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Monday, March 18, 2024

Barrickman, Bagga share top spot in a soggy season opener for Philly Junior Tour at Five Ponds

 

   The weather was so miserable Saturday, March 9th, I guessed the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s 2024 season opener at Five Ponds Golf Club in Warminster had to be postponed. I guessed wrong.

   Got to give the Philly Junior Tour kids credit. They have played in some difficult conditions over the years and with this being, for many of them, their first chance to compete since last fall, they were anxious to tee it up in chilly temperatures and rain showers that got a little more persistent as the day wore on.

   The only concession to the weather came for the girls as the 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 divisions only played nine holes. There was a lot of junior golf over this past weekend, but I had to go back and catch up on the Philly Junior Tour season opener.

   Not surprisingly, the co-medalists in the 16-to-18 division for the boys were a couple of last fall’s scholastic standouts, Unionville sophomore Charlie Barrickman and Germantown Academy senior Ajeet Bagga, as each carded a 3-over 74 in the difficult conditions.

   Barrickman was the Ches-Mont League’s individual champion and helped the Longhorns capture the District One Class AAA team crown at Turtle Creek Golf Course. Barrickman also qualified as an individual for the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State’s Blue Course and led Unionville to a third-place finish in the team competition.

   Barrickman made birdies on the ninth, 14th and 16th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard at Five Ponds.

   Bagga was one of the top players in the Inter-Ac League throughout his career at Germantown Academy, leading the Patriots to their first league crown in a generation as a sophomore in 2021 and earning Champion Golfer of the Year honors by finishing atop the Inter-Ac’s regular-season points standings as a junior in 2022.

   Bagga capped his career at GA by finishing in a tie for sixth place in the Bert Linton Invitational, the Inter-Ac’s individual championship, at Aronimink Golf Club and in fourth in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association Championship at Radley Run Country Club last fall.

   Bagga was typically steady at Five Ponds, starting fast with birdies at the first, third and fourth holes and finishing with 11 pars on his card.

   Connor Breen of Medford, N.J. finished a shot behind Barrickman and Bagga in third place among the older guys with a solid 4-over 75. Breen got it going on the back nine at Five Ponds with a birdie at the 13th hole and seven of the 13 pars he recorded in his round on the incoming nine.

   Andrew Rindgen was another five shots behind Breen in fourth place with a 9-over 80. I usually report the players’ home towns, but they weren’t available in the results from Five Ponds. The players I know, especially the ones who have appeared in the blog in past Philly Junior Tour posts, I’ll try to include their home towns or the high school for which they play.

   Tower Hill School senior Michael Dignazio, who is gearing up for a spring scholastic season in Delaware, finished a shot behind Rindgen in fifth place with an 81. Dignazio, who was playing some solid golf on the Philly Junior Tour last fall, helped Tower Hill capture the state team title in Delaware last spring.

   Carson Deringer of Bryn Mawr finished two shots behind Dignazio in sixth place with an 83.

   Bryce Ciochetto and Dante Stridacchio shared seventh place, each signing for an 85 and Gavin Reinert and Christopher Pullano rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as they finished in a tie for ninth, each registering an 88.

   Ty Sheftic of Blue Bell and Landon Finsen of Westampton, N.J. finished in a tie atop the standings in the 13-to-15 division as each carded an 8-over 79.

   Sheftic made a birdie on the ninth hole and had nine pars on his scorecard, including a run of five in a row from the 12th through the 16th holes. Finsen made birdies on the sixth, ninth, 13th and 15th holes and had five pars on his card.

   Niklas Skjeveland of Jamison finished three shots behind Sheftic and Finsen in third place with an 82 as he made a birdie on the fifth hole and had seven pars on his card.

   Gregory Kriz took fourth place with an 83, Jesse Shurman was another shot behind Kriz in fifth with an 84 and Tyler Beritz was sixth with an 87.

   Michael Bonczak, John Peyton and William Thorkelson of Bryn Mawr finished in a deadlock for seventh place, each posting an 88.

   Bennett Newman, Reid Tornetta and Landon Stern rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as they finished in a tie for 10th place, each carding a 91.

   The best score among the girls came out of the younger 13-to-15 division as Noor Mehta of Newtown had five pars on her scorecard on her way to a victory with a 4-over 39.

   Katherine Liu of Moorestown, N.J. also had five pars on her card as she finished in a tie for second place with Alaina Carson of Broomall, each recording a 7-over 42. Carson had three pars on her card.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Madison Cabot of Langhorne as she took fourth place with a 55.

   Agnes Irwin sophomore Makayla Stone had three pars on her scorecard as she finished atop the scoreboard in the 16-to-18 division with a 7-over 42. Stone was gearing up for a spring season for the Inter-Ac League girls. She finished in a tie for 10th place in last spring’s Inter-Ac League Championship at French Creek Golf Club.

   Naaz Mehta, another member of Newtown’s Team Mehta, and Julia Hashem of Coatesville finished in a tie for second place, each landing two shots behind Stone with a 44.

   Naaz Mehta’s round was highlighted by back-to-back pars on the second and third holes and Hashem had three pars on her card.

   Mariana Walker of Richboro rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as she finished in fourth place with a 50.

   Patrick Thomas bested the field of nine-holers as he made a birdie on the seventh hole and had four pars on his scorecard on his way to a solid 4-over 39.

   Team Revness of Yardley accounted for the next two spots on the leaderboard.

   Ben Revness made back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth holes and had three pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Thomas in second place with a 5-over 40. Adam Revness made a birdie on the third hole and had two pars on his card as he took third place with a 43.

   Xunnan Dang of Newtown Square took fourth place with a 46, Steven Musacchio of Glenmoore was a shot behind Dang in fifth with a 47, Kaycen Subbio was sixth with a 49 and Matthew Bowman was a shot behind Subbio in seventh with a 50.

   Rounding out the field in the coed 12-and-under division was Quinn Pollard, who finished in eighth place with a 56.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Yermish, Borja lead Michigan to a share of second in Valspar Augusta Invitational

 

   Sidney Yermish, a two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at Lower Merion, continued their solid freshman season at Michigan as they finished among a group of six players tied for eighth place in the individual standings to help the Wolverines land in a tie for second in the Valspar Augusta Invitational last weekend at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

   Yermish prefers is to be identified pronoun-wise as they/them/their, so I’ll attempt to do just that.

   It was a really solid showing for Michigan, a Big Ten representative, in a 17-team field that included some of the top teams in the nation. One big drawing card at the Valspar was a chance for some of the top individual players to tee it up in Augusta, since many of them will be back in the neighborhood when the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship tees off April 3rd at Champions Retreat Golf Club.

   Yermish isn’t quite there yet, but they opened with a 4-under-par 68 over the 6,261-yard, par-72 Forest Hills layout, added a 2-over 74 in a second round that started March 9 and concluded March 10 and then matched par in the final round later that day with a 72 to join the group at 3-under 213.

   Yermish started their opening round at the 13th hole and was 4-over for their round after making a bogey at the first hole. Yermish made a birdie at the third hole and then their tee shot at the par-3 fourth hole found the bottom of the cup for a hole-in-one. Yermish then rattled off three straight birdies at the sixth, seventh and eighth holes before making an eagle at the par-5 ninth to complete a breathtaking stretch of 8-under golf over seven holes.

   Yermish had shown signs they might be ready for the next level last summer, particularly when they made a run to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course in Colorado Springs, Colo.

    It seems like weather has been an issue everywhere this spring and it shook up the schedule again at Forest Hills. Originally scheduled to be a double round March 8 followed by a single round March 10, players got in a round March 8 in anticipation of wet weather. The field got in 10 to 12 holes March 9 before the anticipated rain arrived.

   Players completed their second round early March 10 before playing their final round in tough conditions as the golf course was drenched by overnight rains.

   Mississippi, a Southeastern Conference power, got the jump on the field by opening with the best team round of the tournament, a sparkling 12-under 276, and then held on as the conditions deteriorated. The Rebels added a 5-under 283 in a second round played over two days and closed with a 9-over 297 for an 8-under 856 total.

   Ole Miss was led by three players who finished among the top six in the individual standings as Natacha Host Husted, a junior from Denmark, landed in a tie for second place, Caitlyn Macnab, a junior from South Africa and No. 20 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), ended up alone in fifth, and Sophie Linder, a freshman from Carthage, Tenn., got a share of sixth.

   South Carolina, an SEC rival of Ole Miss, and Yermish and Michigan finished three shots behind the Rebels in a tie for second place, each landing on 5-under 859. Ole Miss, South Carolina and Michigan were the only three teams to finish under par.

   South Carolina was never too far behind Ole Miss as the Gamecocks put together back-to-back 5-under 283s in the first two rounds before closing with a 5-over 293 to finish at 5-under.

   South Carolina was led by Hannah Darling, a junior from Scotland and No. 14 in the Women’s WAGR who joined Ole Miss’ Host Husted and Georgia’s LoraLie Cowart, a junior from Carrollton, Ga., in the tie for second place in the individual standings, two shots behind the individual champion, Florida State’s Mirabel Ting, a sophomore from Malaysia and No. 17 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Darling got into contention with a 5-under 67 in the second round after she had opened with a 2-under 70. She finished up with a 2-over 74 to get a share of second place at 5-under.

   Darling had earned co-medalist honors in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at the Long Cove Club on Hilton Head Island, S.C., which had wrapped up just two days before the Valspar teed off. Darling led the host Gamecocks to a fourth-place finish in the Darius Rucker.

   Looks like Host Husted had the individual lead when the second round was finally completed the morning after it started as she had opened with a sparkling 6-under 66 before adding 3-under 69 in the second round. Host Husted finished up with a 4-over 76 to fall back into the tie for second place at 5-under.

   Macnab, who transferred to Ole Miss from TCU, was consistent throughout, carding back-to-back 1-under 71s in the first two rounds before closing with a 2-under 70 that left her alone in fifth place with a 4-under 212 total, a shot behind the trio tied for second.

   Linder gave Ole Miss a big spark in the opening round as she matched Host Husted’s 6-under 66. Linder then matched par in the second round with a 72 before closing with a 3-over 75 that left her in a tie for sixth place with Auburn’s Megan Schofill, a fifth-year player from Monticello, Fla. and No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR at 3-under 213.

   Florida State’s Ting seemed unbothered by the tough conditions during the final round as she finished up with a 5-under 67, the best total of the final round, to jump past a host of contenders and claim the individual crown with a 7-under 209 total. Ting had opened with a 4-under 68 before adding a 2-over 74 in the second round. It was Ting’s second career individual win.

   Michigan, behind Yermish’s opening-round 68, got off to a solid start with a 1-under 287. The Wolverines added a 5-under 283 in the second round before battling the difficult conditions to a 1-over 289 in the final round that enabled them to get a share of runnerup honors with South Carolina at 5-under.

   Another SEC power, Auburn, behind Schofill, the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, finished six shots behind South Carolina and Michigan in fourth place with a 1-over 865 total. The Tigers, coming off a third-place finish in the Darius Rucker at Hilton Head, opened with a 3-under 285 and added a 1-under 287 in the second round before finishing up with a 5-over 293.

   Schofill opened with a 4-under 68 and added a 2-over 74 in the second round before closing with a solid 1-under 71 to join Linder at 3-under.

   Behind Ting, Florida State, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, had the best round of the final round with a 5-under 283 to finish two shots behind Auburn in fifth place with a 3-over 867 total. The Seminoles had opened with a 3-over 291 before adding a 5-over 293 in the second round.

   Georgia, behind Cowart, finished four shots behind Florida State in sixth place with a 7-over 871 total. Another SEC power, the Bulldogs matched par in the second round with a 288 after opening with a 3-under 285 and then finished up with a 10-over 298.

   Cowart was only a shot behind Ole Miss’ Host Husted in the individual chase going into the final round after adding a 5-under 67 in the second round to her opening-round 69. Cowart closed with a 3-over 75 to join Host Husted and South Carolina’s Darling in the tie for second place at 5-under.

   Reigning ACC champion Clemson finished three shots behind Georgia in seventh place with a 10-over 874 total. The Tigers opened with a solid 2-under 286 and added a 3-over 291 in the second round before closing with a 9-over 297.

   Backing up the top three for Ole Miss was senior Andrea Lignell, a senior from Sweden and No. 53 in the Women’s WAGR as she finished in the group tied for 52nd place with an 8-over 224 total. Lignell added a solid 1-under 71 in the second round to her opening round of 3-over 75 before struggling to a 78 in the final round.

   As a sophomore in 2021, Lignell went 3-0 in match play, including a huge victory over current professional Katyln Papp of Texas in 22 holes in the quarterfinals, to help Ole Miss capture the first national championship in program history at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   Rounding out the Ole Miss lineup was Justine Fournand, a senior from France who finished in the group tied for 62nd place with a 10-over 226 total. Fournand’s opening round of 1-over 73 was a counter for the Rebels as was her final-round 76. She registered a 5-over 77 in the second round.

   This is the third stop on Fournand’s college golf journey as she began her career at Florida Atlantic and was at South Carolina before arriving in Oxford, Miss.

   Yermish wasn’t the only Wolverine in the group of six players tied for eighth place at 2-under, a shot behind Schofill and Linder, as Yermish’s teammate Hailey Borja, a fifth-year player from Lake Forest, Calif., also got it to 2-under. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Borja ripped off a sparkling 5-under 67 in the second round before closing with a 3 -over 75.

   Mia Sandtorv Lussand, a sophomore from Norway, gave South Carolina another finisher inside the top 10 as she joined the group at 2-under. Santorv Lussand posted back-to-back 2-under 70s in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 2-over 74.

   A couple of Georgia Southern players, Abby Newton, a senior from Statesboro, Ga., and Louise Reau, a freshman from France, were part of the group at 2-under.

   Newton matched Santorv Lussand’s splits, carding back-to-back 2-under 70s in the first two rounds before closing with a 2-over 74. Reau opened with a solid 4-under 68 and matched par in the second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 2-over 74.

   Rounding out the group tied for eighth place was Augusta’s Napabhach Boon-In, a graduate student from Thailand who opened with a solid 3-under 69 and matched par in the second round with a 72 before closing with a 1-over 73

   Backing up Yermish and Borja for Michigan was Monet Chun, a senior from Canada and No. 75 in the Women’s WAGR who finished among the group tied for 17th place with an even-par 216 total. After opening with a 2-over 74, Chun signed for a solid 3-under 69 before finishing up with a 1-over 73.

   It was Chun who fired a 5-under 66 in the final round of the Big Ten Championship at Fox Chapel Golf Club in suburban Pittsburgh two years ago to claim the individual crown and lead the Wolverines to the first conference title in the history of the program.

   Later that summer, Chun reached the final of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. before falling to Japanese teen Saki Baba.

   It’s starting to look like Michigan will be a contender when this year’s Big Ten Championship tees off April 19th at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, March 15, 2024

Nicholas helps Drexel earn a runnerup finish in The Peoples Championship at Sea Palms

 

   Drexel, getting a routinely strong showing from Drue Nicholas, earned a runnerup finish in The Peoples Championship, which was halted after two rounds last weekend at the Sea Palms Resort on St. Simons Island, Ga.

   It was the second straight tournament in which a City 6 team ran into three-time reigning Atlantic 10 champion Davidson and the second straight time the Wildcats emerged with the team title.

   The teams got in a 36-hole double round March 8 and tried to get the third round in the following day, but relentless rains forced play to be halted with the standings reverting back to the end of the previous day’s second round.

   Davidson got the jump on the field with a 10-under 274 over the 6,664-yard, par-71 Sea Palms layout and then was one better in the afternoon of the double round with an 11-under 273 for a 21-under 547 total. It was the second year in a row that Davidson won team crown in The Peoples Championship.

   Davidson had three finishers among the top five as Joshua Stewart, a junior from Winter Springs, Fla., and Will Davis, a junior from Jacksonville, Fla., finished in a tie for second place, just a shot behind the individual winner, Wright State’s Shane Ochs, a sophomore from Dayton Ohio.

   Davidson’s Alex Heffner, a senior from Harrisburg, N.C., was part of a trio of players that included Drexel’s Nicholas, tied for fourth place at 5-under 137.

   Ochs had opened with a sizzling 6-under 65 before adding a 3-under 68 in the afternoon of the opening day for a 9-under 133 total.

   Stewart had opened with a 2-under 69 before adding a sparkling 6-under 65 of his own in the afternoon to finish in a tie for second place, a shot behind Ochs at 8-under 134. Davis had the same splits, adding a 6-under 65 in the afternoon to his opening-round 69 to join his teammate in the tie for second place.

   The Davidson website indicated that Davis held a one-shot lead over Stewart in the individual chase when the final round was halted.

   Heffner had opened with a 4-under 67 and added a 1-under 70 in the afternoon to finish at 5-under.

   The Wildcats were coming off claiming the team title in The Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate at the Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, S.C., topping a field that included Temple. Stewart got a share of second place in that event as well.

   Drexel opened with a 3-under 281 and added a 5-under 279 in the second round to earn a runnerup finish with an 8-under 560 total that left the Dragons, a Coastal Athletic Association entry, 13 shots behind Davidson.

   Nicholas, a senior from Egg Harbor Township, N.J. and a St. Augustine Prep product, added a 3-under 68 in the second round to his opening-round 69 to join Davidson’s Heffner at 5-under in a tie for fourth place.

   Xavier, a Big East representative, was another eight shots behind Drexel in third place with an even-par 568 total as the Musketeers opened with a solid 4-under 280 before adding a 4-over 288 in the opening day’s afternoon round.

   Xavier was led by Ray Filter, a freshman from Crown Point, Ind. who joined Davidson’s Heffner and Drexel’s Nicholas in the tie for fourth place at 5-under. Filter opened with a solid 4-under 68 before adding a 69 in the second round.

   Wright State, out of the Horizon League, finished a shot behind Xavier in fourth place with a 1-over 569 total. The Raiders, behind Ochs, the individual champion, matched par in the opening round with a 284 before adding a 1-over 285 in the second round.

   Western Carolina, a Southern Conference entry, and Belmont, out of the Missouri Valley Conference, finished a shot behind Wright State in a tie for fifth place in the 17-team field, each landing on 2-over 570.

   The Catamounts opened with a solid 4-under 280 before finishing up with a 6-over 290. The Bruins opened with a 1-under 283 before adding a 3-over 287.

   Backing up the top three for Davidson was Prince Miller, a sophomore from Atlanta, Ga. who finished among the group tied for 46th place with a 4-over 146 total. Miller struggled a little in an opening round of 5-over 76 before adding a solid 1-under 70 in the afternoon of the opening day’s double round.

   Rounding out the Davidson lineup was Benjamin Newfield, a freshman from Arlington, Va. who contributed a 1-over 72 for the Wildcats in the opening round, but was forced to withdraw before the second round.

   Davis Sayman, a freshman from Charlotte, N.C., competed as an individual for Davidson and made a case for a spot in the lineup later this spring as he finished in the group tied for 37th place with a 3-over 145 total. Sayman added a solid 1-under 70 in the second round to his opening round of 4-over 75.

   Junior Adam Lauer, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during a standout scholastic career at Pittsburgh’s Shady Side Academy, also competed as an individual for Davidson and finished among the group tied for 59th place with a 6-over 148 total. Lauer added a 4-over 75 in the second round to his opening-round 73.

   Central Michigan’s Philippe Yturralde, a sophomore from La Mesa, Calif., finished alone in seventh place, a shot behind the trio tied for fourth as he carded a pair of 2-under 69s for a 4-under 138 total.

   Wofford’s Matthew Larkin, a fifth-year player from Atlanta, Ga., was another shot behind Yturralde in eighth place with a 3-under 139 total as he bounced back from an opening round of 1-over 72 with a 4-under 67 in the afternoon of the opening-day’s double round.

   Caleb Taylor, a sophomore from Woodbine, Md., gave Drexel a second finisher inside the top 10 as he ended up in a tie for ninth place with the Western Carolina duo of Pablo Hernandez, a redshirt senior from Spain, and Keifer Bulau, a junior from Canada, each landing on 2-under 140.

   Taylor was the low Dragon in the opening round with a solid 3-under 68 before adding a 1-over 72 in the afternoon.

   Hernandez bounced back from an opening round of 1-over 72 with a solid 3-under 68 in the second round. Bulau matched par in the opening round with a 71 before adding a 2-under 69 in the afternoon of the opening-day’s double round.

   Backing up Nicholas and Taylor for Drexel was Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa, a senior from Zimbabwe who finished among the group tied for 12th place with a 1-under 141 total. Nyamukondiwa matched par in the second round with a 71 after opening with a 1-under 70.

   Rounding out the Drexel lineup were Oscar Maxfield, a graduate student from Salt Lake City, Utah, and Griffin Mitchell, a senior from New Albany, Ohio, both of whom finished in the group tied for 29th place at 2-over 144. Maxfield and Mitchell each opened with a 3-over 74 before adding a 1-under 70 in the second round.

   Drexel graduate student Liam Hart, the 2017 PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep, competed as an individual at Sea Palms and finished in the group tied for 85th place with a 10-over 152 total. Hart added a 4-over 75 in the second round to his opening-round 77.