Auburn's Bacha, Liberty's Ryan meet again in General Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach

   In the fall of 2019, Central York senior Carson Bacha and Josh Ryan, a junior representing Norristown, battled it out in the final round of the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Resort in York County.

   Bacha would pull away in the final holes, capping his brilliant scholastic career with a state championship by three shots. Ryan finished six shots behind Bacha in a tie for third place.

   You couldn’t help thinking that those two would probably run into each other somewhere down the road. And there they were this week at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Bacha playing for Southeastern Conference power Auburn and Ryan in the gear of ASUN power Liberty, two of the 14 teams teeing it up in the General Hackler Championship.

   Bacha and the Tigers came into the General Hackler ranked No. 6 by Golfstat and maintained that ranking with their third-place finish behind team champion East Tennessee State, out of the Southern Conference, and runnerup Virginia, an Atlantic Coast Conference power.

   Bacha was Auburn’s best player in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. last spring, finishing in a tie for 20^th place as the Tigers came up just seven shots short of a berth in the match-play bracket in a tie for 10^th place.

   Auburn had advanced to Grayhawk with a runnerup finish to Oklahoma, playing on its home course in the Norman Regional.

   By the midseason pause in the wraparound 2022-2023 season, Auburn was No. 2 in the Golfstat rankings after a strong fall campaign. Bacha arrived in Myrtle Beach this week at No. 86 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

   I stopped being surprised by Ryan when he won the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship at the Country Club of York against his elders in the summer before his senior year in high school in 2020.

   Of course, that was the pandemic summer of 2020, which led to the ill-fated fall high school season of 2020. Ryan was home-schooled by Commonwealth Connections Academy, but he represented Norristown on the golf course.

   When the Norristown Area School District would not allow its athletes to compete in the fall of 2020, it meant that that PIAA Class AAA Championship in the fall of 2019 had been the farewell performance of Ryan’s scholastic career.

   Ryan kept his head down and just kept playing. Lost in the heroics of John Peters in the Pennsylvania Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course in the summer of 2021 – Peters, who had shared third place with Ryan at the state tournament at Heritage Hills in 2019, holed out from 193 yards away on the iconic 18^th at Merion for eagle to take the title – was Ryan finishing in a tie for fourth place, just two shots behind Peters.

   Ryan took a gap year for the 2021-’22 season and, still eligible for junior events in the summer of 2022, won the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship for the third year in a row at Bala Golf Club and was GAP’s Junior Player of the Year for the second time in the last three summers.

   By the time the fall portion of his freshman season was over, Ryan was firmly ensconced in the Liberty starting lineup. Liberty was at Grayhawk last spring, advancing out of the Stockton Regional as a seven seed.

   The Flames maintained their No. 41 ranking with their seventh-place finish in the General Hackler.

   Ryan got the better of Bacha head-to-head in the General Heckler as he earned a top-10 finish, landing in a group of four players tied for 10^th place with a 5-under 211 total.

   Ryan opened with a 1-under 71 before solving the 7,233-yard, par-72 Dunes layout in the afternoon round of Monday’s double round, making six birdies and an eagle in a sizzling 6-under 66 that had him in a tie for sixth place going into Tuesday’s final round.

   Pretty sure the temperature went down and the wind got up for Tuesday’s final round as Ryan closed with a 2-over 74.

   Bacha matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71 as he ended up in the group tied for 25^th place with an even-par 216 total.

   East Tennessee State and Virginia finished 1-2 behind the individual co-medalists, the Buccaneers’ Mats Ege, a redshirt sophomore from Norway and the Cavaliers’ Ben James, one of the best freshmen in the country from Milford, Conn. and No. 20 in the WAGR.

   Virginia took a two-shot lead into Tuesday’s final round after adding a 13-under 275 in Monday afternoon’s second round to its opening round of 9-under 279.

   East Tennessee State, which advanced to the NCAA Championship in Grayhawk last spring out of the Columbus Regional, had opened by matching the best team round of the tournament, a 14-under 274, before adding a 6-under 282 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   A final round of 4-under 284 enabled East Tennessee State to overcome the Cavaliers as it finished with a 24-under 840 total. Virginia, which failed to advance out of a tough Columbus Regional field as a 10 seed last spring, closed with a 4-over 292 to earn runnerup honors with an 18-under 846 total that left it six shots behind the Buccaneers.

   East Tennessee State’s victory enabled the Buccaneers to jump five spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 45 to No. 40. Virginia maintained its No. 16 ranking with its runnerup finish.

   Ege had posted a pair of 5-under 67s in Monday’s double round and trailed James, who added a sparkling 7-under 65, the low individual round of the tournament, in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 68, by a shot.

   Ege closed with a 3-under 69 while James, who was a standout on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit, finished with a 2-under 70 as they shared the top spot, each landing on 13-under 203 total. It was the first career individual win for Ege while it was third time in his still fledgling college career that James has been either the medalist or co-medalist.

   Bacha and Auburn opened with an 8-under 280 and added a 3-under 285 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 4-under 284 to end up three shots behind Virginia in third place with a 15-under 849 total.

   Virginia’s ACC rival Louisville, and perennial Mid-American Conference power Kent State shared fourth place, each landing on 14-under 850, a shot behind Auburn.

   Louisville only trailed Virginia by seven shots going into Tuesday’s final round as the Cardinals opened with a solid 9-under 279 and added a 6-under 282 in Monday afternoon’s second round. Louisville closed with a 1-over 289, its tie for fourth place bumping it up three spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 39 to No. 36.

   Kent State got it going in Monday afternoon’s second round, matching the low team round of the tournament with a 14-under 274 after opening with a 2-over 290. The Golden Flashes closed with a 2-under 286 and were ranked No. 64 following the General Hackler.

   Louisville and Kent State were both in the field for the Norman Regional last spring, the Cardinals failing to advance to the NCAA Championship as a six seed and the Golden Flashes failing to advance as a 10 seed.

   No. 58 North Carolina State, another ACC entry, also got hot in Monday afternoon’s second round with a sparkling 13-under 275 after opening with a 4-over 292. The Wolfpack, who failed to advance out of the New Haven Regional as a five seed last spring, matched par in the final round with a 288 to finish in sixth place with a 9-under 855 total, five shots behind Louisville and Kent State.

   Liberty was a shot behind N.C. State in seventh place with an 8-under 856 total as the Flames, behind Ryan’s sparkling 66, got it going in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 13-under 275 after opening with a 2-over 290. Liberty closed with a 3-over 291.

   Backing up Ege for East Tennessee State was Algot Kleen, a sophomore from Sweden who finished alone in seventh place with a 7-under 209 total. After opening with a solid 4-under 68, Kleen added a 1-under 71 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 70.

   Archie Davies, a redshirt junior from England and No. 85 in the WAGR, finished in a tied for 15^th place with a 3-under 213 total for the Buccaneers. After registering back-to-back 2-under 70s in Monday’s double round, Davies finished up with a 1-over 73.

   Remi Chartier, a redshirt junior from Canada, finished in a tie for 37^th place for East Tennessee State with a 2-over 218 total. Chartier contributed a 3-under 69 to the Buccaneers’ fast start in the opening round. He added a 2-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 75.

   Rounding out the East Tennessee State lineup was Matty Dodd-Berry, a freshman from England who finished in a tie for 62^nd place with an 8-over 224 total. After opening with a 1-over 73, Dodd-Berry struggled a little in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 79 before matching par in the final round with a 72 that was an important counter for the Buccaneers.

   North Carolina State’s Michael LaSasso, a freshman from Raleigh, N.C., had three rounds in the 60s to finish a shot behind the co-medalists in third place with a 12-under 204 total. After opening with a sparkling 5-under 67, LaSasso added a 3-under 69 before closing with solid 4-under 68.

   South Carolina’s Nathan Franks, a sophomore from Roebuck, S.C., and Louisville’s Max Kennedy, a junior from Ireland, finished in a tie for fourth place, each landing on 9-under 207, three shots behind LaSasso.

   After opening with a 4-under 68, Franks added a 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 70. Kennedy added a sparkling 6-under 66 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 69 before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Kennedy’s Louisville teammate, Sebastian Moss, a sophomore from Pearland, Texas, was another shot behind Franks and Kennedy in sixth place with an 8-under 208 total. Moss carded a 5-under 67 in Monday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 68 and fell back a little with a final round of 1-over 73.

   Kent State’s Cade Breitenstine, a senior from Akron, Ohio, and Bacha’s Auburn teammate, Brendan Valdes, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla., finished a shot behind East Tennessee State’s Kleen in a tie for eighth place, each ending up with a 6-under 210 total.

   Breitenstine got it going in Monday afternoon’s second round with a sparkling 6-under 66 after opening with a 1-over 73 before finishing up with a 1-under 71. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Valdes added a solid 5-under 67 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Joining Ryan in the quartet tied for 10^th place at 5-under 211 was one of his Liberty teammates, Jonathan Yaun, a senior from Minneola, Fla., and two of Bacha’s Auburn teammates, J.M. Butler, a junior from Louisville, Ky., and Alex Vogelsong, a senior from Palm City, Fla. who was competing as an individual.

   Yaun contributed a 5-under 67 to Liberty’s surge in Monday afternoon’s second round and matched par with 72s in the opening and final rounds.

   Butler got off to a good start with a 4-under 68 and backed off a little with a 1-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 2-under 70. Vogelsong earned some consideration for a spot in Auburn’s first five as he matched Butler’s opening round of 4-under 68, matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 72 and finished up with a 1-under 71.

   The last GAP Junior Boys champion not named Josh Ryan was Austin Barbin of the golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md., who won the crown in 2019 at Coatesville Country Club. Barbin is a senior and Ryan’s teammate at Liberty.

   After starting his college career at Maryland, Barbin followed older brother Zach, winner of two of GAP’s major championships in the pandemic summer of 2020, the BMW Philadelphia Amateur and the Patterson Cup, to Liberty. The brothers Barbin split a spot in the Liberty lineup in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk last spring.

   Austin Barbin finished in a tie for 55^th place for the Flames this week in Myrtle Beach with a 6-over 222 total as he opened with a 2-over 74 and added a 75 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with his best round of the week, a 1-over 73.

   A familiar name showed up competing as an individual for host Coastal Carolina as senior Connor Bennink, a junior on a Unionville team that stunned Bacha and Central York to win the PIAA Class AAA team crown in 2017, finished in the group tied for 66^th place with a 227 total.

   Bennink was a standout at Division II Gannon in Erie before transferring to Coastal Carolina. After opening with a 3-over 75, Bennink carded back-to-back 4-under 76s in the final two rounds at The Dunes.