UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's golf head coach Greg Nye and the Nittany Lions welcome Jake Griffin and Morgan Lofland as members of the incoming class of 2021. Griffin, from Kensington, Maryland, and Lofland, of Paoli, Pennsylvania, have signed their National Letters of Intent, and will enroll at Penn State and compete beginning in fall 2021.
The top-ranked junior golfer in the state of Maryland according to the Junior Golf Scoreboard Ranking, Griffin is the No. 11 golfer and is 19th by the AJGA Rolex Ranking in the class of 2021.
Griffin's impressive list of honors and accomplishments in 2020 included his selection as a 2020 Rolex AJGA Junior All-American with six top-10 finishes in American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events. In those six competitions, he placed in the top five three times and was second twice, at the Imperial Headwear Classic, and at Penn State at the AJGA Junior in July 2020.
In August 2020, Griffin took eighth at the 2020 Maryland Open and last month, was second at the 2020 Mid-Atlantic Amateur Championship. The 2019 Washington Metropolitan Golf Association Junior Golfer of the Year, he recorded a third-place finish at the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Amateur Championship and was 10th as an individual at the Williamson Cup. Griffin was also a member of the Middle Atlantic Golf Association Mason-Dixon team in addition to playing on Washington Metropolitan Golf Association team.
Griffin captured medalist honors at the 2018 Washington Metropolitan Golf Association Bobby Gorin Memorial. He also had two top-five finishes in 2018 at the Maryland Junior Amateur (5th) and the 2018 AJGA Amino Vital (4th).
A three-time team MVP and two-time all-division performer for Walter Johnson High School, Griffin was the program's first state champion, winning Maryland's Public High School 3A/4A title as a junior. He finished in sixth place at the state championships as a sophomore after taking 11th as a freshman.
In addition to his abilities on the golf course, Griffin earned his high school's Scholar Athlete Award for three-straight years, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his fall golf competitions were moved to spring 2021.
Griffin will be a third generation Penn Stater as his parents, Steve and Ellie Griffin, his grandfather, Jack Greiner, and sister, Hannah, are all graduates.
"Jake just had one of the better performance summers in Northeast / Mid Atlantic junior golf we have seen in recent years," said Penn State men's golf head coach Greg Nye. "He has built upon many parts of his game this year, and his schedule of quality national events will give him a great head start on college golf. We can't wait to have Jake here next fall."
Lofland, who was ranked as the top junior golfer in Pennsylvania, will come to Penn State after compiling a lengthy list of accomplishments, highlighted by three top-10 finishes, including two back-to-back, in four AJGA events.
The Junior Boys Championship stoke play medalist, Lofland shot a 6-under 64 and won the Jock MacKenzie Memorial in July 2020 with an event-record 6-under 66. He broke the course record at his home course, the Phoenixville Country Club, with a 59 (11-under) just two weeks prior. He shot even par for a fourth-place finish at the Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) Junior Boys Championship in June 2020.
A four-time Central League champion and 2019 PIAA Class AAA East Regional champion, Lofland earned All-America honors as a freshman for John Jones at Conestoga High School. The two-time captain for the Pioneers, Griffin placed ninth in the state as a junior after qualifying for regionals all three years of his career and for state championships twice. His senior season postseason competitions were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following his junior season, Lofland was named the team MVP. He not only had the lowest scoring average on the team, duplicating that accomplishment from his freshman campaign, but had the Central League's best scoring average in 2019 as well.
Lofland also competed as wrestler for the Pioneers, serving as the team captain for one season and earning four letters with 87 career wins. He won the Central League championship and finished in sixth at regionals. A member of the academic first honor roll for his first three years at Conestoga, Lofland won an all-league academic award as a sophomore wrestler.
The Daily Local News named Lofland its 2019 Boys Golfer of the Year.
"Morgan is a player we have had our eye on for the last three years," Nye said. "This past summer, his results really began to reflect the potential we saw in him and at one point this summer, he was ranked the top junior in Pennsylvania. We are excited to have a competitor like Morgan joining our team."
