LIMERICK – Out of the corner of his eye while walking toward
his tee shot on the 17th hole, Spring-Ford senior Ben Pochet thought
he saw Central Bucks East junior Patrick Sheehan walking toward the water on
the left side of the 16th hole.
Pochet had just stiffed a wedge to a foot at 16 – “the
purest wedge shot I’ve hit in quite a while,” he would say later – for his
fourth birdie on the back nine in the second round of the District One Class
AAA Championship Wednesday at Turtle Creek Golf Club that got him to 7-under
par.
“It didn’t really matter if he was in the water or not, I
had to focus on what I was doing,” Pochet said.
A few moments later, Pochet walked in a 30-foot birdie putt
that looked good all the way. Sheehan’s tee shot did indeed find the water and
led to a double bogey. A missed four-footer for par by Sheehan at 17 dropped
him back to 5-under.
Pochet, at 8-under after the birdie at 17, still had to
whistle a 4-iron 205 yards to reach the par-5 18th in regulation.
A two-putt par capped a brilliant 7-under 65 over the
6,375-yard, par-72 Turtle Creek layout that gave Pochet a 36-hole total of
8-under 136 and his second straight District One title.
“It’s a great way to finish off my career here, winning the
title again with my best round ever here,” said Pochet, who will take his
considerable talent to Drexel next year.
And he knew he had beaten a worthy foe in Sheehan, who saved
his best for last. Figuring correctly that he needed double eagle at the last to
tie Pochet, Sheehan launched a 4-iron from 243 yards and nearly did hole it,
the ball finishing five feet past the cup.
“It’s probably the best shot I’ve hit in my life,” Sheehan
said.
He missed the eagle try, but the closing birdie gave him a
second straight 69 and a 6-under 138 total that left him alone in second place.
Neshaminy’s Greg DeLuca added a 1-under 71 to his
opening-round 69 to finish two shots behind Sheehan in third. Norristown junior
Caleb Ryan made a bit of run at the leaders before finishing with a solid
3-under 69, which, combined with an opening-round 72, left him alone in fourth
place at 3-under 141.
But it quickly became apparent that was going to be a
two-horse race and for much of the day it seemed Sheehan was marching toward
the district title.
“He hits it so long,” Pochet said admiringly of Sheehan.
“But he’s really become a good all-around player. I knew it would be tough for
me to catch him starting out two shots behind him.”
Pochet, winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s
Christman Cup at Stonewall’s North Course and a U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier
this summer, had said after an opening round of 1-under 71 Tuesday that he if
he reached the par-5 eighth with a chance to win a second district title, he
might start taking some chances.
He birdied the second and fifth holes to get it to 3-under,
but, playing in the group behind him, Sheehan was going strong, making birdies
at one, five and eight to get to 6-under before making a bogey at the tough
par-3 ninth hole to fall back to 5-under.
“I didn’t really change my game plan that much,” Pochet
said. “I laid up at eight, I hit hybrid off the tee at 12.”
What he did start to do was make birdies, a bunch of them.
He dropped in a 15-footer for birdie at the par-3 11th. After laying
up off the tee at the short par-4 12th, he knocked his approach to a
foot. He reached the par-5 13th in two and two-putted. Suddenly, he
was 6-under.
Not that Sheehan was backing off. He nearly holed his tee
shot at the par-3 11th and had a kick-in birdie. He bombed it nearly
20 yards over the green at the par-4 12th, flopped it beautifully to
four feet, but missed the birdie try.
Sheehan made a nice eight-foot birdie putt on the 13th
after failing to reach the par-5 in two. At the par-3 15th, he gave
himself a good look with his tee shot to 15 feet and buried the putt. He was
8-under and playing with confidence.
Then came the tee shot into the water at 16, which stopped
his momentum cold.
“All that room to the right,” Sheehan said of the tee shot
16. “I hit 2-iron, I just pulled it a little. That and a couple of missed putts
were the difference.”
Up ahead, Pochet’s birdies at 16 and 17 were his fourth and
fifth on the back nine.
“It was fantastic playing by both of us,” Pochet said. “If I
had shot 65 and lost, I would have tipped my cap, shaken his hand and
congratulated him for a job well done.”
The top 16 finishers Wednesday advanced to Monday’s PIAA
East Regional at Golden Oaks Golf Club and there was plenty of drama on that
front.
Radnor junior David Colleran, who earned a share of the
Central League title last week at the Turtle, had opened with a 2-under 70
Tuesday, but found himself 2-over standing on the 17th tee and
looking at possibly not earning a ticket to Golden Oaks.
“There was a leaderboard on the 17th tee and I
figured I needed at least one birdie, maybe two,” said Colleran, an Overbrook
Golf Club member and the 2016 GAP Junior Boys’ champion.
He got two, sticking his approach at 17 to 10 feet and
making the putt and then draining a 25-foot birdie putt at 18. That gave him a
2-over 74 that left him tied for 10th place at even-par 144.
Five players battled it out for the final four tickets to
regionals after finishing tied for 13th place at 1-over 145. Norristown
freshman Joshua Ryan, Caleb’s younger brother, and Strath Haven’s Ben Newlon
birdied the first hole of the playoff, the par-4 first at the Turtle.
I’m not sure if the three remaining playoff participants
played another hole in between, but the final hole of the playoff was the testy
191-yard, par-3 ninth. Bishop Shanahan’s Ryan Conners found the green with his
tee shot while Council Rock South’s Matt Fleming and Unionville’s Richie Kline
missed the green. Fleming and Kline both chipped in for birdie and a stunned
Conners couldn’t get his birdie putt to fall and was the odd man out.
It took 1-over to make it to regionals and in Conners’ case,
even that wasn’t good enough. The talent level at the district tournament has
never been higher.
Pope John Paul II’s J.T. Spina, who made cut on the number with a 3-over 75
Tuesday, fired a 5-under 67 and shared fifth place with William Tennent’s Colin
Walsh, who added an even-par 72 to his opening-round 70, at 2-under 142. Spina
was the top District One finisher in the PIAA Class AAA Championship a year
ago, finishing tied for third.
Owen J. Roberts’ Ward McHenry, who added a 1-under 71 to his
opening-round 72, Central Bucks South’s Kevin Anthony, who added a 1-over 73 to
his opening-round 70, and Holy Ghost Prep’s Liam Hart, who added a 2-over 74 to
his opening-round 69, finished tied for seventh at 1-under 143.
Joining Radnor’s Colleran in a tie for 10th place at
even-par 144 was Conestoga freshman Morgan Lofland, who fired a 2-under 70
Wednesday.
Kline’s strong showing – he carded a 2-under 70 to get into
the playoff for regionals – led Unionville to the Class AAA district team title
with a 289 total. Central League champion Conestoga was the runnerup at 294 and
Pioneer Athletic Conference champion Spring-Ford was third at 297.
Unionville will represent District One in the PIAA Class AAA
Championship in two weeks at the Heritage Hills Resort in York County.
The District One Class AA title went to Devon Prep’s Ryan
McCabe, a Media resident. McCabe carded a 3-over 75 to edge New Hope’s Ben
Wiseman by a shot. McCabe, who opened with a 74 Tuesday, finished at 5-over 149
while Wiseman’s second straight 75 left him at 150.
Wiseman’s runnerup finish did earn him the district’s second
berth at regionals in Class AA.
McCabe led Devon Prep to the Class AA district team title
with a 311 total.
There wasn’t nearly as much drama on the girls side as
Conestoga junior Samantha Yao rolled to her second straight District One Class
AAA title, firing a 1-under 71 over a Turtle Creek layout that measures 5,131
yards for the girls. That gave her a 145 total that was nine shots clear of
Central Bucks East’s Sophie Mancuso and Downingtown East’s Liddie McCook.
The girls started on Gilbertville Golf Club’s comparatively
easier par-71 Red and White nines Tuesday, but Yao emerged with only a one-shot
lead after a 3-over 74. But the White Manor Country Club member has always been
comfortable at Turtle Creek and it showed Wednesday.
“It’s Turtle, it’s districts and I just always have a
positive attitude here,” said Yao, who works on her game with John Dunigan, the
head of instruction at White Manor. “I was just very excited to play here
today. I know I can hit greens and two-putt and maybe get a birdie here or
there.”
Starting on the 10th hole, she was her typical
steady self Wednesday, making 15 pars while getting birdies at two of the
par-5s, 13 and two, and finishing up with her only bogey of the day at the
par-3 ninth.
Yao was the runnerup to Peters Township’s Mia Kness, who’s
playing at Seton Hall this fall, in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Heritage
Hills a year ago. She’s off to a good start as she tries to take another run at
a state title.
Mancuso, who was just a shot behind Yao after a 75 at
Gilbertsville, posted a 79 while McCook followed up an opening-round 76 with a
78 as they shared runnerup honors at 154.
Wissahickon’s Cirstea Park (79-76) finished in fourth place at 155,
Central Bucks South’s Lizzie Palmieri (76-80) was fifth at 156, Unionville’s
Charlotte Scully (82-77) was sixth at 159 and Great Valley’s Liv Juliana
(80-80) was seventh at 160.
There was one berth left for regionals and Mount St.
Joseph’s Clare Gimpel (80-81) beat Pennsbury’s Jade Gu (81-80) in a playoff for
that final ticket to Golden Oaks after they finished tied for eighth at 161.
Villa Maria Academy’s Brooke Sander captured the Class AA
district title as she followed up a 98 at Gilbertsville with a 97 for a 195
total.
Villa Joseph Marie’s Carolyn Mueller was the runnerup with
rounds of 97 and 104 for a 201 total, but only Sander advanced to regionals in
Class AA
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