WEST WARWICK –– It would be a major understatement to say that John McCarthy has had a memorable summer.

The 16-year-old East Greenwich High student has gone through some wild swings in his life since school ended. The bad stuff happened early on.

Not long after school finished, McCarthy was diagnosed with Lyme disease. He not only had to be hospitalized, he spent four days in the intensive care unit as doctors dealt with his heart problems brought on by the disease.

The good stuff has come more recently, especially in the last week. The highlight came yesterday when he won the 87th R.I. Golf Association Junior Championship.

He did it by hitting one of the most memorable shots of the year. He chipped in for birdie on the 19th hole to nip Jeff Ray in the title match at West Warwick Country Club.

Ray had just birdied the 18th to tie the match and force extra holes. Ray, who plays out of Crestwood and is one of the stars of Barrington High’s state championship team, hit two good shots on the par-4 opening hole, the toughest hole at the course. He was left with a 30-footer for a bird.

McCarthy pushed his second shot on the 419-yard uphill hole ever so slightly, just enough that the approach went off the right side of the green and a few feet down a bank and into the rough. Like Ray, he was only about 30 feet from the cup. But he had to escape the deep grass, pitch up the bank and deal with a short-sided pin.

It was not an easy shot.

“I was just trying to put it close, get the par and play the next hole,” said McCarthy, who plays out of Potowomut. “He had a pretty lengthy putt for birdie. … Nah, no. I was not trying to make it. I was just trying to get the par and go to the next hole.”

He consulted with his caddy, Tyler Cooke, and, as is his style, played quickly.

“I hit a pretty good shot,” he said. “It had the distance to get there and it just dropped.” It hit the pin and fell in.

Suddenly, Ray’s putt was not to win, but to stay alive.

Said Ray: “He chipped in. What was I supposed to do?” He gave himself a chance, but the putt slid past the hole.

It completed an improbable week for McCarthy. He was a second-team All-Stater for East Greenwich this year, but he has not played as much tournament golf as some others. Part of the reason was Lyme disease. The disease caused inflammation in his heart.

“I spent four days in the ICU,” McCarthy said. “Then I had to spend two weeks at home lying on the couch and not doing anything,” he said.

When he felt better, he got a job working full-time, for a painting company, this summer.

He began the week winning medalist honors while playing in a threesome with a 9-year-old and a 10-year-old. The easy-going McCarthy did not complain and actually complimented the youngsters, one of whom shot 133.

When he has not been working or recuperating, the lean and athletic McCarthy has been taking lessons from Seth Force, the assistant pro at Potowomut. His game is coming on rapidly.

“He’s always had the ability,” said Force, who took in the final few holes of the title match. “He had been doing some things with his hands that we worked on. He’s a great kid.”

McCarthy and Ray, a fellow second-team All-Stater, were never more than one hole apart until McCarthy won the 12th and 13th to go 2-up. Ray birdied 15 to draw within one. McCarthy made a great scrambling par on 16 after hitting a tree to stay 1-up. After both parred 17, Ray tied it when he hit two excellent shots on the 509-yard, par-5 closing hole to the front fringe and two-putted for birdie.

Ray appeared to have the momentum, but McCarthy won it with his chip-in.

In the first division, lefty Anthony Gesualdi, who who learned the game at the Button Hole Short Course and Teaching Center, edged Mike Pierard of Wannamoisett, 1-up, for the title. Wannamoisett did have a champion as Patrick Hannon took the second division, 4 and 2, over Chris Griswold.

pkenyon@projo.com