Delaware 1 edges Penn State to claim title in PGA Junior League Philadelpha Section Championship

   Several of the players who have dominated the 12-and-under nine-hole division of the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour the last couple of summers were key contributors to a Delaware 1 team that captured the PGA Junior League Philadelphia Section Championship last Saturday at Cedarbrook Country Club.

   PGA Junior League is for 13-and-under youngsters playing in trios in a scramble format with three three-hole segments for a total of nine holes. It is a fast, fun format and some of the distance penalties involved in a strict application of the Rules of Golf are waived to keep it that way.

   Eight teams earned their way to Cedarbrook via qualifiers at Newark Country Club and LedgeRock Golf Club Aug. 6.

   The quarterfinals Saturday morning pitted North Philadelphia vs. Jersey Shore, Huntingdon Valley Country Club vs. Delaware 1, Lancaster 1 vs. York 2 and Flourtown vs. Penn State on Cedarbrook’s back nine.

   Delaware 1 took on Jersey Shore and Penn State battled Lancaster 1 in the semifinals on Cedarbrook’s front nine. Michael Maslanka, playing out of Rock Manor Golf Club, punctuated Delaware 1’s victory with a hole-in-one, his 9-iron at the 120-yard ninth hole at Cedarbrook ending up in the bottom of the cup.

   Delaware 1, under PGA captain Dave Seeman, edged Penn State, under PGA captain Steve Wager, 7-5, to advance to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Sept. 15 and 16 back at LedgeRock.

   It appears Seeman is involved with the junior golf program at Hartefeld National, which is not in Delaware, but you can see the First State from some of the higher elevations of the course in New Garden Township, Chester County.

   Five of the members of the Delaware 1 team came through Seeman’s junior program at Hartefeld National, including Win Thomas, Nicholas Gross, Adrian Jordan, Matthew Normand and Henry Stone.

   Thomas’ rise through the Junior Tour ranks has been nothing short of meteoric. Gross dominated the nine-holers this summer and Normand was the Sam Penecale Scoring Average Leader among the nine-holers for the 2016-’17 campaign.

   Maslanka is joined on the roster by another Rock Manor entry, Zac Antao. Rounding out the Delaware 1 team are Wilmington Country Club’s Jack Homer, who has had some strong Junior Tour showings this summer, and Jax Puskar of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club.

   The winner of the Mid-Atlantic Regional at LedgeRock will advance to the PGA Junior League Championship, presented by National Car Rental, Nov. 16 to 19 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   The Royce Brook All-Stars have dominated the Mid-Atlantic Regional, winning it four straight times. Last year Royce Brook reached the final at Grayhawk before falling to a team from Georgia.

   Anthony Latham, the PGA Director of Junior Development at Royce Brook Golf Club in north-central New Jersey, has been the PGA captain of the Royce Brook All-Stars. Like Philadelphia champion Delaware 1, last year’s Royce Brook All-Stars featured several Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour standouts, including Joshua Ryan, who made it to the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a freshman representing Norristown High last fall.

   It will be interesting to see if the Royce Brook All-Stars are at LedgeRock for the Mid-Atlantic Regional, although Ryan and several of the other standouts from last year’s team are no longer eligible.