Lofland, making his college debut, Sheehan help Penn State finish third in Turning Stone Intercollegiate

   As college debuts go, Morgan Lofland’s opening act at Penn State went pretty well.

   Despite losing much of his senior season due to a combination of confusion over the coronavirus pandemic and the non-coronavirus mononucleosis-type illness he suffered, Lofland had a strong scholastic career at Conestoga, twice sharing medalist honors in the Central League Championship, winning an individual crown in the Class AAA East Regional as a junior at Golden Oaks Golf Club and twice qualifying for the PIAA Class AAA Championship.

   Lofland had a pretty solid junior career as well, winning medalist honors in qualifying in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship each of the last two summers and capturing the Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ Championship this summer at Hershey Country Club’s East Course. Lofland also reached the semifinals of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Cedarbrook Country Club.

   Penn State opened the fall portion of the wraparound 2021-2022 season over the Labor Day weekend in the Turning Stone Intercollegiate at the Turning Stone Resort’s Kaluhyat Course in Verona, N.Y. and Lofland had earned a spot in head coach Greg Nye’s starting lineup.

   Lofland proceeded to prove he very much belonged in that starting lineup. After opening with a 2-over-par 74 in Sunday morning’s opening round over the 6,803-yard, par-72 Kaluhyat Course layout, Lofland went off for Penn State’s best individual round of the weekend, a sparkling 5-under 67 that included a hole-in-one on the 151-yard, par-3 15^th hole. He had four birdies and just one bogey on his scorecard.

   Lofland closed with a 3-over 75 to join teammate Lou Olsakovsky, a graduate student who starred scholastically at Upper St. Clair, in the group tied for 14^th place at even-par 216. Lofland just might have earned himself a nickname on the Penn State golf team, eh "Ace."

   The Nittany Lions were led by junior Patrick Sheehan, the 2018 District One Class AAA champion as senior at Central Bucks East who had pretty strong summer himself.

   Sheehan led the Pennsylvania Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s East Course nearly every step of the way in July. He still had a share of the lead on the final hole of the 54-hole event, the classic finishing hole at Merion, when his playing partner, John Peters of Carlisle, holed out for eagle from 193 yards away, a spectacular stroke that gave him the title and left Sheehan in a tie for second place.

   Sheehan also finished in a tie for second place in a GAP major, the Patterson Cup, at Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club and qualified for the U.S. Amateur, testing his game at one of America’s classic courses, Oakmont Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh.

   Sheehan has clearly emerged as Penn State’s best player. The big hitter was steady as can be at Turning Stone, carding a pair of 2-under 70s in Sunday’s double round and adding a 1-under 71 in the Labor Day wrapup to finish in a tie for fifth place with a 5-under 211 total, four shots behind the co-medalists, Missouri’s Jack Parker, a senior homeboy from Columbia, Mo., and LSU’s Michael Sanders, a senior from Davidson, N.C.

   Sheehan and Lofland helped Penn State get its season off to a strong start as the Nittany Lions finished in third place behind a couple of Southeastern Conference teams in Missouri and LSU.

   Missouri has been a regular at Turning Stone and the Tigers, behind Parker, rallied from 11 strokes behind to overtake the Bayou Tigers, a perennial SEC power, to win the team title for the ninth time. Missouri opened with rounds of 6-under 282 and 5-under 283 in Sunday’s double round. The Tigers closed with a bookend 6-under 282 for a 17-under 847 total.

   After opening with a 1-over 289, LSU, behind a scintillating 8-under 64 by Sanders, unfurled a 23-under 265 in Sunday’s second round, the second-best team round in a storied history. LSU backed off in the final round with a 7-over 295 to finish in second place with a 15-under 849 total.

   Penn State, which will be hoping to move up from the middle of the Big Ten pack, opened with a 1-over 289 and, behind Lofland’s 67, added a 3-under 285 in Sunday afternoon’s second round. The Nittany Lions closed with a solid 2-over 290 to finish with an even-par 864 total, 15 shots behind LSU.

   Atlantic Coast Conference power Duke finished five shots behind Penn State in fourth place at 5-over 869. The Blue Devils added a 3-under 285 to their opening-round 290 before closing with a 294.

   It was a pretty strong start for Delaware, out of the Colonial Athletic Association, as the Blue Hens, behind a tie for third place by Roberto Nieves, a senior from Miami, Fla., finished 16 shots behind Duke in fifth place in the 15-team field with a 21-over 885 total. Delaware’s best round was a 2-over 290 in Sunday morning’s opening round. The Blue Hens added a 297 in the second round before closing with a 298.

   Pretty sure in the cases of Penn State, Duke and Delaware, guys were just happy to be out on the golf course as coronavirus concerns led their respective conferences to keep their golfers from competing in the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-’21 season.

   Parker led the way for Missouri as he added a 5-under 67 to his opening-round 70 before closing with a 2-under 70 to make up a two-shot deficit and catch LSU’s Sanders and earn his first college victory with a 9-under 207 total.

   Teammate Jack Lundin, a sophomore from Sioux Falls, S.D., joined Delaware’s Nieves in the tie for third place at 6-under 210, three shots behind Parker and Sanders. Lundin got off to a quick start with a 5-under 67 and matched par in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a 72 before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Tommy Boone, a senior from Plano, Texas, gave Missouri three finishers among the top seven as he ended up alone in seventh place with a 4-under 212 total. Boone sandwiched a 74 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 3-under 69s.

   Yu-Ta Tsai, a junior from Taiwan, finished in a tie for 18^th place for the Tigers at 2-over 218. After struggling in the opening round with a 76, Tsai bounced back with a 2-under 70 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Rounding out the Missouri lineup was Michael Terblanche, a junior from South Africa who ended up in the group tied for 64^th place with a 235 total. Terblanche struggled in the opening round with an 82 before righting the ship with a 76 in Sunday afternoon’s second round and closing with a 77.

   After opening with a 71, LSU’s Sanders put together the best round of the weekend, his 8-under 64 vaulting him to the top of the leaderboard. Sanders matched par in the final round with a 72, allowing Parker to catch him for a share of medalist honors. Still, Sanders celebrated his first college victory.

   Delaware’s Nieves stood two shots behind Sanders in a tie for second place after Sunday’s double round as he added a 4-under 68 to his opening-round 69. He cooled off a little in the final round with a 73 and shared third place with Missouri’s Lundin at 6-under 210, three shots behind the top two.

   LSU’s Garrett Barber, a senior from Stuart, Fla., joined Penn State’s Sheehan in a tie for fifth place at 5-under 211. After opening with a 71, Barber contributed a 6-under 66 to LSU’s scorching team round in the second round before closing with a 2-over 74.

   Boston College’s Nick Cummings was a shot behind Missouri’s Boone in eighth place as he added a 3-under 69 to his opening-round 73 before finishing up with a 71.

   Nicholas Arcemont, a sophomore from Thibadoux, La. who was competing as individual, gave LSU a third top-10 finisher as he joined Duke’s Luke Sample, a freshman from New York, N.Y., in a tie for ninth place at 2-under 214. Arcement opened with a solid 3-under 69 and matched par in the second round with a 72 before closing with a 73. Sample added a pair of even-par 72s to his opening-round 70.

   Olsakovsky is returning to Penn State for the fifth year of eligibility offered by the NCAA due to the pandemic. He opened with a 1-under 71, struggled a little in the second round with a 75 and finished up with a 2-under 70 to join Lofland in the group tied for 14^th place at even-par 216.

   Another freshman, Jake Griffin of Kensington, Md., had a nice college debut for the Nittany Lions as he sandwiched a 75 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 2-over 74s to join the group tied for 26^th place at 7-over 223.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was junior Ben Smith, who starred scholastically at West Perry. Smith added a 1-over 73 to his opening-round 75 before closing with a 76 to finish among the group tied for 31^st place at 224.

   Junior Jimmy Meyers, a member of Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 PIAA Class AAA championship team, competed as an individual at Turning Stone and finished in a tie for 20^th place at 4-over 220. Meyers, who, like Sheehan, qualified for the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont this summer, opened with a solid 1-under 71 and added a 74 before finishing up with a 75.

   Backing up Nieves for Delaware was Michael Bergenda, a junior from Poland who sandwiched a 76 in Sunday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s to join Penn State’s Meyers in the tie for 20^th place at 4-over 220.

   Sparky Ariyachatvakin, a sophomore from Thailand coming off a solid freshman spring, opened with a 1-under 71 before cooling off with a 77 in the second round and a 78 in the final round as he landed among the group tied for 34^th place at 226.

   Hugo Kedzlie, a junior from England, finished among the group tied for 50^th place at 230 as he added a 76 to his opening-round 79 before closing with his best round of the weekend, a 3-over 75.

   Rounding out the Delaware lineup was Egor Zubov,  a freshman from Russia who landed in the group tied for 69^th place at  240. After opening with a 78, Zubov struggled to an 84 in the second round before closing with another 78.

   There was another freshman making his college debut at Turning Stone, Duke’s Peters, the author of that astounding 8-iron that found the hole for eagle at Merion and earned him the Pennsylvania Amateur crown this summer. After opening with a solid 2-over 74, Peters struggled a little, posting a 78 in Sunday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 77 that left him among the group tied for 47^th place at 240.