54th Four-Ball Stroke Play Championship: Cherry Valley

Debusschere and Stetson hit double digits, take title

MONTGOMERY, N.J. – Tyler Debusschere sat across from Hunter Stetson at dinner during the week of the Delaware Amateur and had a lightbulb moment as he scoured the GAP website.

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A four-ball event where he didn’t have another tournament on his calendar. He inquired with Stetson who said he was also free.

Stetson and Debusschere joined forces to blitz Cherry Valley Country Club (par 72, 6,777 yards) to the tune of a best-ball 62 to take the 54th Four-Ball Stroke-Play Championship Monday.

“We met playing junior golf a long time ago but we have played a lot together,” Debusschere, 19, of Wallingford, Pa., said. “He’s had me out to Aronimink Golf Club a few times. I knew we would be a good team. I knew Hunter didn’t have anyone to play with and I didn’t either, so it worked out well.”

Stetson, a rising sophomore at NC State and Aronimink member, turned on the heat quickly. His inferno started on No. 3 (par 5, 545 yards) after firing a 3-iron from 230 yards to a foot. A clipped pitching wedge from 133 yards on No. 4 (par 4, 410 yards) got the team to 3 under.

He rounded out the team’s 4 under front nine with a two-putt birdie from 70 feet on No. 9 (par 5, 525 yards) after another 3-iron from 255 yards.

His ludicrous stretch continued on Nos. 10 (par 5, 524 yards) and 11 (par 3, 140 yards). Stetson knocked a gap wedge from 136 yards to 11 feet for eagle on No. 10 and scraped a pitching wedge to five feet on No. 11.

“Hunter played incredibly well,” Debusschere, a rising junior at Cornell University and a DuPont Country Club member, said. “His putter was unconscious. He would say he left a few out there but he striped the ball. I’m not sure he missed a green. It’s pretty easy to play well when each member of your partnership is firing on all cylinders. The course was spacious off the tee and we were able to have a ton of scoring opportunities.”

Debusschere added to the 5 under through four-hole stretch with a birdie on No. 12 (par 4, 391 yards). He hit a 56-degree wedge from 104 yards to eight feet to keep the fire burning.”

“Tyler is such a straight hitter so it is always good to have him go first and put the ball in play,” Stetson, 19, of Newtown Square, Pa., said. “I feel like that frees me up.”

Stetson birdied Nos. 16 (par 5, 454 yards) and 17 (par 4, 415 yards) as well. If you are adding it up at home, he totaled six birdies and two eagles on his own ball. Pretty good.

The pair became close back in 2022 after both parties participated in a Dartmouth University Golf Camp in 2022. In the two-day tournament following the camp, Debusschere took the title with Stetson finishing second.

Next up for the pair is the Joseph H. Patterson Cup at Waynesborough Country Club Wednesday and Thursday. They got the week started right and hope to continue the momentum.

“Playing in a four-ball is so much fun because we are used to the grind of individual stroke-play events,” Stetson said. “I’d love to give the U.S. Four-Ball a try with Tyler but with our college schedules right now, trying to qualify for that event will be pretty tough. It is always fun to win a tournament with one of your friends.”

GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 130,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.