Hakun finishes third at Honeybrook

   The Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour had dueling stops Wednesday with the majority of the local golfers teeing it up at Honeybrook Gof Club in Chester County.

   Springfield All-Delco Kyle Hakun headlined that group with a 77 that gave him a third-place finish in the 16-to-18 division. He finished eight shots back of the day’s overall winner, Paoli’s Andrew Willner, who fired a 1-under 69 over the 6,296-yard, par-70 Honeybrook layout.

   Jake Hudock of Glen Mills finished in a tie for 15^th with an 83 and Nicholas Monaghan of Newtown Square was another shot back in 17^th with an 84.

   In the 13-to-15 division, Jacob Liberman of Radnor finished sixth with a 76, Minwoo Kwak of Bryn Mawr finished in a tie for ninth with a 81, Ryan Conway of Bryn Mawr finished in a tie for 16^th with an 87 and Daniel Bullock of Wayne finished 22^nd with a 105.

   Incoming Radnor freshman Gabrielle Kim had a busy week on the Junior Tour, including a second in the 13-to-15 division at Honeybrook with an 84, eight shots behind Coatesville state qualifier Samantha Staudt.

   A couple of members of Notre Dame’s undefeated Inter-Ac League championship team teed it up in the 16-to-18 division with senior Coryn Mullen finishing in a tie for second with a 91 and senior Caroline Barker finishing fifth with a 98.

   Among the nine-holers, Aronimink G.C.’s Civitella brothers, Billy (40) and Kevin (50), finished tied for second and 11^th, respectively, Dolan Cox of Newtown Square finished ninth with a 47, William Blatchford of Wayne finished in a tie for 10^th with a 48, and Wayne’s June Kim, who is very likely Gabrielle’s younger sister, finished 16^th with a 56.

   Garnet Valley junior Annika Vandayar, meanwhile, headed south Wednesday for the Junior Tour stop at Garrison’s Lake Golf Club, north of Dover, Del. for the first of a three-day Junior Tour series in the First State.

   She fired an 81 over the 5,540-yard, par-72 Garrison’s Lake layout to finish second in the 16-to-18 division, three shots back of Samantha Leite of Camden, Del., and four shots ahead of Villa Maria junior Cara Basso, the PIAA Class AA champion last fall.

   Those three continued to battle throughout the three days, playing in nearly 100-degree heat each day.

   Basso fired a sparkling 2-over 74 over the 5,512-yard, par-72 Wild Quail Golf & Country Club on Day 2 Thursday  to take top honors for the day with Leite second with a 78 and Vandayar third with an 83.

   On Day 3 Friday at the 5,524-yard, par-72 Maple Dale Country Club layout, Basso and Leite each carded an 85 while Vandayar wasn’t far behind with an 88.

   In the final series accounting, Leite finished first at 241, three shots better than Basso’s 244, with Vandayar claiming third at 252.

   Cardinal O’Hara senior Kevin George finished 17^th in the boys 16-to-18 division at Garrison’s Lake with a 90. He improved to an 80 at Maple Dale and finished in a tie for sixth in the division for the final day of the series.

   Kaitlyn Lees, the Agnes Irwin eighth-grader who won the Inter-Ac League title in the spring, was one of the few local golfers who trekked to New Jersey for both ends of the Junior Tour series event that started Monday at Trenton C.C. and concluded Tuesday at Laurel Creek C.C.

   Lees had an 87 at Trenton to top the 13-to-15 field and then added a 93 at Laurel Creek to win the overall series in her age group with a 180 total. Radnor’s Gabrielle Kim bested Lees for the day at Laurel Creek with an 89.

   Kim teed it up in a Junior Tour stop at Riverton C.C. Monday and finished third in the 13-to-15 division there with an 86.

   In the 16-to-18 division, Notre Dame’s Mullen finished third with an 89. Kimmy Sanna of Swarthmore was fifth with a 108.

   June Kim teed it up with the nine-holers at Riverton and finished second with a 57 behind Wayne’s  Blatchford, who had a 46. June Kim also played at Laurel Creek and finished ninth among the nine-holers with a 54.

   In the boys 13-to-15 division at Riverton, Michael Sydnes of Bryn Mawr finished in a tie for second with a 76, Ryan Brennan of Media finished sixth with an 81, Ryan Conway of Bryn Mawr was 10^th with an 88 and Daniel Bullock of Wayne was 12^th with 95.

   In the boys 16-to-18 division, Harry Bellwoar of Newtown Square finished tied for 10^th with an 85 and Garnet Valley junior Michael Stanilka was 13^th with an 87.

   In the 13-to-15 division at Laurel Creek, Radnor’s Liberman finished in a tie for ninth with an 81.

   In the girls 16-to-18 division at Laurel Creek, Dominique Marchese of Media finished fifth with a 101 and Anna Haley, the Catholic League champion at Bonner-Prendergast, finished 10^th with a 117..

Philadelphia Women’s Amateur

   Emily Gimpel, a standout on the Mount St. Joseph teams that dominated the District One team competition until being unseated by Radnor two falls ago, cruised to a 9 and 8 decision over Kerry Rutan of Philadelphia Cricket Club in the scheduled 36-hole final to capture the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Amateur Championship Friday at Philadelphia Country Club.

   Gimpel, playing out of Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, had to go 19 holes to edge Noreen Mohler of Northampton C.C. in Thursday's semifinals. Rutan, meanwhile, edged eight-time champion Laura Ladden of Whitford Country Club, 2 and 1, in the other semifinal. Ladden is the daughter of former longtime Whitford head pro Harry Hammond and was a PIAA champion at Unionville.

   Rutan, Ladden and Kelsey Solan of Burlington Country Club shared medalist honors with 78s Monday. Gimpel was in a group at 79 that included Merion Golf Club’s Catherine Elliott, the former Notre Dame and Penn standout, and Huntingdon Valley Country Club veteran Bonnie George. 

   Merion veteran Liz Haines, the 1994 winner of this evet, also earned a spot in match play with an 84.

   Elliott and Haines were both knocked out in the first round of match play as Elliott fell to Alexandra Frazier of Gulph Mills Golf Club on the 19^th hole while Haines dropped a 6 and 5 decision to Ladden.

   Alex Liu, the defending champion and a two-time state qualifier at Lower Merion, was upset by Mohler, 3 and 2, in the quarterfinals.

   Overbrook G.C.’s Karen McFadden earned a spot in the first flight of match play with an 87 in qualifying, but she was ousted in the first round by Wendy Kennedy of Sunnybrook G.C. in a thriller that went 20 holes.

   Christina Koerper of Huntingdon Valley Country Club took first-flight honors with a 2 and 1 victory over Marji Goldman of Philadelphia Cricket Club in the final.

Springhaven quartet settles for second

   Riding a brilliant 6-under 66 posted by Andrew Harmer, The Springhaven Club foursome of Harmer, John Turner, Rich Thon and Robert Maze came up just short in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Senior Four-Man Team championship Thursday at Plymouth Country Club.

   Late in the day, the Springhaven group, which had posted a 9-under 135 total, was edged by a shot by the Lookaway Golf Club foursome of Michael Anton, Fred Ferino, Roc Irey and Thomas Mallouk. The Lookaway crew posted a 10-under 134 total over the 6,274-yard, par-72 Plymouth layout in the two-best-balls-of-foursome competition.

   But that certainly didn’t take anything away from the effort by Harmer, a 58-year-old Media resident. His round included four birdies and an eagle.

   Even when he hit a bad shot, it turned out OK. He chunked a wedge approach on the 294-yard fourth hole. No problem. He just chipped in for birdie on his next shot.

   “I just hit it on the green and it rolled the whole way,” Harmer told the GAP website. “Somehow it stayed on line and reached the hole.”

   He finished the round in style. At the 475-yard, par-5 eighth hole, he reached the green in two with a 5-hybrid from 177 yards and drained an 18-foot eagle putt. Then, after a poor drive on the 387-yard, par-4 ninth hole, he had to shape a right-to-left shot just to get it on the green, 45 feet from the hole. Naturally, he made the long birdie putt.

   Apparently, his playing partners have seen this act before.

   “Anything can happen with Harmer,” said Mize, a 59-year-old Broomall resident. “You know the commercial where the dog’s throwing the ball back out? That’s playing with Harmer. Hits the tree and the ball immaculately comes back into the fairway.”

   The Merion Golf Club foursome of Donald Dissinger, Fred Jones, J. Kirk Lunley and Robert Wagner were one of two teams tied for fourth at 137.

   A Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association quartet that included two of my fellow Archbishop Carroll Class of 1973 products, Mike Owsik and Paul Cornley, finished eighth at 140. Rounding out that group were James Prendergast and Michael Harris.

   Llanerch Country Club’s Neil McDermott, patriarch of the golfing McDermott clan, teamed with William Lawler of Fox Hill Country Club, Michael Rose of Talamore Country Club  and Don Donatoni of White Manor Country Club to finish ninth at 141.

   A Springhaven foursome of James Reger, Joe Culley, R.B. Diorio Jr. and Roy Bell and a Merion foursome of Arthur Kania Jr., Gordon Jamieson, Paul Suckow and Robert Roehr were at 143 in a tie for 11^th.

   Springhaven’s Curt Fromal teamed with Norman Jester of Downingtown Country Club, Joseph Maxwell of Hartefeld National and Stan Zabytko of Loch Nairn Golf Club to post a 146.

   Jon Stein, Rick Bunn and William McCabe Jr. of McCall Golf & Country Club teamed with Marty DeLuca of Penn Oaks Golf Club to card a 153. And the Concord Country Club foursome of Bill Blackburn, Edward Randel, Len Orlando and Mike Moses Sr. were at 155.