemed possible, but Jeffrey Homer got the par save to maintain a two-shot advantage on Isztwan.

   Jeffrey Homer then delivered the dagger on the 158-yard, par-3 seventh hole. Tommy Ciconte thought pitching wedge was the club and Jeffrey Homer executed to perfection, leaving it six feet from the hole and coaxing the birdie putt home.

   It added up to a 3-under 67 in the afternoon for Jeffrey Homer and a 1-under 139 total. It was the best  round of the day and Jeffrey Homer was the only player in the field to finish under par for the two rounds.

   “I knew before that I was capable (of winning) after my play in the Junior Boys’ Championship,” Jeffrey Homer, who lost a tough 1-up decision to eventual runnerup Morgan Lofland in the quarterfinals at Overbrook Golf Club, told the GAP website. “I came out today and was confident. I got the job done.

   “All of the pieces connected. It feels awesome to win a big tournament like this.”

   Isztwan, who will join the Richmond program later this summer, matched par in the afternoon with a 70 after opening with a 73 and settled for a share of second place with a 3-over 143.

   He was joined at that figure by recent Cardinal O’Hara graduate Thomas Larkin, a GAP Youth on Course entry who matched Isztwan’s splits, carding an even-par70 in the afternoon after opening with a 73.

   Anthony Ciconte got a share of fourth place as he added a 1-over 71 to his opening-round 73 for a 4-over 144 toal. North Pocono senior Billy Pabst, playing out of Elmhurst Country Club, joined Anthony Ciconte at 4-over as he matched par in the afternoon with a 70 after opening with a 74.

   Pabst, who finished in a tie for sixth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, had teamed with recent Haverford School graduate Jake Maddaloni to capture the title in the Hussey Tuesday at Rolling Green.

   Shane Lawler, playing on his home course at Chester Valley, carded a pair of 3-over 73s for a 146 total that left him alone in sixth place. Lawler graduated from Episcopal Academy in the spring.

   Springhaven’s McCabe was a shot behind Lawler in seventh place at 7-over 147. After his opening 72, McCabe, the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s 16-to-18 Player of the Year for the wraparound 2019-2002 season, backed off a little with a 75.

   McCabe had an outstanding scholastic career at Devon Prep, contending for PIAA Class AA crowns in 2018 and 2019 and leading it to a fourth-place finish in the PIAA Class AA team chase last fall.

   Maddaloni, playing out of Aronimink Golf Club, another Springhaven entry, recent Strath Haven graduate Jackson Debusschere, and West Chester Rustin senior Ryan D’Ariano, playing out of Penn Oaks Golf Club, all landed on 8-over 148 and finished in a tie for eighth place.

   Maddaloni, a recent Haverford School graduate who teamed with Pabst for a victory in the Hussey Tuesday at Rolling Green, carded a pair of 4-over 74s. Maddaloni will join the Bucknell program later this summer.

   Debusschere, who helped Strath Haven capture the first Central League and District One Class AAA crowns in the history of the program in 2019, added a 3-over 73 to his opening-round 75. D’Ariano, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a junior last fall, opened with a 3-over 73 before finishing up with a 75.

   Barbin, who will represent the Philadelphia area in the U.S. Junior Amateur later this month at the Country Club of North Carolina, had shared the lead following the opening round with his 72, but struggled a little to a 77 in the afternoon and finished alone in 11^th place at 149.

   La Salle sophomore Scott Hughes, playing out of Cedarbrook Country Club, added a 76 to his opening-round 74 to end up in 12^th place with a 150 total.

   A couple more Cedarbrook guys, Hughes’ La Salle teammate Darren Nolan and Mario Ventresca and the youngest member of Team Homer, Jack Homer, finished in a tie for 13^th place, each landing on 151.

   Nolan, who will be a senior at La Salle this fall and plans to join the Temple program next summer, and Ventresca each added a 5-over 75 to an opening-round 76. Jack Homer, who will be a freshman at Tatnall School this fall, opened with a 75 before finishing up with a 76.

   The Christman Cup is played in memory of J. Fred Christman, who held numerous GAP leadership posts over the years, including chairman of the Junior Committee. In that position, Christman set GAP's junior golf schedule. GAP's successful junior program you see in 2021 has its roots in Christman's leadership. Christman died in 2019 at age 86.