The Jon M. Pritsch Cup, presented by Under Amour, has become
an end-of-summer tradition, a Ryder Cup-style competition between the top 12
players from the respective Junior Tours of the Philadelphia Section and the
New Jersey Section PGA.
The New Jersey Section played the host this year at Essex
Fells Country Club in Essex Fells, N.J. Friday and the home-course advantage
might have helped a little bit as the Jersey kids emerged with a narrow 10-8
victory, giving the Garden State a 9-3 series lead following the 12th
playing of the Pritsch Cup.
The six foursomes competed in simultaneous four-ball and
singles matches. New Jersey got the edge, 4-2, in the four-ball matches and the
teams split the 12 singles matches, 6-6.
The stars of the day for the Philadelphia Section were its
two four-ball teams that won their matches and also swept all four of their
singles matches.
Alex Pillar of Hawley and Haverford School sophomore Jake
Maddaloni teamed up to claim a 6 and 5 victory over Brandon Valvano of Franklin
Lakes, N.J. ad Paul Ulanich of Freehold, N.J. Pillar added a 4 and 3 singles
win over Valvano while Maddaloni claimed a 2-up victory (the results said 3-up,
which means it was either 3 and 1, 3 and 2, or 2-up) over Ulanich.
Garnet Valley junior Jacob Soklasky and Devon Prep sophomore
Ryan McCabe, the reigning District One Class AA champion from Media, earned a 5
and 4 decision over Hunter Po of Bridgewater, N.J. and Isaiah Williams of Flemington,
N.J. Sokalsky added a 4 and 3 singles win over Po while McCabe rolled to a 6
and 5 victory over Williams.
Sokalsky and McCabe haven’t missed many opportunities to tee
it up on the Philadelphia Junior Tour and it showed.
New Jersey also earned a pair of four-ball and singles
sweeps from two of its teams.
Austin Liao of Warren, N.J. and Derek Weaver of
Hackettstown, N.J. earned a 5 and 3 decision over a youthful Philadelphia pair
of Win Thomas of Unionville and Strath Haven sophomore Jackson Debusschere.
Liao added a 4 and 2 decision over Thomas in their singles showdown and Weaver
knocked off Debusschere by a 5 and 3 margin.
Jersey’s female pair of Anjoli Dhayagude of Plainsboro, N.J.
and Kaia Wu of Princeton, N.J. earned a 4 and 3 victory over Christina Carroll
of Bear, Del. and Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel., N.J. Dhayagude won her
singles match with Carroll by a 4 and 3 margin and Wu cruised to a 7 and 6
decision over Tolentino.
As a Class of 2024 entry, Tolentino might have been the
youngest player in the field.
The ultimate outcome might have hung on the narrow 1-up
victory for New Jersey’s James Bagdonas of Scotch Plains, N.J. and Jason Lee of
Westfield, N.J. over West Chester East senior Cole Shew and Nikita Romanov of
Wilmington, Del. in their four-ball match. Romanov salvaged a point for
Philadelphia with a 4 and 3 win over Lee while Bagdonas cruised to a 7 and 6
victory over Shew.
New Jersey’s final four-ball point came from the duo of
Tyler Galantini of West Orange, N.J. and Antoine Chouragui of Summit, N.J., who
claimed a 4 and 3 decision over Plymouth-Whitemarsh sophomore Dylan Gooneratne
and Central Bucks East senior Patrick Sheehan, the District One Class AAA
runnerup last fall Turtle Creek Golf Club.
Not sure what was up with Sheehan, who conceded his singles
point to Chouragui. It was a busy week for both Sheehan and Romanov, both of
whom participated in the Williamson Cup Tuesday at St. Clair Country Club in
suburban Pittsburgh (a Saturday T Mac Tees Off post has all the details, of
course). Sheehan represented a Pennsylvania team that finished fourth in the
11-team field and Romanov was a member of Team Delaware, which finished tied
for seventh.
It's entirely plausible that Sheehan just ran out of gas (it’s
been a hot summer, in case you hadn’t noticed) or had a nagging injury flare up
on him.
Gooneratne earned a point for Team Philadelphia with a 2 and
1 singles decision over Galantini.
The Jon M. Pritsch Cup is played in memory of an aspiring
professional golfer who died tragically of heart disease at age 17. Pritsch’s
parents wanted to see other youngsters get the opportunity to pursue the dream
that Pritsch never got the chance to chase.
Proceeds from the Pritsch Cup have resulted in $180,000 in scholarships
for youngsters who play in the event that plan to pursue a career in the golf
industry. All the Pritsch Cup participants are eligible to apply for a
scholarship.
No comments:
Post a Comment