It was two summers ago when Morgan Lofland was wrapping up his career as a junior golfer and preparing to join the program at Penn State when the former Conestoga standout went on a pretty impressive run of match-play success on the Golf Association of Philadelphia circuit.
Lofland, a two-time co-medalist in the Central League Championship and a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Conestoga, reached the semifinals of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Cedarbrook Country Club before falling to eventual champion Conor McGrath and then came back the following week and made a run to the final of the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship before falling to Josh Ryan at Overbrook Golf Club.
He was GAP’s Junior Player of the Year for 2021.
Lofland was in and out of the Penn State starting lineup as a sophomore during the wraparound 2022-2023 season. He was not in the lineup for the rain-shortened Big Ten Championship at Galloway National Golf Club, although he was one of the five players who helped the Nittany Lions finish in a tie for second place in the National Golf Invitational at the Ak-Shin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz.
From my experience watching Lofland over the years, he has never backed down from a challenge. If he needs to get better to become a fixture in new Penn State head coach Mark Leon’s lineup, Lofland will be working harder to make that happen.
Lofland, playing out of Phoenixville Country Club, opened his bid in the 123rd BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship with a sparkling 6-under-par 66 at Lookaway Golf Club Monday morning.
The main course for the Philly Am is the venerable William Flynn design at Huntingdon Valley Country Club. Lofland was 1-over for three holes at Huntingdon Valley and 5-under for the day when the heavy rain that was marching toward Philadelphia’s northeast suburbs all day finally arrived, halting the scheduled 36 holes of qualifying for match play.
By the time I post this, the second round will have resumed, so I’ll try to wrap this up pretty quickly.
Tuesday is going to be a long day for the Philly Am. Some players had yet to start their second rounds when the rain arrived. When the second round is completed, the top 32 finishers will begin the opening round of match play. Any playoffs necessary for the final spots in the match-play bracket might delay the start of match play.
The original schedule was for two rounds of match play Tuesday, the opening round and the round of 16. Pretty sure the revamped schedule will have the round of 16 and the quarterfinals being played Wednesday with the semifinals pushed back to Thursday.
The scheduled 36-hole final will be played Saturday at Huntingdon Valley. If that sounds like a lot of golf, it is and it’s what makes the Philly Am such a grueling test.
When play was suspended Monday, Lofland shared the lead with Ben Smith of the Country Club of Harrisburg at 5-under. Smith, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a senior at West Perry in 2018, had started his college career at Penn State, but transferred to Mount St. Mary’s, where he will be a senior this fall.
Smith had matched Lofland’s 6-under 66 at Lookaway in the morning and was also 1-over through three holes at Huntingdon Valley, although Smith started off the first tee while Lofland went off No. 10 to start his second round.
Lofland’s strong start at Lookaway was fueled by eight birdies that offset a pair of bogeys. Smith dominated the par-5s at Lookaway, going 5-under on the four par-5s, including an eagle at the 541-yard eighth hole.
Nothing’s guaranteed on a tough course like Huntingdon Valley, but the strong opening rounds by Lofland and Smith gave them a really good shot to earn a spot in the match-play bracket.
Looming in a three-way tie for third place, three shots behind the co-leaders, when play was suspended was one of the finest players in the history of GAP, Jeff Osberg of Pine Valley, who counts the 2014 BMW Philadelphia Amateur among the seven GAP major championships he has won.
Osberg also lost, quite memorably, to his pal, Michael McDermott, in an epic Philly Am final at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course in 2016 and in the final to Jeremy Wall at Stonewall in 2019.
Osberg is one of just three players, Chris Lange and Michael R. Brown Jr. are the others, to have won all four GAP majors – the Philly Am, the GAP Middle-Amateur Championship, the Philadelphia Open and the Patterson Cup – in his career.
Osberg matched par in the opening round at Lookaway and was 3-under through seven holes at Huntingdon Valley when play was suspended, leaving him at 3-under for the day.
Osberg figures to be formidable at Huntingdon Valley. He was a Huntingdon Valley member for several years and was at HVCC when he won his lone Philly Amateur title in 2014.
Joining Osberg at 3-under were Christian Matt of Cedarbrook Country Club and Michael Crowley of Briarwood Golf Club.
Matt, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Wissahickon, is coming off a solid freshman at Saint Joseph’s. Matt was in the lineup for the Hawks when they wrapped up their season in the Atlantic 10 Championship at the Reunion Resort & Golf Club’s Watson Course in Orlando, Fla. the last weekend in April.
Matt opened with a 3-under 69 at Lookaway and was even though three holes at Huntingdon Valley when play was suspended. Crowley also posted a 3-under 69 at Lookaway and was even through seven holes at Huntingdon Valley.
Hayden Moffat, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, had the best round of the day at Huntingdon Valley, a sparkling 5-under 65.
Moffat, who starred scholastically at Hatboro-Horsham and collegiately at Gettysburg, was 3-over through seven holes at Lookaway and was part of a large group of players tied for sixth place at 2-under when play was halted.
Cole Willcox, a USGA/GAP entry, and Zach Dilcher of Hartefeld National Golf Club were also part of the group at 2-under as each opened with a 70 at Lookaway and had yet to start their second round at Huntingdon Valley when play was suspended.
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