Devon Prep’s Ciocca named DLN Boys’ Golf Player of the Year

By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
@NeilMGeoghegan on Twitter

BERWYN >> When it comes to competitive golf, it’s not a bad thing for your game to be described as boring. It may sound a bit counterintuitive, but certainly not in Nick Ciocca’s case.
A junior at Devon Prep, on the golf course Ciocca is even-keeled and super consistent. There are very few, if any, blow-up holes and no verbal outbursts. And the Berwyn resident has already established himself as the most accomplished golfer ever to attend Devon Prep. He is also the 2022 Daily Local News Player of the Year.
“Nick’s game is kind of boring golf,” admitted his head coach Tony Ball. “He hits it down the middle off the tee, and yes it is very far, but his short game is so good. That’s where he really thrives. If he’s not on a green in regulation, he is getting up-and-down (for par).”
Seemingly steady and poised at all times, Ciocca culminated a remarkable season this fall by capturing the PIAA 2A Individual Championship. A year ago, he helped guide the Tide to a state team title. And he still has another season to go in high school.
“I do a pretty good job of staying calm on the course and I never get too high or low, and that helps under pressure situations,” Ciocca said.
“I think I’ve become more fundamentally sound over the last couple years. I feel the strongest part is my mental game – I have experience playing in a lot of tournaments. This fall I think I won a lot of tournaments because of that.”
Yes he did. The first came at the Philadelphia Catholic League Tournament, followed by a crown at the District 12 Championship. And then Ciocca needed to summon all of his experience and expertise to win the state title in mid-October at Penn State.
“It was pretty special,” Ciocca said. “It’s a tournament you want to win, and it’s sneaky hard to win. I didn’t think the previous two years that I played particularly well in the tournament.”
As a freshman in 2020, Ciocca was 18th. A year later, he moved up to sixth. This year he was in contention with a first round 70, and proceeded to make a series of clutch putts down the stretch to grab medalist honors by a stroke.
“It started on 15, when I was tied for the lead, and hit it to about a foot for birdie,” Ciocca explained. “Then on 16 I hit into a hazard, had to take a drop, but I had 110 yards to the green, and hit a 56 (-degree wedge) to about 11 feet and made it.”
At 17, he drained a five-foot par putt to maintain a single stroke edge over Jacob Wolak from Slippery Rock. And on the finishing hole, a par-5, Ciocca stayed aggressive.
“I wasn’t sure what was happening with (Wolak), but I knew if I birdied it would kind of seal the deal,” he said. “I hit an eight-iron to the green in two, putted up to about five-feet, and then made that putt.”
It capped a 68 for a 6-under 136 for the 36-hole event, and was a fitting finish to the season. In every single dual meet, Ciocca was Devon Prep’s low scorer. He then successfully defended his Philadelphia Catholic League title.
“That was a good way to start off the playoffs,” Ciocca said. “And this year I showed up with the expectation that I was going to win. It’s a new feeling I am trying to manage. In prior years, I was just the underdog and showed up with a chip on my shoulder.”
The districts were held at Philmont Country Club, and Ciocca overcame some late trouble off the tee to capture the 2A crown.
“On the front nine I hit every green,” he recalled. “But on the back my driver kind of got away from me a bit and I was scrambling. I made a good par putt on 17, but it was a grind.”
Ciocca first caught Ball’s attention when he was often the best player on the course as an eighth grader competing against players three or four years his senior.
“He is consistent,” Ball said. “There are no surprises in his game. When he misses a shot, it might be five-yards off line. And if he does miss, he is able to recover very well.”
Perhaps the biggest stride he made, however, from his sophomore to junior season came in the area of leadership. Devon Prep lost three key seniors from the squad that won the state championship.
“Golf is an individual sport, and it’s easy to just worry about what you are doing,” Ciocca pointed out. “A year ago, I saw the team grow and develop chemistry, and I think that was a big reason why we won the state championship.
“I had to step up in the leadership role this season, and wanted to help out the younger guys. This team had good focus going into every single match.”
Ball added: “A large part of why this year was my favorite team to coach was that Nick stepped up as a leader. He is such a humble kid and just how hard he works at the game. People see his scores and think that he is just good at golf – they don’t realize how hard he works.”
Earlier this year, Ciocca verbally committed to attend Notre Dame and play golf for the Fighting Irish.
“I visited the campus for the first time with my Mom last February and I just kind of fell in love with the place,” he said. “I let Notre Dame know that they were my number-one choice, and soon everything just kind of fell into place.”
According to Ball, Notre Dame said that Ciocca was its number one recruiting target.
“He is, by far, the best golfer we’ve ever had come through our program,” Ball added.
“My putting felt pretty solid over the last few months,” Ciocca said. “I’ve never been really great at ball-striking, but I drive it well and I’ve been working on my short game.
“I’m just doing what I love to do. It doesn’t feel like work to me to play golf every single day.”