75th Delaware Amateur: Day Three

Stetson wins after seven-hole playoff

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – It took 43 holes of golf together Wednesday for Hunter Stetson and Evan Barbin to decide who was going to be the 75th Delaware Amateur champion.

| Scoring | History | Photo Gallery | Day Three Video Recap | Round Two Recap | Round Two Video | Round One Recap | Round One Video |

Stetson erased a five-shot deficit from Barbin with five holes to play to get into a playoff with the 2024 titleholder. Stetson played the final five in 2 under. Barbin played them in 3-over. The duo was paired together in the first two rounds and in the final round, playing a total of 61 of the 79 holes together.

After playing Nos. 18 (par 4, 400 yards) and 11 (par 4, 383 yards) in a rota three times, each making par on the first six playoff holes, Barbin made a double bogey after hitting his tee shot out of bounds right on No. 18. Stetson claimed the Delaware Amateur title with a bogey on the seventh playoff hole. 

“I am feeling a ton of gratitude,” Stetson, 20, of Newtown Square, Pa., said. “Golf is such a weird sport, where you work so hard and sometimes you don’t see the results you want. I am working hard, but wasn’t seeing any returns. I knew eventually if I kept doing the right stuff, it was going to eventually pay off. I just went out there trying to enjoy golf. I feel so blessed.”

The North Carolina State junior had to blast out of the left fairway bunker after being up against the lip. Both he and Barbin missed the green left with their respective wedges. Barbin chipped to two feet, and Stetson putted his ball from the rough’s edge to four feet.

“With a playoff it is hard to block out what you are playing for,” Stetson, of Aronimink Golf Club, said. “What you can do is do your best to eliminate distractions of a putt being to win or if you had similar shots before. I wanted to stay in my same routine and stay in my process. There is a freedom that comes with a playoff. You already put yourself in a great position and are playing well. If you told me to start today I would be in a playoff, I’d have gladly taken it.”

In the playoff, both players had plenty of chances from inside of 20 feet to win, but none of them fell.

Barbin, a recent Liberty University graduate and member of Chesapeake Bay Golf Club, hit uncharacteristic tee shots coming down the stretch that tightened the vice on his attempts to win outright. But it was ultimately his drive out of bounds on the seventh playoff hole that sealed his fate. He was looking to become the 13th player to win at least two Delaware Amateur titles.

“I just hit a really poor drive,” Barbin, 22, of Elkton, Md., said. “If I knew where Hunter’s ball ended up off the tee, I would’ve played more left. I was just tired of hitting my second shot from the 11th fairway for the entirety of the playoff, so I tried to hit one down the middle. I had a lot of opportunities throughout the day to avoid putting myself in the position I was in. I wasn’t really nervous. I wasn’t executing. It is really disappointing.”

Stetson’s work ethic hasn’t wavered even in the toughest times. His reward? A trip to his first U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club in August. It is just 15 minutes from where he lives in Newtown Square.

“Qualifying for my first U.S. Amateur at Merion means a lot,” Stetson said. “I knew that there would be a lot of pressure on this year just because of where it will be held and how much I was struggling with my game. I knew after missing the cut in my Local Qualifying event, I had the Delaware Amateur and the Pennsylvania Amateur remaining as my chances. I just wanted to keep grinding. I knew something good was coming.”

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 140,000 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.