Wilmington Country Club’s Matt Homer continued his winning roll as his birdie-birdie finish at Lookaway Golf Club Thursday gave him a one-shot victory over The 1912 Club’s Josh Ryan in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Christman Cup.
The Christman Cup is a one-day 36-hole test and one of GAP’s major championships for junior golfers. Matt Homer grabbed a one-shot lead over twin brother and defending Christman Cup winner Jeff and North Hills Country Club’s Tyler Leyden with a sparkling 3-under-par 69 in the morning over the 6,573-yard, par-72 Lookaway layout in Birmingham, Bucks County.
Matt Homer’s birdie-birdie finish helped him surge past Ryan with a 2-under 70 that gave him a 5-under 139 total for the long day.
Matt Homer capped his spring season with Tatnall School by winning the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association crown at Odessa National Golf Club. He made a run to the semifinals of GAP’s Junior Boys’ Championship at Bala Golf Club before falling in 20 holes to Merion Golf Club’s Nathan Guertler.
The 17-year-old captured the Delaware Junior Boys’ Championship last week at the Chesapeake Bay Golf Club and snuck in a club championship at Wilmington in the midst of all that.
“These (past few weeks) have been the best of my golf career,” Matt Homer told the GAP website. “It’s just awesome. I’ve been taking it tournament by tournament this year, but I really enjoyed this one today, especially after seeing Jeff do it last year.”
It looked like Matt Homer might run away with it when he made birdies at the third, fourth, sixth and eighth holes in Thursday morning’s opening round. He cooled off a little with bogeys at the ninth, 11th and 12th holes before bouncing back with birdies at 13 and 17.
Matt Homer started on the back nine for his afternoon round and found himself trailing Ryan by a shot with two holes remaining.
Matt Homer reached the green at the 542-yard, par-5 eighth hole by bombing a 3-wood 260 yards and two-putted from 40 feet for a birdie. His approach with a sand wedge from 102 yards away at the 335-yard, par-4 ninth hole finished 25 feet from the cup and he promptly drained the birdie try to claim the championship.
Ryan, who claimed his third straight GAP Junior Boys’ crown at Bala last month, had the best round of the afternoon, a 3-under 69, after opening with a 1-under 71 to earn runnerup honors with a 4-under 140 total.
Ryan, the District One Class AAA champion as a junior while representing Norristown High in 2019, will join the program at Division I power Liberty next month.
Matt Homer had to battle just to be low Homer at Lookaway. Twin brother Jeff trailed Matt Homer by just a shot with his opening round of 2-under 70. Jeff Homer then matched par in the second round with a 72 to finish two shots behind Ryan in a tie for fourth place with North Hills Country Club’s Tyler Leyden at 2-under 142.
Younger brother Jack Homer was part of a trio of players tied for seventh place at 2-over 146. Jack Homer battled back from an opening-round 76 with a solid 2-under 70 in the afternoon.
The twins, Matt and Jeff, will be seniors at Tatnall in the fall while Jack Homer will be a sophomore. Tatnall was the runnerup to Sussex Academy in the team chase in the DIAA Championship at Odessa National.
Leyden, a senior at La Salle who was a member of the Explorers team that won Catholic League and District 12 Class AAA team crowns last fall, matched par in the afternoon with a 72 after opening with a 2-under 70 to join Jeff Homer in the tie for third place at 2-under 142.
Elmhurst Country Club’s Billy Pabst matched par in both rounds with a pair of 72s to finish alone in fifth place with an even-par 144 total. Pabst lost in a playoff to Downingtown West’s Nick Gross for the PIAA Class AAA individual crown as a senior at North Pocono at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County last fall.
Jericho National Golf Club’s Christian Deussing, who will join the program at Gettysburg later this summer, bounced back from an opening-round 75 with a 2-under 70 in the afternoon to finish a shot behind Pabst in sixth place with a 1-over 145 total.
Joining Jack Homer in the trio tied for seventh place at 2-over 146 were La Salle teammates Ethan Martin of Talamore Country Club and Scott Hughes of Cedarbrook Country Club.
Martin wasn’t in the lineup when La Salle finished in third place in the PIAA Class AAA team chase at Heritage Hills, but he was a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as an individual as a sophomore. Martin carded a pair of 1-over 73s to get his share of seventh place.
Hughes, who was in the lineup for La Salle in the PIAA Class AAA team competition, and, like Martin, will be a junior at La Salle this fall, matched par in the afternoon with a 72 after opening with a 2-over 74.
Recent Wissahickon graduate Christian Matt, Hughes’ clubmate at Cedarbrook, and Saucon Valley Country Club’s Winston Blank rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for 10th place, each landing on 3-over 147.
Matt, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier who will join the program at Saint Joseph’s next month, bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a solid 2-under 70 in the afternoon. Blank matched par with a 72 in the afternoon after opening with a 3-over 75.
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