Gross, Lugiano earn spots in match-play bracket in U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills

 

   Recent Downingtown West graduate Nick Gross was his typically efficient self Tuesday as he finished in a tie for ninth place after two rounds of stroke play in the U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. and booked himself a spot in the match-play bracket.

   It’s been two years since Gross, who will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Alabama next month, identified himself as one of the top junior players in the country by reaching the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J.

   Gross, playing out of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club, had opened with a 1-under-par 69 at Oakland Hills’ South Course Monday.

   Starting off the 10^th tee at a North Course that played a little easier than the South, Gross got off to a good start with birdies at the 10^th and 16^th holes. After making a bogey at the 17^th hole, Gross rattled off eight straight pars before making another bogey at eight to fall back to even-par for the round.

   Gross, the 2021 PIAA Class AAA champion as a sophomore, finished up with a birdie at the ninth hole to record a second straight 1-under 69 for a 2-under 138 total.

   “The most important thing here is hitting fairways and then hitting the right spots on the greens and plotting your way around (the course) instead of going at everything,” Gross told the USGA website. “You need to be smart and disciplined.”

   Gross will tee off in an opening-round match against Liam Pasternak of Morristown, N.J., one of the top returning seniors on the New Jersey scholastic scene, at 11:30 a.m. Match play will be contested on the South Course.

   Blades Brown, a Class of 2026 entry from Nashville, Tenn., made birdies on two of his last three holes to earn medalist honors in stroke-play qualifying with a 6-under 134 total. Brown adds medalist honors in the U.S. Junior Amateur to the medal he claimed on an even bigger stage at last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club, the William Flynn gem in suburban Denver, Colo.

   Brown had posted a sparkling 4-under 66 at the North Course in Monday’s opening round.

   He couldn’t get much going early in Tuesday’s second round at the South Course as he made a bogey at the fourth hole, a birdie at six and bogeys at seven and 11 to fall back to 2-over for the round and 2-under overall.

   But an eagle at the par-5 12^th hole and a birdie at 13 got Brown right back in the hunt for medalist honors. He slipped back to even-par for the round with a bogey at the 14^th hole, but birdies at 16 and 18 enabled him to register a 2-under 68. His 6-under total was one shot better than Tyler Watts, another Class of ’26 entry from Huntsville, Ala.

   Watts had grabbed a share of the lead following the opening round with a 5-under 65 at the North Course. He matched par at the South with a 70 Tuesday to finish with a 5-under 135 total.

   Joshua Bai of New Zealand, who dropped a 2-up decision in last summer’s U.S. Junior Amateur final to Bryan Kim of Brookeville, Md., headed a group of four players tied for third place at 4-under 136 total. Bai unfurled a sizzling 5-under 65 at the North Course in Tuesday’s second round after opening with a 1-over 71 at the South Course.

   Joining Bai at 4-under were Mack Edwards, a Class of ’25 entry from Charlotte, N.C., Chase Kyes, another Class of ’25 competitor from Birmingham, Ala., and Lev Grinberg of Ukraine.

   Edwards, who will join the program at Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina in the summer of 2025, had the best round of the day at the South Course in Monday’s opening round with a 4-under 66. He matched par with a 70 in Tuesday’s second round at the North Course.

   Kyes, who plans to join Gross at Alabama next summer, found himself with quite a gallery since he was paired with Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, a three-time winner of this event who was part of that gallery.

   Kyes managed to overcome the distractions, firing a 4-under 66 at the South Course in Tuesday’s second round after matching par with a 70 in the opening round at the North Course.

   Grinberg had opened with a solid 3-under 67 at the South Course before adding a 1-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round at the North Course.

   Miles Russel, a Class of ’27 phenom from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., finished in a large group tied for 12^th place at 1-under 139 as he added a 1-over 71 in Tuesday’s second round at the South Course to the opening round of 2-under 68 he turned in in the opening round at the North Course.

   Russell, the runaway winner of the Boys Junior PGA Championship at Hot Springs Country Club in Hot Springs, Ark. a year ago, made the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event and teed it up in the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club earlier this summer.

   Gross wasn’t the only Pennsylvanian to land in the match-play bracket as recent Lake Lehman graduate Michael Lugiano finished among the group tied for 44^th place with a 3-over 143 total.

   Lugiano has contended for the PIAA Class AA title in each of the last two falls at Penn State, finishing in a tie for second place last fall and in third in 2022.

   Lugiano opened with a 5-over 75 at the tough South Course Monday, but battled his way into the match-play bracket with a solid 2-under 68 at the North Course in Tuesday’s second round.

   Starting off the 10^th tee Tuesday, Lugiano made birdies at the 12^th, 18^th and third holes to get it 3-under for the round before the lone blemish on his scorecard, a bogey at four, in a very efficient tour of the North Course.

   Lugiano was coming off a solid tie for third place in the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Junior at Huntsville at his home course at Huntsville Golf Club earlier this month.

   Lugiano, who will join the program at Liberty next month, will take on Owen Coniaris of Glen Ellyn, Ill. in a first-round match that tees off at 10:10 Wednesday morning.

   Recent Episcopal Academy graduate Hunter Stetson came up short of a spot in match play. Stetson, who will join the program at North Carolina State in the ACC, had opened with a solid 2-over 72 at the South Course Monday, but struggled to a 77 at the North Course in Tuesday’s second round for a 9-over 149 total that was five shots out of a playoff among 13 players for the final nine spots in the match-play bracket.

   Stetson, the Inter-Ac League’s best individual performer during the six invitationals that comprise its regular season last fall, had reached the round of 16 in last summer’s U.S. Junior Amateur at the Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C. Stetson is a product of the junior program at Aronimink Golf Club.

   The match-play bracket will be filled out with that 13-for-nine playoff, which will tee off at the North Course Wednesday morning as I’m finishing up this post.

   The first-round winners of Wednesday’s matches will meet in the second round Thursday morning.