Radnor girls remember the building blocks

   A few leftovers from a busy week of scholastic golf as the countdown to the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club’s East Course on a Sunday with Hurricane Sandy bearing down stands at 229 days.  
   There was an interesting dynamic involving the road the Radnor girls team took to what ultimately became this week’s PIAA Class AAA championship.
   The senior co-captains on this year’s team, Jamie Susanin and Allie Ziegler, never failed to mention the seniors who had graduated before them, particularly Jackie Calamaro, who captained the 2009 team, and Caitlin Sullivan, captain of the 2011 team that broke through with a District One title, when they talked about how this year’s team became a state champion.
   Sullivan is in her first year at the Air Force Academy. She has just recently emerged from the communication blackout first-year students there are subjected to, so she was able to get a cellphone message from her former teammates with the good news from Heritage Hills. Before that, though, no cellphones, no texts, no email, no Facebook, no Twitter. What’s a modern-day teenager to do to get the latest news to their former teammate?

   Susanin and Ziegler were able to keep Sullivan informed earlier in the season via the long lost art of letter-writing.
“Pen and paper?” I asked the triumphant duo following their crowning moment.
   “We were writing her letters, letting her know how we were doing,” Susanin said beside a nodding Ziegler.
   “They called Sully and she was excited, and I’m sure they’ll get a hold of Jackie, if they haven’t called her already and she’ll be excited,” Radnor coach Andy Achenbach said.
   It will go down in the books as Radnor’s 2012 state championship team, but in the minds of this year’s captains, everybody that helped build the program could take pride in knowing that they had a hand in making it happen.
   In much the same spirit, it’s worth noting that even though the Red Raiders were able to throw out the 101 posted by junior Julieanne Horgan in Wednesday’s team competition, she is as much a part of the team as the four players whose scores counted. 
   Horgan has been there all along for last year’s District One and East Regional team titles and PIAA runnerup honors and again this fall for the district repeat and finally a state title.

    That's the 2012 PIAA Class AAA champion Radnor Red Raiders with their championship trophy at Heritage Hills Golf Resort in an image provided to T Mac Tees Off by Suzanne Ziegler, mother of Allie. The group includes: From left, head coach Andy Achenbach, Julieanne Horgan, co-captains Allie Ziegler and Jamie Susanin, Julia Curley, Brynn Walker and assistant coach Steve Burns.

Broomall’s Ryan leaves his mark at Heritage Hills

   St. Joseph Prep senior Mac Ryan, a Broomall resident and Overbrook G.C. member, teed it up at Heritage Hills as a member of the District 12 champion Hawks.
   Ryan’s solid 77 was the second-best score posted by the Prep, behind only the 76 carded by Kevin Kramarski. The Prep finished third in the Class AAA team standings at 312.

More from the Inter-Ac Tournament

   Managed to pick up a little more information on the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League Tournament, which was held Wednesday at Sunnybrook G.C.
   We were able to report in the Thursday Daily Times that Haverford School junior Cole Berman had repeated as the Inter-Ac individual champion by matching par with a 72 at Sunnybrook.
   Berman was followed by three of his teammates as two-time All-Delco Scott Jaster was the runnerup with a 76, Jay Losty was third with a 77 and Timmy Brooks had a 78.
   What we didn’t have that night was that Brooks finished in a three-way tie for fourth with Malvern Prep’s Michael Lemond and Germantown Academy’s Jake Niedosik.
   Episcopal Academy’s Joe Chambers was alone in seventh place with a 79. Episcopal senior Sean Fahey, who suffered an untimely injury midway through the fall season, shot an 80 and finished in a tie for eighth at that figure along with Ryan Tetrault of The Haverford School, Chris Dalglish of Springside Chestnut Hill and Brendan Papariello of Malvern Prep.
   Episcopal senior Alex Dupre had an 86.

Villanova finishes fall on a roll

   The first-place finish for former Haverford School standout Michael Kania and for Villanova in the team standings at last weekend’s Lehigh Invitational made the Daily Times as a brief item in the Monday, Oct. 22 edition.
   But the effort deserves to be expanded on. After all, it was the first tournament win for the Wildcats under Jim Wilkes.
   Kania, a two-time All-Delco and two-time Inter-Ac League champion during his time down Lancaster Avenue at The Haverford School, followed up an opening-round 68 at Saucon Valley C.C.’s Grace Course, site of two U.S. Senior Open championships, with a 75 for a 1-under 143 total that gave him his first tournament victory.
   The runnerup finish by Kania’s fellow senior Steve Skurla, who had rounds of 70 and 74 to finish a shot back of Kania, was also a career-best showing for him.
   Cory Siegfried, The Haverford School All-Delco who is using up his eligibility while studying for a master’s degree on the Main Line, finished in a tie for third at 2-over 146.
   And the third member of the Wildcats’ Haverford School connection, sophomore Ted Brennan, a Newtown Square resident, finished sixth at 3-over 147. Brennan’s improved play might be as big a story as any during a fine fall campaign for the Wildcats.
   Villanova followed up a sizzling 284 team total on Day One with a second-round 296 for a 580 total that left the Wildcats 16 shots clear of runnerup Rutgers.
   Villanova will put the sticks away for a while. The Wildcats don’t return to tournament play until early March at the VCU Harmony Golf Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
   Luke Edelman of Bucknell was one of the players who shared third place in the Lehigh Invitational with Siegfried at 146, leading the Bison to a fifth-place finish in the team standings.
   Another Bucknell player who is having a fine fall season is senior Dan Bernard, a Malvern Prep product who is a member at Aronimink G.C. Bernard finished in a tie for 21st at Saucon Valley with a 155 total.
   Bernard’s performance in September earned him Patriot Player of the Month honors.
   Bernard earned his first career tournament victory at the Bucknell Invitational, edging Edelman by two shots. He was Bucknell’s first individual winner at any tournament since Andrew Cohen captured the Lafayette Invitational in the spring of 2010.
   Bernard was also the Bison’s low player in two other September events. He finished tied for fourth at the Cornell Invitational and tied for 10th at the Colgate Invitational.

Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour

   Garnet Valley junior Jack Highfill remains active on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s fall swing.
Highfill posted an 85 in a Junior Tour stop at Honeybrook G.C. Oct. 20 to finish sixth in the 16-to-18 division.
   Younger brother Noah finished 13th in the 13-to-15 age group with a 104. Daniel Bullock of Wayne was a shot better than Highfill in 12th place with a 103.
   Great Valley junior Sawyer Wolfers was an impressive winner of that age group with a 3-over 73.
   Among the nine-holers, Jacob Calamaro of Newtown Square finished fifth with a 46.

Forster takes match-play event

   Radnor Valley C.C. head pro George Forster claimed a 1-up victory over Hidden Valley G.C. pro Terry Hatch in the final to claim the Philadelphia Section PGA’s Match Play Championship Wednesday at Little Mill C.C. in Marlton, N.J.
   Forster took a 2-up lead when Hatch lost a hole after declaring a penalty on himself for moving a loose impediment in a bunker. But Hatch battled back by taking the 15th and 17th holes to draw even before Forster won it at the last.

Kan is in the swing at Purdue

   Aurora Kan, a three-time Daily Times Player of the Year at Chichester who is a sophomore at Purdue, had the best tournament of her college career when she finished seventh at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships last weekend.
   Kan had rounds of 73, 73 and 70 over the 6,447-yard, par-72 Holston Hills Country Club layout in Knoxville, Tenn. for an even-par 216 total.
   The Boilermakers, ranked 16th in the latest Golfweek poll, were led by senior Paula Reto, who claimed the individual title, her final-round 69 giving her a 5-under 211 total.
   Reto and Kan helped Purdue finish third in the team standings with an 872 total. The Boilermakers improved every day, posting rounds of 293, 291 and 288.
   Penn State was a surprising wire-to-wire team champion with rounds of 291, 289 and 287 for a 3-over 867 total. Host Tennessee finished second, a shot better than Purdue at 871.
  Also for Purdue, senior Laura Gonzalez-Escallon (76-73-75) and redshirt senior Kishi Sinha (75-75-74) were among the players in a tie for 32nd at 224. Freshman Margaux Vanmol finished in a tie for 40th at 226 (74-74-78). Freshman Brooke Beegle competed as an individual and tied for 62nd at 234 (76-76-82).
   Among the players who shared seventh place individually with Kan was Penn State’s low scorer, Ellen Ceresko. It was Ceresko, a North Pocono product, whom Kan beat in the semifinals on her way to the 2010 Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur championship at Whitemarsh Valley C.C. just prior to Kan’s senior season at Chi.
   Earlier this month, Purdue finished 13th in the Liz Murphy Fall Preview, held at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga. The 2013 NCAA Tournament will be held at the same University of Georgia layout.
   North Carolina captured the team title with a final-round 290 that enabled the Tar Heels to finish at 876 and edge reigning national champion Alabama by four shots.
   Purdue was steady, but unspectacular with rounds of 300, 301 and 301 for a 902 total.
   Reto contended for individual honors with a pair of 71s in the first two rounds before falling back with a 76 that left her in a tie for 14th at 2-over 218.
   Gonzalez-Escallon finished in a tie for 45th at 227 (74-79-74), Kan (78-77-76) and Kishi (77-75-79) were among five players in a tie for 66th at 231 and Vanmol (80-78-75) finished in a tie for 75th at 233.

Villanova relying on its Haverford School connection

 

   Led by senior captain Michael Kania, a two-time All-Delco, and a couple of other former Haverford School standouts, Villanova has been putting together a solid string of tournament showings heading into its fall finale this weekend at the Lehigh Invitational.
   As was reported briefly in the Oct. 15 print edition of the Daily Times, the Wildcats finished seventh in the team standings at last weekend’s Big 5 Invitational held at Philmont Country Club. Villanova posted a 307 total on Day 1 and 310 the second day for a 617 total.
   That left them a frustrating one shot back of Temple for low-Big 5 in the field as the Owls, led by talented freshman Brandon Matthews, who won the individual title, improved from an opening-round 310 with a 306 to just edge Villanova.
Senior Derek Jones led Villanova with rounds of 75 and 77 for a 12-over 152 total that left him in a tie for 12th.
   Kania, out of the strong stable of Overbrook G.C. players, led the ’Cats’ Haverford School group with rounds of 78 and 75 for a 153 total that gave him a tie for 15th.
   Cory Siegfried, a two-time All-Delco who was a teammate of Kania’s at the beginning of his scholastic career, played the bulk of his collegiate career at the University of Virginia, but had some eligibility left when he started studying for a masters on the Main Line. A member at Philadelphia C.C., Siegfried had rounds of 76 and 79 at Philmont to finish in a tie for 23rd.
   Sophomore Ted Brennan, a Newtown Square resident who was a sophomore with the Fords when Kania was a senior, had rounds of 78 and 79 at Philmont for a 157 total that left him in a tie for 35th. Brennan, like Siegfried, is a member at Philadelphia C.C. Senior Steve Skurla struggled on the tricky Philmont greens with rounds of 80 and 85 for a 165 total that left him in a tie for 71st.
   Senior Jimmy Johnston, a Wayne resident and former Malvern Prep standout, competed as an individual for the ’Cats and finished a shot back of Skurla at 166 (82-84)  in a tie for 80th.
   Another Haverford School All-Delco, Nelson Hargrove, led Brown to a 14th-place finish with a 637 total. Hargrove finished in a tie for 30th with rounds of 77 and 79 for a 156 total.
   Matthews has been a big story in the area with his fast start at Temple. He carded a 1-under 69 in the second round to claim the individual title at 5-over 145.
   Two years ago, Matthews put on a scintillating display in winning the PIAA title as a junior at Pittston. He was a state medalist again last fall at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort.
   And he grabbed one the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s major titles when he won the rain-shortened Patterson Cup at Philadelphia C.C.  in August.

   Another name familiar to followers of Central League golf, former Lower Merion standout Greg Jarmas, finished in a tie for second at Philmont in leading Princeton to a fifth-place finish in the team standings.
   Jarmas, the runnerup at the 2009 PIAA Tournament, had rounds of 71 and 75 for a 146 total. Jarmas also fell in the final of the GAP Amateur Championship to former Villanova standout Brian Colbert in June. Princeton was fifth at 610.
   Jarmas shared second place with Bryce Edmister (73-73—146), who led Binghamton to third in the team standings at 612. 

  Hartford, with an impressive second-day team total of 291 that enabled it to vault past 12 teams it trailed after Day 1, captured the team title at 609, a shot better than Sacred Heart.
   Heading into the Big 5 Invitational, Villanova was coming off a third-place finish in the CHAMPS/Patriot Intercollegiate in Lorton, Va. a couple of weeks earlier.
   Kania had rounds of 71, 72 and 68 and finished in a tie for second in the individual standings at 2-under 211. Skurla also had a big weekend with rounds of 72, 71 and 69 that left him in a tie for fourth at 1-under 212.
   Siegfried (75-75-74—224), Jones (78-74-75—227) and Johnston (86-75-75—236) rounded out the top five for Villanova. Brennan competed as an individual and finished tied for 56th with rounds of 74, 79 and 79 for a 232 total.
   Kania’s performance, combined with his tie for third at the Adams Cups of Newport in Newport, R.I. and a tie for 19th in the season-opening Turning Stone Tiger Intercollegiate, earned him Big East Player of the Month honors.
   It was the first time the two-time Inter-Ac League champion had won the Player of the Month award.
   Also at the CHAMPS/Patriot Intercollegiate, Delaware freshman Braden Shattuck, the 2011-12 Daily Times Player of the Year at Sun Valley, finished in a tie for 19th with rounds of 74, 70 and 76 for a 220 total.
   Senior Ben Conroy finished in a tie for 10th at 215 (73-68-74) to lead the way for the Blue Hens, who finished fifth in the team standings.

Calamaro helps Illini finish in tie for eighth

   Illinois redshirt sophomore Jackie Calamaro, the 2009 PIAA champion as a senior at Radnor, finished 48th in helping the Illini share eighth place with Big Ten rival Iowa at the Hoosier Fall Invitational last weekend.
Calamaro had rounds of 83, 78 and 81 over the 6,119-yard, par-72 Belterra Resort Course.
   For the third time in four tournaments, the Illini were led by redshirt sophomore Samantha Postillion, who had a final-round 79 to finish in a tie for 20th at 231.
   Illinois came into the final round in fifth place after a strong 304 score in the middle round, but fell back to 324 in blustery conditions last Sunday to end up at 938. Illinois opened with a 309.
   Wisconsin posted a final-round 302 and made up a 16-shot deficit to finish at 894, two shots better than Indiana.
Illinois also got solid showings from sophomore Pimploy Thirati (233, tied for 26th), juniior Ember Schuldt (234, tied for 31st), and freshman Michelle Mayer (245, 56th).
   Also teeing it up at the Hoosier was Delaware. Sophomore Amanda Terzian, an Episcopal Academy product, had rounds of 80, 78 and 88 for a 246 total that left her in a tie for 57th. Terzian and the Blue Hens posted a team total of 879, which left them last in the field of 13th.

Jaster completes dominant regular season

   Haverford School senior Scott Jaster, a two-time All-Delco, will be coming off a dominant run through the regular season when he tees it up in the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League Tournament this week.
   The Inter-Ac tourney, which crowns the league’s individual champion, was originally scheduled to be played Monday, Oct. 22 at Philadelphia Cricket Club, but has been moved to Wednesday, Oct. 24 at Sunnybrook G.C. Wednesday’s tournament will be contested at 18 holes.
   But there is no doubt as to the identity of the top individual player during the Inter-Ac’s regular-season run of six mini-tournaments that concluded Thursday with Penn Charter hosting at Huntingdon Valley C.C.
   Jaster carded a 2-over 37 at Huntingdon Valley to share medalist honors with teammates Timmy Brooks, also a senior, and junior Ryan Tetrault. Junior All-Delco Cole Berman was another two shots back at 39.
   Jaster’s record against the rest of the league throughout the six mini-tournaments was a remarkable 269-3-10 and the Inter-Ac may very well be the most competitive golf circuit in the state.
   Twice, when Episcopal Academy hosted at Merion G.C.’s West Course and when the Fords hosted at Gulph Mills G.C., Jaster beat the field. Two other times he shared medalist honors.
   Berman, the 2012 Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Player of the Year, finished second with an overall record of 246-23-13. Brooks finished third at 234-26-22.
   It was a really remarkable regular season for the Fords. Jake Van Arkel finished sixth, Tetrault seventh, Otis Baker ninth, Max Siegfried 12th and Jay Losty 15th, giving Haverford School eight of the top 15 players in the league.
   Senior Alex Dupre was Episcopal Academy’s top player as he finished eighth in the overall standings.
   Dupre’s pal and fellow EA senior Sean Fahey bounced back from an injury to fire a 38 Thursday at Huntingdon Valley, which gave him a share of fourth that day.
   Overall Fahey finished 20th, despite missing two of the mini-tournaments.

Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour

   With their scholastic seasons ending a little sooner than they had hoped, Garnet Valley teammates Jack Highfill, a junior, and Michael Stankila, a sophomore, took out their frustrations Oct. 13 in a Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour stop at Sussex Pines C.C.
   Highfill fired an 81 to take top honors in the 16-to-18 age group and Stankila was two shots behind him in second place with an 83.
   A younger Highfill, Noah, finished sixth in the 13-to-15 age group wioth a 106.
   Among the nine-holers, Newtown Square resident Jacob Calamaro finished fourth with a 56.

These girls can really play

   A few leftovers from the District One Tournament and some other scholastic golf notes as a six-pack of Delco golfers — found out about a couple of Archbishop Carroll boys who will be representing the Catholic League and District 12 in Class AA — head for the East Regional Tournament at Golden Oaks Country Club Tuesday.

   In 2000, when there was no regional tournament, Radnor’s Lauren Eveland posted a 167 total in the District One Tournament at Wyncote Golf Club and earned a spot in the PIAA Tournament field.
   Since then, the talent level in District One among the girls has surged and last week’s district tournament provided ample evidence of that fact.
   It was pretty astounding when Isabella Dilisio of Mount St. Joseph fired the first shot on Day 1 of the girls tournament Tuesday at Gilbertsville Golf Club when she posted a remarkable 5-under 66.
   Conditions were wet over the Red and White nines, which measured 5,119 yards. Players were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls all over the golf course. But 66 is 66.
   And then 15 minutes later, another 66, this one by talented Pennsbury sophomore Jackie Rogowicz, went up on the board.
   And neither one of these girls was Erica Herr, who had won this event the past two years, denying eventual 2010 PIAA champion Aurora Kan of Chichester a fourth straight district title in Herr’s freshman year.
   All Herr did Tuesday at Gilbertsville was shoot a 1-over 72, a figure that was matched by her little sister, freshman Madelein Herr.
   Erica Herr, Rogowicz and Dilisio finished 1-2-3, respectively, at the PIAA Tournament at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort a year ago, so it wasn’t a total shock that they would be ahead of the pack.
   Surely at a longer Turtle Creek for Day 2 Wednesday with the wind starting to blow as it often does at the Turtle, the scores would be significantly higher.
   Higher, yes. Significantly? Not really.
   Dilisio fired a 1-under 71 to take the title at 6-under 137. Rogowicz matched par at 72, despite a quadruple bogey nine on the 18th hole — her ninth of the day — to finish a shot back of Dilisio at 5-under 138. Rogowicz was 4-under on the back nine — again her first nine holes — until she dumped two balls in the water on the 18th.
   Two-time defending champion Erica Herr couldn’t make up the big first-round deficit, but had the low round of the day, a sparkling 2-under 70 to finish alone in third place at 1-under 142. Little sister Madelein fell back with an 81, but still claimed fourth place alone at 153.
   Radnor senior Jamie Susanin, who led the Red Raiders to the district team title on Day 1 at Gilbertsville, claimed fifth all alone at 155 (74-81) and her freshman teammate Brynn Walker was alone in sixth place at 159 (76-83).
   Walker is friendly with the Herr sisters from playing with them at AJGA and other junior events. But she also made it sound as though she feels she can compete with them.
   Garnet Valley sophomore Annika Vandayar, who is a very nice player, was the most obvious victim of the vast improvement on the girls scene. Vandayar posted an opening-round 79 at Gilbertsville, but her second-round 86 at the Turtle left her outside the eight regional qualifiers at 165. Again, 12 years ago that 165 gets her a top-five district finish and a trip to states.
   The other remarkable thing about Dilisio’s opening-round 66 was that the Radnor girls were able to overcome that score and still beat Mount St. Joe to  win their second straight district team crown by four shots.
   In addition to Susanin’s 74 and Walker’s 76, the Red Raiders got a solid 79 from sophomore Julia Curley and an 81 from senior Allie Ziegler — a co-captain along with Susanin. As Ziegler pointed out after the waiting was over, the Red Raiders improved 32 shots from their title-winning score from a year ago at Gilbertsville and it almost wasn’t good enough.
   Golf is such an individual endeavor, it doesn’t always lend itself to a team dynamic. But the Radnor girls play better for each other than they do for themselves.
   As Curley lamented her second-round 92 on Day 2 at Turtle Creek, Ziegler threw an arm around her and said, “Yeah, but you were there when we needed you (Tuesday).”

Carroll sends Henry, McCarthy to regionals

   The introduction of another classification in PIAA golf, Class AA, didn’t seem to make much difference on the Delco scholastic scene. Or did it?
   Glen Mills golf coach Steve Natalie, who does a super job running the district tournament each year, informed me that Archbishop Carroll would be representing District 12 in a Class AA subregional three-time tournament Friday at Turtle Creek.
   The field would include the Patriots, District One champion New Hope and Notre Dame (Green Pond) from District Eleven.
   Notre Dame edged New Hope by two shots, 338-340, to earn the berth in the state team competition. Carroll was a ways back at 393.
   But in corresponding with Carroll coach Kevin McCarthy, I discovered that two of his players, senior Sean Henry and sophomore Mike McCarthy, had earned individual berths in Tuesday’s East Regional Tournament at Golden Oaks.
   Carroll’s other players who teed it up in Friday’s PIAA subregional were senior Sean Monahan, junior Steve Truitt and sophomore Matt Burns. Rounding out the squad that was crowned the Catholic League’s Class AA champion are seniors Ryan Burkitt and Adam Baer and freshman James O’Toole.

Jaster, Haverford School remain hot

   Haverford School played host to Inter-Ac League mini-tournament No. 4 Monday at Gulph Mills Golf Club and two-time All-Delco Scott Jaster remained red-hot, taking medalist honors for the day with a 34.
   Jake Van Arkel added a 35, All-Delco Cole Berman and Max Siegfried posted 38s, Ryan Tetrault had a 39 and Timmy Brooks and Jay Losty each had 40 as the Fords’ 224 total was 19 shots clear of runnerup Malvern Prep (243).
   With senior Sean Fahey out of the lineup with an injury, Episcopal Academy settled for third place at 252. Senior Alex Dupre led the way for the Churchmen with a 37.
   Malvern Prep was scheduled to host mini-tournament No. 5 Tuesday at Waynesborough C.C., but those results have yet to be posted. The sixth and final mini-tournament is scheduled for this Thursday, Oct. 18, with Penn Charter playing host at Huntingdon Valley C.C.
   The Bert Linton Inter-Ac League Tournament is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 22 with the league’s top players teeing it up at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill course.

Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour

   Springfield senior Kyle Hakun tuned up for the District One Tournament with a third-place finish in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop Oct. 6 at Green Valley C.C.
  Hakun carded an 81 in windy conditions over the 6,611-yard, par-71 Green Valley layout. The preparation paid dividends when the Central League champion battled back from an opening-round 77 with a second-round 74 at Turtle Creek to earn one of the 16 qualifying berths to this week’s East Regional Tournament at Golden Oaks C.C.
   In the 13-to-15 division, Penncrest sophomore Griffin Colvin finished second with a 78.

McDermott back in form at Crump Cup

 

   Michael McDermott, the five-time winner of the Hyndman Trophy that goes to the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Player of the Year, took a planned break from competitive golf in 2010 to give his young family and his work the attention they deserved.
   He took another break this year, but this one was not planned. A digestive illness landed him in the hospital and kept him off the golf course for six weeks.
   The illness cost him a chance to compete in this summer’s Philadelphia Open at the famed Pine Valley Golf Club in South Jersey. McDermott is a member at Merion Golf Club, site of the 2013 U.S. Open, but like many top amateur players in this area, he maintains a membership at Pine Valley as well, so he had to be disappointed to not be able to tee it up in one of the few events on the GAP circuit that he has yet to win.
   But last weekend the 37-year-old, who starred scholastically at Haverford High and collegiately at Saint Joseph’s University, got the next best thing. He won the 88th edition of the Crump Cup, an annual event at Pine Valley that draws top amateur players from all over the country.
   McDermott downed Kevin Marsh of Henderson, Nev., 2 and 1, in the final after going to the 19th hole to edge Gene Elliott of West Des Moines, Iowa in the semifinals.
   The story of the early part of the tournament was the play of Mike McCoy, who took the qualifying medal with record-shattering scores unseen around the difficult Pine Valley layout that is carved out of the pine barrens.
   The 49-year-old McCoy, like Elliott a resident of West Des Moines, Iowa, has been one of the country’s top amateur players for years. He broke the competitive course record with an opening-round 64 and then added a second-round 65 for a 129 total that broke the Crump Cup qualifying record by seven shots. McDermott was the qualifying runnerup, a distant 13 shots back of McCoy.
   But after winning two matches, the magic suddenly wore off for McCoy, who was dusted, 7 and 6, by Marsh in the semifinals.
   That set the stage for McDermott to beat Marsh for the title. If there were any doubts that McDermott can still play the game at a high level, they were answered last weekend.

Haverford School sweeps again

   The Haverford School put its talent and depth on display again as the Fords swept the field in the Inter-Ac League’s third mini-tournament of the season Sept. 27 at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill Course. Springside Chestnut Hill Academy hosted the mini-tournament.
   That makes the Fords 3-for-3 halfway through the six mini-tournaments that determine the league champion. Haverford School is gunning for a third straight Inter-Ac League crown.
   Seniors Scott Jaster and Timmy Brooks and junior Cole Berman led the way with 37s. Max Siegfried and Jay Losty checked in with 39s and the Fords could take their pick for the final counter on their team total from one of the three 40s posted by Jake Van Arkel, Ryan Tetrault and Otis Baker.
   It added up to a 229 total, 13 shots clear of Episcopal Academy and Malvern Prep, which shared second place at 242.
Episcopal was led by seniors Sean Fahey and Alex Dupre and sophomore Joe Chambers, each with 40.
Germantown Academy’s Lane Udis captured medalist honors for the day with a 36.
   A look at the individual player records through three mini-tournaments shows more evidence of the Fords’ depth. All-Delcos Jaster and Berman are 1-2 with Jaster’s record at 132-3-6 and Berman at 123-11-7.
   As was noted at the top of the last blog post, Jaster was recently named a member of the AJGA’s 2012 HP Scholastic Junior All-America team.
   The Fords have seven players among the top 17 with Baker fourth, Brooks sixth, Siegfried 10th, Tetrault 14th and Van Arkel 17th.
   The Inter-Ac took a break last week. The players get back in action with back-to-back mini-tournaments, the first hosted by The Haverford School at Gulph Mills G.C. Monday (Oct. 8) and the second hosted by Malvern Prep at Waynesborough C.C. Tuesday (Oct. 9).

Pellegrini one of The Citadel’s stalwarts

   Erica Pellegrini, a two-time All-Delco and two-time PIAA medalist at Garnet Valley, has been occasionally spectacular in the fall part of her junior season with the Bulldogs.
   The Citadel was close to home for last week’s South Carolina State Bulldog Invitational held at Patriots Point in Charleston, S.C.
   Sophomore Kellie Anderson paced the Bulldogs with a 237 total to finish 20th.
   Pellegrini was just a shot back at 238, a total that featured an opening round of 2-under 70 over the 5,799-yard, par-72 layout. Pellegrini ballooned to a 90 in the second round before recovering with a final-round 77.
   Anderson and Pellegrini led the Bulldogs to a 953 total (310-323-320) that enabled them to finish fifth in the team standings. Wofford, The Citadel’s Southern Conference rival, won the team title with an 884 total. Wofford was followed by Bethune-Cookman (895), host South Carolina State (931) and Towson (952), which was just a shot better than the Bulldogs.
   In mid-September, Pellegrini had another 70, again a 2-under total, over the 5,932-yard, par-72 Waynesville Inn, Golf Resort and Spa layout in Waynesville, N.C., on her way to a 24th-place finish in the Great Smokies Intercollegiate.
Pellegrini’s 70 came after an opening-round 79 and she was The Citadel’s top finisher in the event, leading the Bulldogs to a tie for 13th in the team standings at 627 (320-307).
   Morehead State captured the team title with rounds of even-par 288 and 1-under 287. Tournament host Western Carolina was the runnerup, seven shots back of Morehead State at 582.

Lutz upset at U.S. Senior Amateur

   Chip Lutz, the reigning Canadian and British Senior Amateur champion from Reading, looked like he had designs on adding the U.S. Senior Amateur crown to his trophy case.
   Lutz had a pair of 70s in qualifying at the 6,745-yard, par-71 Mountain Ridge C.C. layout in West Caldwell, N.J. for a 2-under 140. That left him in a tie for fourth place, just four shots back of medalist Jim Holtgrieve, the U.S. Walker Cup captain who led the qualifying with a pair of 68s for a 6-under 136 total.
   But Jim Knoll of Sunnyvale, Calif., knocked Lutz out with a 1-up victory in the opening round of match play.
   George “Buddy” Marucci, the winning U.S. Walker Cup team captain in 2007 and again in 2009 at his home course, Merion G.C.’s famed East Course, missed the cutoff for match play with rounds of 78 and 74 for a 10-over 152 total. The cut fell at 7-over 149.
   Marucci won the U.S. Senior Amateur title in between his Walker Cup captaincy years in 2008. It was the first USGA title for Marucci, who lost to that Tiger Woods fella in the 1995 U.S. Amateur final.
   Don Donatoni of Malvern also missed match play. He opened with a solid 2-over 73, but fell back in the second round with a 78 to finish at nine-over 151.

Philly seniors settle for second

   The 24th Senior Challenge Matches were held Tuesday at Whitemarsh Valley C.C. and the Golf Association of Philadelphia squad finished second.
   Overbrook G.C.’s Ray Thompson, Saucon Valley C.C.’s Tom Bartolacci Jr. and Lancaster C.C.’s Martin Detweiler led the GAP team as each fired a 76 over the Whitemarsh Valley layout that was once home to a regular PGA Tour stop.
The GAP team compiled a 468 total that left them seven shots back of the Maryland State Golf Association team.
Donatoni, just back from his U.S. Senior Amateur appearance, chipped in with a 77 for Team GAP. The 82 posted by Overbrook’s Frank McFadden also counted. The Springhaven Club’s Rich Thon had an 83.
   Speaking of Merion’s East Course, the countdown until the 2013 U.S. Open tees off right here in Delaware County is at 250 days.