Walker Delco's sole survivor; race remains tight in Inter-Ac

   It was a rough couple of days on the links for Delco’s scholastic golfers teeing it up in district tournaments.

   As a result, only Brynn Walker, Radnor’s junior All-Delco, will represent the county when the PIAA East Regional Tournament tees off Tuesday at Golden Oaks Golf Club in Berks County.

Even Walker was probably a little disappointed she didn’t give Pennsbury’s Jackie Rogowicz, who won her second straight Class AAA District One crown, a little more of a fight. Walker, coming off a summer during which she qualified for the U.S. Girls Junior – earning a spot in match play in an event loaded with talent – and the U.S. Women’s Amateur, fired a brilliant 5-under 67 at Turtle Creek Golf Club in the Central League Tournament a week earlier.

   The Turtle was the site of Tuesday’s second round of the district girls tourney, but first Walker had to try to put up some kind of number on the claustrophobic Red and White nines at Gilbertville Golf Club in Monday’s opening round.

   But Walker’s hopes for a top finish in the district tourney were short-circuited by one bad hole at Gilbertsville Monday.

   I caught up with her after a 10 on the par-5 second hole on the Red nine led to an opening-round 74 and Walker was disappointed, but knew she could still live to fight another day by advancing out of the district tournament.

   I was unable to make it up to Turtle Creek for Tuesday’s second round and I’m sure Walker was disappointed with her second-round 77, but she got the job done. Her 151 total left her in sixth place, a distant 14 shots back of Rogowicz, who added a 4-under 68 at the Turtle to her opening-round 69 at Gilbertsville for a 6-under 137 total that was one shot better than her familiar rival, Mount St. Joseph senior Isabella DiLisio, the reigning PIAA Class AAA champion.

   DiLisio matched the brilliant 66 she fired in the opening round at Gilbertsville as a sophomore in Monday’s opening round, leading the Mount to the team title for the second year in a row. She matched par with a 72 at Turtle Creek to finish a shot behind Rogowicz.

   Coatesville’s Samantha Staudt, who received some well-deserved notoriety for making two holes-in-one in a Ches-Mont League dual match a couple of weeks ago, finished third with rounds of 68 at Gilbertsville and 74 at the Turtle.

   Villa Maria Academy’s Cara Basso, the PIAA champion in Class AA as a sophomore two years ago, moved up to AAA this year and finished fourth with a 72 at Gilbertsville and a 71 at Turtle Creek.

   Council Rock North’s Madelein Herr, who teamed with Walker last week to take medalist honors in a qualifier for next year’s inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, added a 71 at the Turtle to her opening-round 74 and finished six shots ahead of her partner in fifth place.

Walker’s Radnor teammates, sophomore Gabby Kim and senior Julia Curley, failed to advance to regionals.

   Kim, whose game continues to improve, added an 82 at the Turtle to her 79 at Gilbertsville for a 161 total. Curley was a shot back at 162 with an 83 at the Turtle to go with her 79 at Gilbertsville. It marked the end of a very productive high school career for Curley, who, like Walker, was a key member of the Raiders’ PIAA Class AAA team champions when she was a sophomore in 2012.

You’ve got to hand it to Rogowicz and DiLisio.  They have a knack for having their games in order for the scholastic postseason every year. DiLisio won the district title as a sophomore and the state title a year ago while Rogowicz made it two straight district titles this week and has been the runnerup at the state tournament each of the last two years.

   It will be interesting to see how that rivalry plays out in the next couple of weeks. And, despite a disappointing week, Walker gave herself a chance to still crash the party at states.

   On the boys side, only Radnor sophomore Michael Sydnes and Penncrest senior Griffin Colvin survived to play the second day at Turtle Creek.

   Sydnes, who opened with a 75, had a 79 Tuesday to finish in a tie for 20^th and Colvin added a 78 to his opening-round 77 and finished in a tie for 25^th.  Only the top 15 qualified for the East Regional.

   As is always the case, the District One Class AAA fjeld is very, very tough and very, very deep.

Holy Ghost Prep’s Steve Cerbara, a veteran of this event, fired a 4-under 68 Tuesday for a 4-under 140 total that was two shots clear of Jack Melville of Upper Dublin and earned Cerbara the district title. Melville had taken the lead after Monday’s first round with a 70 and matched par with a 72 Tuesday to finish at 2-under 142.

   I’m still working on trying to find some of the details of the team scoring, but Melville led the Cardinals to the team title, a couple of shots ahead of Unionville. Matt Scragle led the way for Unionville, as he shared third place with Spring-Ford’s Matt Keim at 2-over 146.

   Methacton’s Kyle Vance, who had been so impressive in winning the district title as a freshman a year ago, was among four players in a tie for fifth at 148, a group that included Conestoga’s Mike Cook. Conestoga’s Andrew Willner, who was the runnerup at the PIAA Tournament a year ago, remained on the postseason trail as he finished in a tie for ninth at 150.

   Delco’s contingent in Monday’s District 12 Tournament at Melrose Country Club found the going tough as well. Bonner-Prendergast senior All-Delco Quinn Dolan had an 87. Cardinal O’Hara junior Alec Kerr had an 86, gutting through the last eight holes with an arm injury. And O’Hara senior Shane Dougherty had a 98.

   St. Joseph’s Prep won the team title and will compete for the state Class AAA team title. It will be interesting to see how the Catholic League champion Hawks fare in a couple of weeks at Heritage Hills.

Haverford School still in front

   What has been an intriguing race between The Haverford School and defending champion Malvern Prep for the Inter-Ac League crown took another turn at Tuesday’s mini-tournament hosted by the Fords at Gulph Mills Golf Club.

   Haverford School held a precarious one-match lead on the Friars and it looked like Malvern was going to knot things up going into the final mini-tournament next week at Merion Golf Club’s West Course.

   But Nick Miller signed an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified, taking his 37 out of the mix for the Friars and Malvern and the Fords ended up tied for first at 223. That makes Haverford School 22-2-1 going into the final mini-tournament with Malvern sitting at 21-3-1.

   The misfortune for Miller and Malvern should not overshadow some outstanding golf, though. Brendan Bacskai led the way for Malvern Prep and was the medalist for the day with a 33.

   Haverford School was led by junior Max Siegfried, who shot a 35 and took over the lead in the season-long individual standings in the Inter-Ac. Also scoring for the Fords were Matt Grubb with a 36, Ryan Bowman and Otis Baker with 37s and Peter Garno and Jay Losty with 39s.

Also of note at Gulph Mills was the third-place finish by Episcopal Academy, which assures the Churchmen of a third-place finish in the final standings behind only those two very strong teams at the top.

   Episcopal was led by Matt Marino’s 38 as the Churchmen finished at 242. Also scoring for Episcopal were Jon Nolan Perry with a 39, Joe Chambers, Scott McConnell and Cole Testaiuti with 41s  and Jack Cassidy with a 42.