Pochet ready to take another shot at state title at Heritage Hills

   Spring-Ford’s Ben Pochet arrived at the Heritage Hills Resort and Conference Center in Springettsbury Township, York County for the 2016 PIAA Class AAA Championship after sweeping to the individual titles in the District One and East Regional Championships.

   He promptly went out and shot rounds of 81 and 77 over the 6,700-yard, par-71 Heritage Hills layout and finished tied for 17^th. Pochet was joined at that figure by Methacton senior Kyle Vance, probably the top District One player in the last decade and a guy who never got it going at Heritage Hills.

   Pochet wouldn’t come right out and say Heritage Hills wasn’t his favorite golf course after finishing second in the East Regional with a 1-under 71 at Golden Oaks Golf Club, a shot behind Warwick’s Brock Fassnacht.

   No, Pochet, winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Christman Cup at Stonewall‘s North Course and a U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier last summer, takes the attitude that Heritage Hills is where the state championship will be determined and if he wants to be a state champion, that’s where it has to happen.

   “I’m playing well, I think my swing’s in a good place right now,” said Pochet, who will join the Drexel program next summer. “It’s my senior year. I just have to go up there and execute. There will be a lot of good players up there.”

   Pochet will begin his bid for a PIAA championship Monday as the event gets under way with Round 1 at Heritage Hills with the unseasonably warm weather expected to last at least one more day. Round 2 is scheduled for Tuesday, although the weather forecast is a little shaky.

   Norristown junior Caleb Ryan will also be making a return visit to Heritage Hills after finishing tied for 23^rd in Class AAA a year ago. Ryan had won a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour event at Heritage Hills just over a week before the state championship. He was back at Heritage Hills last weekend for the same Junior Tour event and finished third with a 4-over 75.

   Experience tells Ryan he’ll be looking at a different golf course Monday than the one he played in the Junior Tour event.

“The greens were a little slow and a little bumpy for the Junior Tour tournament,” Ryan said after earning a ticket to Heritage Hills with a 1-over 73 in chilly, windy conditions at Golden Oaks that left him in a tie for third with Pioneer Athletic Conference rival J.T. Spina of Pope John Paul II. “I’m glad I went up there and got a look at it again. But the greens will be faster and smoother for states.”

   Caleb’s younger brother Joshua earned a trip to Heritage Hills as a freshman with a solid 77 at Golden Oaks last Monday. He too teed it up at Heritage Hills for the Junior Tour event and actually earned low-Ryan honors for the day as his 2-over 73 that gave him third place in the 13-to-15 division was two shots better than Caleb’s 75.

   “I made four birdies at Heritage Hills, I just have to clean up the bad holes,” Joshua Ryan said. “I’m sure the greens will be faster.”

   One of the top contenders for the PIAA Class AAA title among the girls will be Conestoga junior Samantha Yao. She struggled in the windy conditions at Golden Oaks last week, but still nearly repeated as the East Regional champion.

   Yao, a student of White Manor Country Club teaching pro John Dunigan, lost in a playoff to Kendel Abrams of Susquehannock after each carded an 8-over 80 at Golden Oaks.

   A year ago, Yao matched the even-par 72 carded by Peters Township senior Mia Kness in the opening round. She fell behind Kness by as many as five shots in an up-and-down front nine in Round 2 that included two double bogeys, but three birdies.

   But Yao, working some short-game magic, stormed back to get within one of Kness before falling short by two shots as Kness, who had an outstanding fall as a freshman on the Seton Hall women’s golf team, claimed the PIAA title.

   I’ve been taking the ride to York County for Round 2 of the PIAA Championship every year since it was first played at Heritage Hills in 2002. It was the year when Radnor junior Adam Cohan became Delaware County’s first state golf champion in a playoff with Robert Rohanna of Waynesburg.

   Well, almost every year. In 2005, the PIAA called off Round 2 due to rain and the championship was shortened to 18 holes. I’m not sure if the PIAA would make the same ruling in the same situation, but the players should be aware that this could be a one-round shootout if the threat of rain for Tuesday holds up.

   If they’re playing Tuesday, the blog will be live. Either way, you know I’ll be paying attention to the scores on the PIAA website.