Overbrook's Colleran surges into Junior Boys' semifinals

   Overbrook Golf Club’s David Colleran Jr. helped Radnor claim District One and PIAA Class AAA team titles as a freshman last fall.

   His summer heading into his sophomore year is still young, but he already has some major highlights.

   Thursday, Colleran had an eagle and three birdies in 13 holes to surge into the semifinals of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 102^nd Junior Boys’ Championship semifinals at Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield, N.J. with a 6 and 5 victory over David Hurly of White Manor Country Club.

   There was a little more drama earlier Thursday as Colleran needed to drain a 20-footer for par on the 18^th green to edge Andrew Wallace of Green Valley Country Club, 1-up, in his opening-round match.

   Colleran, who earned a spot in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur field at Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club earlier this summer, will take on Ryan Connors of Whitford Country Club in Friday morning’s semifinals.

   Connors, a junior at Bishop Shanahan, survived two overtime affairs to earn his spot in the semifinals. Connors edged Ron Robinson of Commonwealth National Golf Club on the 20^th hole in his quarterfinal match after needing 19 holes to oust Billy Civitella of Radnor Valley Country Club in his opening-round match.

   RiverCrest Golf Club and Preserve’s Marty McGuckin earned a spot in the semifinals with a 1-up victory over Griffin Smith of Jericho National Golf Club. McGuckin claimed the Inter-Ac League’s individual title last fall and was the senior leader on a young Malvern Prep team that was a dominant Inter-Ac champion. McGuckin is headed to Temple to play for Brian Quinn, who is the teacher for every one of Friday’s semifinalists except Connors.

   McGuckin cruised to a 7 and 6 win over Billy Matthews of North Hills Country Club in his opening-round match.

   McGuckin’s semifinal opponent Friday morning will be Indian Valley Country Club’s Dawson Anders, a senior at Souderton.

   Anders defeated Doug Ergood of the host club, 3 and 1, in the quarterfinals. Anders took out fellow Indian Valley representative Andrew Lombardo, 5 and 3, in his opening-round match. Ergood cruised to a 5 and 4 win over Rolling Green Golf Club’s Andreas Aivazoglou in his opening-round match.

   Nicholas Gianelos of Radley Run Country Club opened the tournament with a bang by claiming medalist honors in qualifying Wednesday with a brilliant 7-under 65 over the 6,346-yard, par-72 Tavistock layout. Gianelos, a junior at Unionville, opened the round with a triple bogey, then proceeded to rip off 10 birdies in his final 17 holes.

   Jericho National’s Smith, however, ousted Gianelos in the first round of match play with a 5 and 4 decision.

   In the first-flight quarterfinals, Hayden Rousselle of Lookaway Golf Club topped Danny Dougherty of DuPont Country Club, 4 and 3, Zachary Barbin, a GAP Junior Players Club entry, edged Ryan Tall of Spring-Ford Country Club on the 20^th hole, Wills Montgomery of Whitford survived a thriller to beat William Mitchell of Laurel Creek Country Club in 19 holes and Akhil Giri of Laurel Creek cruised to a 5 and 4 victory over Samuel Walker of St. Davids Golf Club and The Haverford School.

   Aronimink Golf Club’s John Updike, coming off an impressive victory in the Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ Championship in Hershey earlier this week, fell to Rousselle on the 19^th hole in an opening-round match. His fellow Aronimink member and Malvern Prep teammate Matthew Davis was also ousted in the first round, also in 19 holes, by Montgomery.

   Updike, a sophomore, and Davis, a junior, were two key members on that Malvern Prep Inter-Ac championship team last fall.

   Huntingdon Valley Country Club claimed the GAP Junior team crown during Wednesday’s qualifying round. Clubs could enter four players with three counting toward the team score, although the fourth player would count in the event of a tie.

   Huntingdon Valley, getting a 74 from Connor McGrath, a 77 from D.J. Pinciotta III and a 78 from Brent Schoeller, finished at 229, a total matched by Whitford, which got a 74 from Connors, a 77 from Montgomery and a 78 from Nicky Marrollo.

   Whitford, however, didn’t have a fourth player, so the title went to Huntingdon Valley on the strength of its fourth player, Penn Charter junior Brian Isztwan, who had an 82.

   Aronimink was just a shot back in third with 230, getting a 75 from Davis, a 76 from Updike and a 76 from Episcopal Academy freshman Case Hummer.

Fast finish gives Sheehan a Junior Tour win at the Turtle

   Patrick Sheehan of Doylestown finished strong on the back nine at Turtle Creek Golf Club in Limerick Thursday to claim the 13-to-18 division in a two-day Precision Pro Elite Tour event, part of the Philadelphia Section PGA’s Junior Tour.

   Sheehan had carded an opening round of 3-over 75 over the 6,518-yard, par-72 Turtle Creek layout Wednesday and trailed Andrew Forjan of York, who matched par with a 72, by three shots.

   But Sheehan needed just 32 shots on the back nine of the Turtle, which is annually the site of the District One Tournament, on his way to a 2-under 70 that enabled him to overtake Forjan by two shots.

   The sizzling final round gave Sheehan a 36-hole total of 1-over 145, one shot better than Forjan, who carded a 75 for a 3-over 147 total. Sheehan also was awarded a laser range finder by Precision Pro Golf, the sponsor of the Elite Tour event.

   Jonathan Lumley of Royersford, who had a 1-over 73, and Radnor senior Jacob Liberman, who posted a 76, shared third place at 151.

   Radnor players were prominent at the top of the leaderboard, as senior Michael Sydnes, a key member of the Raiders’ District One and PIAA Class AAA championship teams last fall, and senior Conor Rinehart were two of the three players tied for fifth at 152. Sydnes had a final-round 77 while Rinehart carded a second straight 76. They were joined at 152 by Ward McHenry of Spring City, who added a second-round 79 to a solid opening-round 73.

   Nikita Romanov of Wilmington, Del. carded a second-round 78 to finish alone in eighth place at 153.

Three players – Christopher Skean of Kennett Square, Drew Steinmetz of Gilbertsville and Thomas Schaffer of Collegeville – rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for ninth at 154. Skean carded a final-round 75, Steinmetz had a second straight 77 and Schaffer posted a 79.

   Nina Kouchi of New Hope also went home with a Precision Pro Golf laser range finder after finishing atop the girls 13-to-18 division.

   Kouchi had shared the lead after the opening round with Chloe Niu of Gladwyne as both posted an 82. Kouchi used three birdies to post a final-round 81 and finish a shot ahead of Niu at 163. Niu had her second straight 82 to finish a shot back at 164.

   Chichester senior Caprian Kan carded her second straight 84 to finish two shots back of Niu in third place at 168. Sofie Amoroso of West Chester, who had an 84, finished fourth at 180 and Casey Oppenheimer of Conshohocken, who had an 88, took fifth at 186.

   Rodney Anders of Telford won the men’s 17-to-24 division with a 5-over 149 total. He opened with a 2-over 74 Wednesday. Anders knocked his tee shot out of bounds on both the seventh and eighth holes at the Turtle Thursday, but preserved a 3-over 75 by salvaging bogey on both holes.

   Anders finished three shots ahead of runnerup Joe Chambers, a former Episcopal Academy standout who added a 77 to his opening-round 75 for an 8-over 152 total.

   Sean Ebert of Furlong, who had a 75, finished third at 155, Clay Anders of Telford, who had an 80, finished fourth at 156, and Adam Lowe of Telford, who had an 85, finished fifth at 165.

Anna Haley, a former Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast standout from Drexel Hill, overcame Emily McGarrigle to capture the women’s 17-to-24 division.

   Haley opened with a 79 Wednesday and trailed McGarrigle, who had a 76, by three shots. But Haley carded an 83 to McGarrigle’s 87 Thursday for a 162 total that was one better than McGarrigle’s 163 finish.

   Emily Gilbert of Gilbertsville had an 82 to finish third at 166, Carly Dorminy of Collegeville had an 87 to place fourth at 170, Hannah Fireman of Ambler had an 86 to take fifth at 177, JuliaRose Genuardi of Kulpsville had a 93 to finish sixth at 180 and Keira Cooney of Glenmoore had a 110 to end up in seventh at 215.

Sheftic, Steinmetz come up short in bid to make PGA Championship

   Merion Golf Club head of instruction Mark Sheftic and Spring-Ford Country Club head pro Rich Steinmetz failed to advance to the PGA Championship as the PGA Professional Championship concluded Wednesday at the Turning Stone Resort’s Atunyote Course.

   Sheftic carded a final round of 1-over 73 to lay claim to low Philadelphia Section pro at 2-over 290. That left him in a tie for 42^nd. The top 20 finishers advanced to the PGA Championship, the last of the four major professional championships each year, which will be held next month at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.

   Steinmetz posted a final-round 75 to finish in a tie for 50^th at 4-over 292.

   Sheftic had qualified for the PGA three times out of the National Club Pro, as it was traditionally known as. Steinmetz had earned a trip to the PGA the last time it was held at Baltusrol in 2005.

Rich Berberian Jr., a 28-year-old assistant pro at Wyndham Country Club in Derry, N.J., dropped in a 33-foot birdie putt on the 72^nd hole to cap a final round of 3-under 69 and win the $75,000 top prize.

Berberian was in trouble after taking a triple bogey on the 12^th hole, but he battled back with birdies at 13, 16 and 18 to finish at 11-under 277.

   Omar Uresti, a former PGA Tour pro out of Austin, Texas, had been the leader following both the second and third rounds, but a 1-over 73 in the final round left him a shot behind Berberian at 10-under 278. He was joined at that figure by Mark Brown, the head pro at the Tam O’Shanter Club in Brookville, N.Y. who fired a final round of 1-under 71.

   Uresti had finished fifth in his first try in the National Club Pro a year ago at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. Defending champion Matt Dobyns, the head pro at Fresh Meadow Country Club in Lake Success, N.Y., had a final-round 69 to finish in a tie for seventh at 5-under 213.

   Ben Polland, who let the National Club Pro title slip away with a double bogey on the final hole at the Cricket Club a year ago, had a final-round 71 to finish tied for 13^th at 2-under 286.