Yenser reaches second round of U.S. Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley with a victory over Smith

 

   Recent Daniel Boone graduate Chase Yenser has been one of Pennsylvania’s top junior players the last few years, a point he drove home earlier this summer by capturing the title in the Pennsylvania Golf Association Junior Boys’ Championship for the second straight summer at Hershey Country Club’s East Course.

   That victory earned Yenser a trip to the 78^th U.S. Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem and Wednesday he earned a spot in the round of 32 with a 2 and 1 victory over Luke Smith of Canada at Saucon Valley’s Old Course.

   Yenser, increasingly comfortable on the national stage, will take on Sohan Patel of Weston, Fla., one of the three co-medalists in the 36 holes of qualifying for match play, which wrapped up Tuesday, in a second-round match Thursday morning.

   Yenser, who will join the program at Big 12 power Baylor later this summer, jumped out to a 4-up lead over Smith with wins at the first, second, fourth and sixth holes. Getting an early lead is often part of the formula for success in match play.

   Smith fought back as he got back-to-back wins at the eighth and ninth holes and creeped within 1-down with another win at 13.

   Yenser, who finished in fourth place in his final appearance in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall at Penn State, restored his 2-up lead by taking the 14^th hole, but Smith again fought back with a win at 16 before Yenser closed out the match with a birdie at 17.

   Patel, who plans to join the program at Southeastern Conference power Vanderbilt next summer, survived a tough test in his opening-round match as he dropped a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18^th hole to earn a 1-up victory over Luke Ringkamp of Palm Desert, Calif., who will join the program at West Coast Conference power Pepperdine next month.

   Patel had opened his week in the Lehigh Valley with a sparkling 5-under 66 at the Old Course that gave him a share of the lead following Monday’s opening round of stroke-play qualifying for match play.

   Patel added a solid 1-under 69 at the par-70 Grace Course at Saucon Valley in Tuesday’s second round to share medalist honors with Miles Russell, the phenom from Jacksonville Beach, Fla. who entered the U.S. Junior Amateur at No. 7 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Brayden Jones of Seal Beach, Calif., each landing on 6-under 135.

   Yenser had struggled in his opening round of stroke play with a 7-over 77 at the Grace Course.

   But if that was mostly a case of first-round jitters, Yenser shook them off in a big way with a sizzling 5-under 66 at the Old Course in Tuesday’s second round that left him comfortably inside the top 64 qualifiers for match play at 2-over 143.

   Yenser’s determination was on display in that second round as he birdied half the holes at the Old Course, nine in all, to offset four bogeys.

   After opening with a birdie at the first hole, Yenser made a bogey at two, but then ripped off birdies at three, five, six and eight.

   Yenser made a bogey at the ninth hole, a birdie at 10, a bogey at 12, a birdie at 13 and a bogey at 16 before finishing with a flourish with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18 to complete a roller-coaster ride of a second round.

   Yenser was joined in the second round of match play by another Pennsylvania standout in West Allegheny senior Nico Ward, who finished in a tie for sixth place in last fall’s Class AAA state tournament.

   Ward advanced with a 3 and 2 victory over Cody Weaver of Gilman, Iowa in Wednesday’s opening round of match play.

   That earned Ward a tough second-round meeting Thursday morning with Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island, Fla., who claimed a 2 and 1 victory over Rawlin Sutter of Cullman, Ala. in his first-round match.

   Russell, the left-hander from Florida, is the unquestioned star of this U.S. Junior Amateur.

   Russell rolled to a 6 and 5 decision over Eli Wessel of Indianapolis, Ind. in his opening-round match.

   Still, it’s match play and anything is possible in golf’s most inscrutable format. As I finish up this post, the second round is under way with Russell taking on Evan Liu of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., who plans to join the program at North Carolina next summer.

   Liu was an equally impressive opening-round winner as he cruised to a 6 and 5 verdict over Paxton Lane of Benton, Ark.

   Russell plans to join the program at Florida State at the end of next summer, although I suspect he’s seriously considering bypassing college golf and turning pro. He was recently added to the roster for the U.S. Walker Cup team under captain Nathan Smith that will take on Great Britain & Ireland in early September at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland.

   Russell, who survived the cut and played the weekend in last month’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, flashed his considerable talent in the second round of qualifying for match play with a sizzling 5-under 66 at Saucon Valley’s Old Course Tuesday that gave him a share of medalist honors with Patel and Jones at 6-under. Russell had opened with a 1-under 69 at the Grace Course.

   Jones, the third qualifying co-medalist, reached the second round of match play with a 4 and 3 victory over Hudson Kutchma of Westfield, Ind. in his opening-round match.

   Jones, who plans to join the program at Big 12 power Arizona State next summer, is facing Ronin Banerjee of Irvine, Calif. in Thursday morning’s second round. Banerjee rolled to a 5 and 4 decision over Max Emberson of Thousand Oaks, Calif., in his opening-round match Wednesday.

   Four other local junior standouts failed to advance to match play.

   There were 14 players tied for 63^rd place at 5-over 146 involved in a playoff early Wednesday morning for the final two spots in the match-play bracket. One of them was Charlie Woods, the son of Tiger, but he was unable to survive the bulky playoff.

   By the way the trophy that goes to the winner of the U.S. Junior Amateur has been renamed the Tiger Woods Trophy in honor of Charlie Woods’ dad, who won the title in this event three straight times.

   Dane Mohap, who finished in a tie for ninth place in last fall’s PIAA Class AAA Championship for Nazareth, and Logan McGinn, the 14-year-old phenom who will be a freshman on the Williamsport golf team in about a month, both landed among the group tied at 10-over 151 following two rounds of stroke play.

   It was basically a home game for Nazareth’s Mohap and he bounced back from an opening round of 7-over 78 at the Old Course with a 3-over 73 at the Grace Course.

   McGinn got the late call that he was in the field as an alternate. He struggled to an 8-over 79 at the Grace Course in Monday’s opening round, but recovered nicely with a solid 1-over 72 at the Old Course in Tuesday’s second round.

   McGinn will be right back on a national stage when the Boys Junior PGA Championship tees off Tuesday at Fields Ranch East and West at PGA Frisco at the PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

   McGinn earned his trip to Frisco by capturing the title in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood Country Club across the Schuylkill River from Pottstown last month.

   Ridley senior Declan Conner opened with a 3-over 74 at the Old Course and added an 80 at the Grace Course to finish with a 13-over 154 total.

   Conner punched his ticket to the U.S. Junior Amateur with a runnerup finish in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Saucon Valley’s Weyhill Course last month.

   Conner was the runnerup to McGinn in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood and I’m pretty sure he will be joining McGinn in the field for the Boys Junior PGA Championship in Frisco next week.

   Jake Hollerback, a senior at Sussex Central who finished in fourth place in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Championship at his home course at Baywood Greens in the spring, was also in the field for the U.S. Junior Amateur.

   Hollerback opened with an 8-over 78 at the Old Course before adding a 7-over 77 at the Grace Course for a 155 total.

   The winners of Thursday morning’s second-round matches will be right back at it in the afternoon for the round of 16 in the afternoon. Only eight quarterfinalists will remain standing by the end of the day Thursday.

   If you’re in the Philadelphia area, it’s a short ride up the Northeast Extension or Route 100 to see the best junior golfers in the world battle it out.

   There will be quarterfinal and semifinal matches Friday with the scheduled 36-hole final teeing off Saturday.

   If you’ve never been up to Saucon Valley for a U.S. Senior Open or a U.S. Women’s Open, trust me, they know how to put on a golf tournament in the Lehigh Valley.