2021 GAP PLAYERS OF THE YEAR wasn’t even sure if I was going to play early this season. So when she passed, I wanted to do it for her.” He did it for her. “I think she would have been proud of me, and I’m sure she was looking down and being a good influence. I really believe this summer was for her,” said Rothaus. “And I really believe she was kicking in some of those putts for me. Thanks, Mom.” – Dan Scofield Morgan Lofland Phoenixville Country Club Junior Player of the Year O ne of Morgan Lofland’s worst rounds of the summer made his best GAP achievement possible. In BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship Qualifying at Burlington Country Club, Lofland, playing in the morning wave, carded a modest 4-over-par 74. A bogey on the last hole magnified angst and uncertainty. “Everything was awful in that round,” Lofland, 18, of Paoli, Pa., said. “I slapped something together and made [the cut] on the num-ber. That was definitely a nerve-wracking experience. I didn’t know if I was going to be in the Philly Am.” Lofland made the most of a near miss. He advanced to the semifinals of the 121st BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Cedar-Morgan Lofland brook Country Club, falling to eventual champion Conor McGrath of Huntingdon Valley Country Club, 3&2. However, Lofland’s perfor-mance there set in motion a sensational season. The Phoenixville Country Club member tallied 420 points – nearly a third of which generated from the Amateur – to earn the GAP Junior Player of the Year Award. He edged reigning POY Joshua Ryan of The 1912 Club by a scant 24 points. “It feels amazing just to work my way through the Junior circuit and finally come out on top after many years of trying,” Lofland, a Conestoga High School graduate, said. “To be Player of the Year in my final year [of Junior eligibility] is pretty special.” “Pretty hot” is how Lofland describes the start of his POY quest. He qualified as the No. 24 seed in the aforementioned Amateur and accrued three match-play victories. “It was my first Philly Am. I didn’t know what to expect,” Lofland said. “I got into match play, and from there it’s just one versus one. It’s you against your opponent. I was just really comfortable with the whole situation.” That comfort continued a week later in the 107th Junior Boys’ Championship at Overbrook Golf Club. For starters, Lofland became the eighth individual to capture the Junior Boys’ medal in consecutive years. He then advanced to the Final, where he fell to Ryan, 4&3. But the heartbreaks gave way to hardware six days later. Lofland won the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Junior Boys’ Championship presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods at Hershey Country Club. He de-feated Out Door Country Club’s Karl Frisk in a sudden-death playoff. Lolfand secured his status atop the Junior POY standings with a Top-20 finish in the 117th Open Championship at Country Club of York. If you can’t find Lofland on a tournament’s tee sheet, then check Phoenixville. He spends every day there during the summer months. “Phoenixville has meant the world to me. I’ve received so many opportunities from there, just from the membership alone,” Lofland said. “[Golf professional] Matt Dever has done a fantastic job. I ap-“It was my first Philly Am. I didn’t know what to expect. I got into match play, and from there it’s just one versus one. It’s you against your opponent. I was just really comfortable with the whole situation.” preciate everything he’s done for me. The course, with how small the greens are and how narrow the fairways are, sets me up really well for tournaments. It prepares me to be on my game and to be precise.” A new home away from home adds to Lofland’s preparation and progression. He is a freshman at Penn State University majoring in ac-counting. Lofland competed in all five fall events for the Nittany Lions. “It’s been nothing short of incredible. The school aspect of Penn State mixes so well with the golf and social life,” he said. And a bad round of golf mixes well with a bunch of good. Hence Lofland’s memorable concoction. – Tony Regina 26 Visit the GAP website at www.gapgolf.org for all the latest news and notes
GAP Magazine 2021 Winter: Page 26
