SPRINGETTSBURY TOWNSHIP -- Holy Ghost Prep junior Liam Hart
was clutching a PIAA Class AAA gold medal Tuesday afternoon at the Heritage
Hills Golf Resort because eight days earlier he had kept grinding.
One of the keys to a state championship for the Holland
resident who plays out of Spring Mill Country Club was just getting here. He
made the cut at the PIAA East Regional Oct. 16 on the number on a chilly, windy
day at Golden Oaks Golf Club.
“I made a 30-footer on my last hole,” Hart said after become
Holy Ghost’s second state champion in three years, joining 2015 winner Steve
Cerbara.
That was on the par-3 fourth at Golden Oaks and it gave Hart
a 79, enabling him to join a group of five players tied for 20th,
the last five to earn a ticket to Heritage Hills.
Once here, he made the most of the opportunity.
“I like this golf course and I know a lot of guys don’t like
it that much,” Hart said moments after the Class AAA boys medal ceremony. “I
thought that worked to my advantage a little. Once you’re here, you just want
to put two solid rounds together.”
He carded a 1-over-par 72 over the 6,700-yard, par-71
Heritage Hills layout Monday and trailed opening-round leader Jimmy Meyers, a
junior from Pittsburgh Central Catholic who had a 1-under 70.
Hart surged into contention with a burst of three birdies in
four holes on the front nine at Heritage Hills after the aftermath of overnight
rains delayed the start of play by about a half-hour. Then he held on for dear
life with three closing pars for an even-par 71 that gave him a 1-over 143
total.
Palmer Jackson, a junior from Franklin Regional who added a
2-over 73 to his opening-round 71, and Hunter Bruce, a senior from Peters
Township who also carded a 73 Tuesday after opening with a 71, finished tied
for second, a shot behind Hart at 2-over 144.
Meyers struggled a little with a 75 to finish alone in
fourth place at 3-over 145. Central York senior Joe Parrini, arguably the purest
talent in the field, fired a 2-under 69 after opening with a 77 to finish tied
for fifth at 4-over 146.
He was joined at that figure by Unionville junior Connor
Bennink, who had a second straight 73, Neal Shipley, a junior at Pittsburgh
Central Catholic who added a sizzling 3-under 68 to his opening-round 78, and
Alex Seelig, a junior at Exeter who added a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 74.
Jacob Macinanti, a senior at Manheim Township, finished
alone in ninth place at 5-over 147 after a final-round 74.
Hart bogeyed the first hole to fall back to 2-over and
stayed that way until he made birdie at the short par-4 sixth and then another
at the par-5 seventh. A birdie at the tricky par-4 ninth – there’s out of
bounds on the left and water on the right and has been the scene of more than its share of train
wrecks in the PIAA Championship – left him at 2-under for the day and 1-under
for the tournament.
“It was playing a little easier than usual with the wind at
our backs,” Hart said of the ninth. “I made a 25-footer straight up the hill.”
Hart made bogeys at 14 and 15 coming in to fall back to
1-over. But it turned out to be a good enough.
Playing behind him, Jackson reached even-par for the tournament with a
birdie at 14, but made bogeys at 15 and 17. Also playing in the final group,
Bruce birdied the 13th to get to 1-over, but a bogey at 15 dropped
him back to 2-over.
“I thought I had a chance, but I figured I had to at least
par those last three,” said Hart, who works on his game with Talamore Country
Club pro Lou Guzzi. “I was a little surprised (1-over) held up.”
He’s looking forward to his next round with Chris Crawford,
the former Holy Ghost standout who has qualified for the last two U.S. Opens
and who plays out of Spring Mill. Heritage Hills did not bring out the best in
Crawford’s game during his scholastic playing days.
“Yeah, I’ll have to do a little trash-talking the next time
I play with him,” Hart said. “I usually play with him at least once or twice a
year. He’s such a great guy, it’s hard to be too tough on him.”
Monday’s outcome resulted in an appropriate Pioneer Athletic
Conference grouping of Spring-Ford senior Ben Pochet, Owen J. Roberts senior
Ward McHenry, Pope John Paul II senior J.T. Spina and Norristown junior Caleb
Ryan.
It was the perfect final act for a golden era of PAC golf
that probably dates back to Methacton’s Kyle Vance winning the District One
individual title as a freshman in 2013 and leading the Warriors to the team
title.
Pochet and McHenry earned medals as they finished tied for
10th place at 7-over 149. Both went 75-74 at Heritage Hills. Pochet, who
will join the Drexel program next summer, capped a two-year run that included
two District One titles and a first and second in the East Regional as well as
a District One Class AAA team title in 2016 and a PAC championship this fall for the Rams.
Spina, District One’s highest finisher with a tie for third
at Heritage Hills a year ago, finished tied for 16th at 151 The senior, who will join the Saint Joseph’s
program next summer, added a 4-over 75 to his opening-round 76.
Caleb Ryan, a junior, added a 78 to his opening-round 75 to
finish tied for 19th at 153.
Ryan’s younger brother Joshua, a freshman at Norristown, was
one of three District One players who landed in a tie for 23rd at
157. Joshua Ryan improved five shots from his opening-round 81 with a 76.
Also in the trio at 157 was another freshman, Conestoga’s Morgan
Lofland, who, like Joshua Ryan, added a 76 to his opening-round 81. William
Tennent senior Colin Walsh also finished tied for 23rd at 157 after
a final-round 78.
Neshaminy senior Greg DeLuca finished a shot ahead of the
District One trio tied for 23rd place, as DeLuca improved off an
opening-round 81 with a 75 to finish alone in 22nd at 156.
Rounding out the District One contingent in Class AAA was
Central Bucks South senior Kevin Anthony, who finished alone in 34th place at 165 after a final-round 80.
I spent most of the day watching the Class AAA girls
championship play out in an interesting final foursome of juniors that included
Pine Richland’s Lauren Freyvogel, Conestoga’s Samantha Yao, Downingtown East’s
Liddie McCook and Manheim Township’s Ellen Wager.
Freyvogel and Yao had been in the final foursome a year ago
when Yao finished as the runnerup to Peters Township senior Mia Kness. Yao and
McCook have been buddies since they took lessons together as youngsters with
Applecross Country Club’s Eric MacCluen. McCook still works on her game with MacCluen at
Applecross while Yao’s golf guru these days is White Manor Country Club head of
instruction John Dunigan, named last week as one of the top 50 teachers in
America by Golf Digest.
Freyvogel, playing a lot like Kness did down the stretch a
year ago, got a nose in front on the back nine and captured the state title
with a 3-over 147 total over a Heritage Hills layout that measures 6,223 yards
and plays to a par of 72 for the girls. McCook birdied the 18th, a
par-5 for the girls and a par-4 for the boys, to grab second alone at 5-over
149.
North Allegheny junior Caroline Wrigley, playing just ahead
of the final foursome, had a final round of 1-over 73 to finish third at 151
and Yao was fourth at 152 after a solid 3-over 75 Tuesday.
Wager, who grabbed the lead at the end of the first round
with an even-par 72, struggled with a final-round 82, but finished fifth at
154.
Freyvogel stood a shot behind Wager after the first round
with a 1-over 73 with McCook and Yao lined up behind her in third and fourth
with respective rounds of 74 and 77.
Freyvogel had a good summer, finishing tied for 55th
in the Girls Junior PGA Championship at the Country Club of St. Albans’ Lewis
and Clarke Course in St. Albans, Mo. and tied for second in the Pennsylvania
Junior Girls’ Championship at Hershey Country Club’s East Course.
McCook was sidelined all summer with a broken finger, but
she birdied the tough ninth hole Tuesday to tie for the lead with Freyvogel at
1-over. She was still just a shot behind when Freyvogel stumbled momentarily
with bogeys at 11 and 12.
“It didn’t matter to me what anyone else was doing, I was
just trying to do one thing, make birdies,” McCook said.
But she got only one more, at the last, for a final round of 3-over 75 while Freyvogel was
rock solid, hitting greens and getting two-putt pars amid the pressure of
trying to hold onto the lead in a state championship. Freyvogel posted a 2-over 74 Tuesday.
Yao had three bogeys, but couldn’t find a birdie.
“I thought I played pretty well, I just couldn’t get the
putts to fall,” said Yao, who owns a pair of District One titles and was the
runnerup at the East Regional this fall after taking that title a year ago.
McCook and Yao were arm in arm on the 18th green
while Freyvogel tapped in for par to finish off her two-shot victory. They knew
they had battled hard all day.
Sophia Mancuso, a senior at Central Bucks East, finished
alone in 13th place, adding an 81 to her opening-round 89 for a 170 total.
Cristea Park, a junior at Wissahickon, and Charlotte Scully, a freshman at
Unionville, were tied for 14th, a shot behind Macuso at 171. Each
had an 83 Tuesday after opening with an 88.
The Class AA boys title went to Chase Miller, a senior at
Tulpehocken. He had opened with the best round of the day in either class with
a 2-under 69 Monday and, despite struggling to a 79 Tuesday, his 5-over 147
total gave him a three-shot victory.
Hunter Donahue (75-75), a senior at McGuffey, Christian
Sadler (76-74), a senior at Bentworth, and William Mirams (72-78), a junior at
Notre Dame East Stroudsburg, finished tied for second at 150.
District One champion Ryan McCabe, a freshman at Devon Prep,
finished alone in 15th place at 160 after adding a 78 to his
opening-round 82. Benjamin Wiseman, a senior at New Hope, finished tied for 28th
place at 169 with rounds of 84 and 85.
The only playoff of the day came in the Class AA girls
championship as Maddie Smithco, a sophomore at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic,
prevailed over Vileska Gelpi, a freshman from Rockwood, after both finished at
8-over 152.
Smithco had a pair of 76s while Gelpi carded a 2-over 74
after opening with a 78 Monday. Sarah White,
a sophomore at Mercyhurst Prep, finished third at 157 with rounds of 76
and 81.
Carolyn Mueller, a senior at Villa Joseph Marie, finished 18th
at 214 with rounds of 100 and 114.
PIAA team champions in Class AAA and Class AA for the boys
and girls will be crowned Wednesday at Heritage Hills.
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