Huntingdon Valley’s McGrath medals, gains Junior Boys’ quarterfinals

ROYERSFORD, Pa. — Despite a change in weather, playing format and caddie, Conor McGrath is still eating good in the Spring Ford neighborhood.

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  The Huntingdon Valley Country Club youngster secured medalist honors in the weather-delayed 103rd Junior Boys’ Championship Qualifier presented by PURE Insurance on the par 72, 6,362-yard layout Tuesday morning. McGrath completed 10 holes yesterday amid windy conditions before a stormfront halted play for the day at 3:15 p.m. He finished the remaining eight holes in 2 under on Tuesday morning, good enough for a 6-under-par 66 and the tournament’s No. 2 seed.

  In the Round of 16, McGrath ousted Inniscrone Golf Club’s Matthew Kristick, 3&2. He is one of eight players who advanced to the quarterfinals, which begin tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. The semifinals will follow.

  “I didn’t get ahead of myself. On the car ride home, we were pretty relaxed,” McGrath, 17, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., said following his medalist performance. “I went to Applebee’s with the [Huntingdon Valley] squad after the rain delay yesterday. [Tyson, our waiter] played a big role in keeping me loose. He was hilarious. I had the mindset that it wasn’t over yet. I had eight more holes to finish. I kept my mind on the task.”

  Caddie Matt Beck also kept McGrath loose during the event’s stroke-play qualifier. Beck, however, needed to report for duty at Huntingdon Valley in the afternoon, so McGrath assigned younger brother Brett to the bag. Different pairing, same successful result, though golf volume caught up with McGrath in his bout against Kristick.

  “I almost passed out on No. 8. I’m not kidding,” McGrath, a rising senior at Academy of the New Church, said. “I went to the bathroom and for like 10 minutes was washing my face and head. Something came over me and I was really struggling. It took a couple of holes until I started playing better.”

  Birdies on the match’s final three holes suggest better play. With tee honors on No. 14 (par 3, 166 yards), McGrath stopped a 9-iron at 12 feet. Kristick followed with a short iron to two feet. McGrath toppled in his birdie putt to net a crucial halve. On No. 15 (par 5, 480 yards), McGrath decimated a 3-iron 230 yards onto the upslope in front of the green. He chipped into gimme range. Kristick missed a five-footer to match. McGrath closed the contest on the downhill par 3, 189-yard 16th hole when he choked up on a 4-iron, flighted it upwind and landed it four feet right of the flagstick for a winning 2.

  “I’m going to go home and just kind of relax. No Applebee’s tonight,” McGrath said.

  McGrath will face Talamore Country Club’s Patrick Sheehan at 7:45 a.m. tomorrow. Sheehan, a GAP newcomer, defeated Caleb Ryan of the GAP Junior Players Club, 2&1, in the Round of 16. He won four consecutive holes, starting with a birdie on No. 6 (par 4, 275 yards). Sheehan hammered a 3-iron to the back of the green and two-putted.

  The 6-foot-4 soon-to-be junior at Central Bucks East High School is enjoying his Junior Boys’ Championship debut so far.

  “I knew it was a good event and I know kids in the past have had fun with it,” Sheehan, 16, of Doylestown, Pa., said. “I’m not familiar with Conor, but I am familiar with his good score.”

  Thanks to his 66, a personal tournament-best, McGrath clipped Benjamin Pochet of the host club, who posted a 4-under-par 68 yesterday morning, for the qualifying honor.

  “The course kind of fits my eye,” McGrath said. “The greens are rolling pretty true. I just felt like you could make a lot of putts out there. Matt (Beck) was awesome. He did a really great job with keeping me focused and not letting me get down after a bad shot.”

  True to form, it’s a bad shot that jeopardized McGrath’s medalist effort. He stood at 4 under entering his 11th hole (No. 2, par 4, 403 yards). Uncertain of an optimal position off the tee, McGrath flung a 2-iron into the right rough and then left a 4-iron short of the right greenside bunker. Open the flood gates — outside at Spring Ford, inside McGrath’s mind.

  “I got up there, was getting ready and the horn sounded. I had to think about that chip shot for a long time,” McGrath said.

  The chip shot stopped 25 feet below the hole location; McGrath converted a double-breaker for par. He separated from Pochet with birdies on Nos. 5 (par 5, 520 yards) and 8 (par 4, 324 yards). On the first, he knocked a 54-degree wedge 81 yards to 10 feet. McGrath almost walked away from the latter with an eagle. His 54-degree wedge from 101 yards nearly plummeted on the fly. It skipped past the cup, peeled back and almost tumbled in again. Next came a kick-in.

  Prior to yesterday’s stoppage, McGrath’s card carried four birdies. With wind speeds increasing as the storm approached, McGrath adjusted strategy to his advantage. On No. 12 (par 4, 380 yards), he sent a 60-degree wedge 84 yards to four feet for a 3. Powerful long irons produced red figures on Nos. 15 (par 5, 475 yards) and 18 (par 5, 500 yards). McGrath deposited birdie putts of two and seven feet, respectively. He also birdied No. 1 (par 4, 435 yards) after whacking a wedge 125 yards to 10 feet above the flagstick.

  McGrath ordered the 2 for $20 at Applebee’s last night. He’ll take the 3&2 (66 included) today.

NOTES — Home course advantage? Spring Ford, represented by Alex Golland, Jonathan Lumley and Benjamin Pochet, secured the Junior Team Championship with a 1-under-par 215 total. The Junior Team Championship runs concurrently with the 18-hole qualifier on the event’s first day. Teams consist of three or four players with the low three scores counting toward the final total. Spring Ford also won in 2015.

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Golf Association of Philadelphia
Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional golf association in the United States and serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. Its 151 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.

Round of 16
Championship Flight

16. Nikita Romanov, GAP Junior Players Club d. 1. David Colleran, Jr., Overbrook GC, 5&3
    9. Dawson Anders, Indian Valley CC d. 8. Jonathan Lumley, Spring Ford CC, 5&3
    13. Wills Montgomery, Applecross CC d. 4. Drew Warner, Saucon Valley CC, 2&1
    5. Will Riva, Bent Creek CC d. 12. Ryan Conners, Whitford CC, 3&1
    2. Conor McGrath, Huntingdon Valley CC d. 15. Matthew Kristick, Inniscrone GC, 3&2
    7. Patrick Sheehan, Talamore CC d. 10. Caleb Ryan, GAP Junior Players Club, 2&1
    14. Zachary Barbin, GAP Junior Players Club d. 3. Benjamin Pochet, Spring Ford CC, 3&1
    6. Brian Isztwan, Huntingdon Valley CC d. 11. Alex Golland, Spring Ford CC, 3&2

First Flight

1. Ryan Tall, Spring Ford CC d. 16. Richie Kline, Kennett Square G&CC, 3&2
   8. Bobby Beck, Lehigh CC d. 9. Jon Nolan Perry, Waynesborough CC, 19 holes
   13. Kyle Vance, GAP Junior Players Club d. 4. Matt Graeff, Manufacturers G&CC, 6&4
   5. Kevin Scherr, Woodstone CC d. 12. Matthew Thomas, Medford Village CC, 8&7
   15. Christopher Skean, Kennett Square G&CC d. 2. Alex Seelig, Reading CC, 1-up
   10. Jake McCloskey, Radley Run CC d. 7. Alex Cook, Waynesborough CC, 1-up
   3. Andrew Wallace, Green Valley CC d. 14. Jacob Hanzel, Running Deer GC, 4&3
   6. Andreas Aivazoglou, Rolling Green GC d. 11. Dante DiStefano, Commonwealth National GC, 3&2