It’s been quite a rivalry on the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s junior circuit this summer between Wilmington Country Club’s Matt Homer and The 1912 Club’s Josh Ryan.
Matt Homer prevailed on the third hole of a playoff with Ryan to capture the title in the Jock MacKenzie Memorial Monday at Sandy Run Country Club. But their tie at the end of regulation, each carded a 3-under-par 69 over the 6,531-yard, par-72 Sandy Run layout in Oreland, assured that there would be one more meeting between the pair.
Matt Homer and Ryan will return to Sandy Run Aug. 11 in an 18-hole playoff for the Harry Hammond Award, which includes a player’s scores from one round of qualifying for match play in last month’s GAP Junior Boys’ Championship at Bala Golf Club, the two rounds from last week’s Christman Cup at Lookaway Golf Club and the Josh MacKenzie round at Sandy Run.
Ryan got the jump on Matt Homer in the Harry Hammond Award race when he was the co-medalist in qualifying for match play in the GAP Junior Boys with an even-par 68 at Bala. Ryan would go on to capture the GAP Junior Boys’ crown for the third straight year with Matt Homer falling in the semifinals.
Matt Homer drew even with Ryan in the Harry Hammond Award race by capturing the Christman Cup for the second straight year, edging Ryan by a shot at Lookaway.
The 69s Matt Homer and Ryan carded in the Jock MacKenzie Monday gave each of them a 7-under 277 total, breaking the Harry Hammond Award record of 279 registered by Haverford School golf coach Cole Berman in 2012. They were 11 shots clear of their closest pursuer.
Matt Homer, a senior at Tatnall School, became the first player to pull off a Christman Cup-Jock MacKenzie double. The Christman Cup was first played in 2000. He also became the first player to repeat as winner of the Jock MacKenzie in more than two decades.
“It’s awesome to win back-to-back,” Matt Homer told the GAP website. “It’s a cool honor. It’s the best I’ve ever played in my life. It’s been unreal. Obviously, the swing feels great. I’m just finding ways to get the ball in the hole.”
Ryan, who will join the program at ASUN power Liberty next month, said Matt Homer’s putting prowess is what has separated him from the pack this summer.
In a scene reminiscent of Matt Homer’s 25-foot birdie putt that won him the Christman Cup on his final hole at Lookaway last week, he found himself with a 20-footer for birdie on the third hole of his playoff with Ryan at Sandy Run’s 484-yard, par-5 15th hole and just buried it.
The putter had helped Matt Homer battle back from a double bogey at the sixth hole in regulation.
He got one of those shots back right away when a wedge from 35 yards away at the 315-yard, par-4 seventh hole stopped 10 feet from the hole and Matt Homer converted the birdie try.
He bombed a 3-wood from 280 yards away just in front of the green at the 595-yard, par-5 11th hole and chipped it close for a tap-in birdie. An 8-iron from 152 yards away at the 423-yard, par-4 14th hole left him 35 feet from the hole and Matt Homer poured in the birdie putt. Suddenly, he was in red figures for the round.
On the par-5 15th hole where Matt Homer would eventually nail down the title, he sent a 9-iron in from 162 yards away and was just off the green. He chipped it to three feet and dropped the short birdie putt.
Matt Homer had one more birdie bomb left in him in regulation. His sand wedge from 120 yards away at the 386-yard, par-4 17th hole ended up 30 feet from the hole. No problem. Matt Homer rolled it right in the cup to get it to 3-under for the round.
Three groups behind Matt Homer, Ryan appeared to be on his way to the title as he had five birdies and no bogeys heading to the 17th tee. But Ryan made three-putt bogeys at each of the last two holes to fall back into a tie with Matt Homer at 3-under.
If Ryan was disappointed with the playoff loss in the Jock MacKenzie, it didn’t show much the next two days as he put together a pair of 1-over 71s for a 2-over 142 total at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s tough Wissahickon Course that left him in a tie for sixth place in the Philadelphia Open, which annually draws the toughest field in the region.
Cedarbrook Country Club’s Christian Matt, a recent Wissahickon graduate, and Commonwealth National Golf Club’s Jackson Fryer finished in a tie for third place in the Jock MacKenzie, each carding a 1-under 71. Matt, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during his scholastic career, will join the program at Saint Joseph’s next month.
Once again, it was an accomplishment for Matt Homer just to be low Homer. Twin brother Jeff finished in a tie for fifth place with Rolling Green Golf Club’s Daniel Flaherty, each landing on 1-over 73, and the twins’ younger brother Jack was alone in seventh with a 2-over 74. A year ago, Jeff Homer captured the Christman Cup title and was the Harry Hammond Award winner.
Jeff Homer will be, like Matt, a senior at Tatnall this fall while Jack Homer will be a sophomore.
Flaherty, a senior at Springfield, captured the Central League’s individual crown when he matched par with a 72 at Turtle Creek Golf Course last fall.
A couple of members of the La Salle golf team that finished in third place in the PIAA Class AAA team chase last fall at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort, Cedarbrook’s Darren Nolan and North Hills Country Club’s Tyler Leyden headed a quartet of players tied for eighth place at 3-over 75.
Nolan is a recent La Salle graduate while Leyden will return for his senior season as the Explorers defend the Catholic League and District 12 Class AAA team crowns they won last fall.
Rounding out the foursome at 3-over were Llanerch Country Club’s Aidan Farkas and Spring Ford Country Club’s Lucas Steinmetz, who will be a senior at The Hill School this fall.
In the Junior Girls division at Sandy Run, Silvana Gonzalez, a member of Downingtown East’s PIAA Class AAA championship team as a junior last fall, captured the title with an 83. Sandy Run played to 5,464 yards for the girls. Gonzalez was playing out of Applecross Country Club.
Gabi Courtney of Sunnybrook Golf Club was the runnerup with an 89.
Gregory Kirz of Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club won the Junior-Junior division in a playoff with Green Valley Country Club’s Henry Sokol.
Kirz, an eighth-grader at St. Genevieve School, and Henry Sokol each carded a 45 in the regulation nine holes that played to 2,741 yards.
Green Valley’s Jack Sokol, pretty sure he’s Henry’s twin brother, was another two shots behind Henry Sokol and Kirz in third place with a 47.
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