Sheehan comes from behind to capture District One Class AAA title in playoff

   LIMERICK – A year ago it was Central Bucks East’s Patrick Sheehan who was playing in the final group, having earned a share of the lead after the opening round of the District One Class AAA Championship.

   This time, though, Sheehan was playing in the next-to-last group and starting the day four shots behind Central Bucks West senior Luca Jezzeny with a few other players in between. This time, Sheehan was chasing, not being chased.

   Yes, he hits it a long way and the soft conditions at Turtle Creek Golf Club brought on by all the recent rainfall probably played in Sheehan’s favor a little. But Sheehan had to make all kinds of shots and he got just enough putts to fall to fire a 5-under-par 67 with nary a bogey on his card over the 6,375-yard, par-72 Turtle Creek layout.

   That enabled him to catch Jezzeny and reigning PIAA Class AAA champion Liam Hart, a senior at Holy Ghost Prep, at 5-under 139.

   Sheehan had one more shot, a 60-degree wedge from 100 yards away that stopped eight feet below the hole, and one more putt, a birdie try that fell and put a quick end to the playoff. And that made last year’s runnerup this year’s champion.

   “I left myself the perfect putt there,” Sheehan said of the playoff hole. “I hit a lot of good shots today. I hit a lot of good shots last year, but maybe it was better to be in the group ahead of the final group this year. I could just focus on my game. I couldn’t worry about what the guys behind me were doing.”

   Sheehan, a Penn State recruit, came to the risk-reward par-5 18^th at 5-under and his tee shot found the right rough. He plays with a go-for-it attitude for the most part. But this time he throttled it back, laying up short of the yawning pond in front of the green. He left his approach 30 feet from the hole and lagged it down safely for a finishing par.

   “I was too far back off the tee, it just wasn’t worth it,” said Sheehan, who plays out of Talamore Country Club where he works with head of instruction Lou Guzzi.

   A few minutes later, Jezzeny and Hart, both at 5-under, made the same decision.

   Hart’s birdie bid from nearly 40 feet just slid by on the high side and Jezzeny couldn’t convert his lengthy birdie bid.

   “I wanted to make sure I advanced,” said Hart, who captured the Bicentennial individual title with a 70 at Makefield Highlands Golf Club. “To shoot a solid 70 and give myself an opportunity to win it was all I could ask for.”

   Sheehan used his length to his advantage a couple of times during the round. He jump-started his round by bombing a 5-iron from 224 yards away at the 504-yard, par-5 second hole to 10 feet and making the eagle putt.

   He reached the 478-yard, par-5 13^th hole in two and two-putted for birdie, just missing a bid for another eagle from 20 feet.

   The key to the round, he said, might have come at the par-5 eighth hole when his second shot found the water in front of the green – “I just chunked it,” he said.

   But Sheehan got it up and down for a par that enabled him to remain bogey-free. He never really came close to making a bogey again, no easy feat at the Turtle, where a loose swing can have disastrous consequences.

   Winning a district title is satisfying, but nobody knows better than Sheehan that the battle continues Monday in the PIAA Class AAA East Regional at Golden Oaks Golf Club in Fleetwood. He couldn’t get it going last year and his season ended short of the ultimate goal – the PIAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County.

   “I wasn’t playing well, but then I got in my own head a little,” Sheehan said.

   There is no better example of sticking with it than Hart, who qualified for Heritage Hills on the number when he made a 30-foot putt on his final hole at Golden Oaks. One week later he was clutching the gold medal as the PIAA Class AAA champion.

   Hart’s 70, combined with an opening-round 69, got him into the playoff. Jezzeny, who plays out of The Bucks Club and Doylestown Country Club, added a solid 1-under 71 to his opening-round 68 to join the playoff party.

   Hart, who plays out of Spring Mill Country Club, also hit the green at the par-4 first hole, where the playoff began, and watched his 18-footer for birdie just slide by. Jezzeny’s drive found a bunker and his approach came up short. Thinking correctly that he would need birdie to stay alive, Jezzeny sent his chip past the hole and ended up making bogey.

   Norristown sophomore Joshua Ryan, the Pioneer Athletic Conference champion, was the only other player to finish under par as he birdied the 16^th and the 18^th to complete a 2-under 70 that gave him a 1-under 143 total.

   Central League co-champion David Colleran, a senior at Radnor, and Harriton’s David Fitzgerald finished in a tie for fifth at even-par 144. Fitzgerald was 4-under for his round standing on the ninth tee before finishing with a 1-under 71. Colleran added a 2-over 74 to his opening-round 70.

   Conestoga sophomore Morgan Lofland, the other Central co-champion, rallied from an opening-round 75 with a 2-under 70 that enabled him to join Spring-Ford’s Luke Watson and Council Rock South’s Matt Fleming in a group tied for seventh at 1-over 145. Watson added a steady even-par 72 to his opening-round 75 while Fleming struggled to a 76 after opening with a 69.

   Two of the players who had a lot do with Unionville repeating as the District One Class AAA team champion, Connor Bennink and Richie Kline, both landed on 2-over 146 and finished in a tie for 10^th. Connor Bennink had the only other sub-70 round of the day, a 3-under 69, while Kline battled hard all day for a second straight 1-over 73.

   Norristown senior Caleb Ryan, older brother of Joshua Ryan, finished alone in 12^th place at 147 after adding a 73 to his opening-round 74. Caleb Ryan will be bidding for a third straight trip to the PIAA Championship next week and the Ryan brothers will be trying to go to the state tournament together for the second year in a row.

   Unionville had two players among the trio that finished tied for 13^th at 4-over 148, Will Bennink and Jack Cooley, both of whom added a 75 to an opening-round 73.

   Last year, only the top 15 advanced to East Regional, but District One got 18 tickets to Golden Oaks this year.

   Ryan Glenn of Owen J. Roberts and Harriton’s Andrew Wallace finished in a tie for 16^th at 149. Glenn added a 1-over 73 to his opening-round 76.

   Wallace played in the group with Sheehan that I followed for much of the day and somehow got a 78 out of a round during which his driver shaft snapped after the left-hander blocked his drive out of bounds at the par-5 13^th, leading to a double bogey 7.

   And the offending stick might have had something to do with a similarly blocked tee shot that went OB on the par-5 eighth hole and led to a quadruple bogey 9. But Wallace, who opened with a 71, kept battling and earned a ticket to Golden Oaks.

   The 18^th and final berth to regionals went to Spring-Ford’s Axel Kalbach, who survived a playoff with Souderton’s James O’Malley after the two finished in a tie for 18^th at 150. Each had a pair of 75s.

   The Benninks and Kline teamed with Chris Skean and David Starnes as Unionville repeated as the District One Class AAA team champion with a 291 total. The Indians will get a chance to defend their PIAA team crown in two weeks at Heritage Hills.

  Hart and Holy Ghost gave Unionville a battle, finishing second at 295, four shots behind the Indians. Souderton finished third at 300, Radnor was fourth at 304, Central Bucks West took fifth at 306 and West Chester East and Conestoga shared sixth place, each ending up at 307.

   Kyle Sullivan of New Hope-Solebury edged Alex White of Pope John Paul II for the District One Class AA championship by a shot. Sullivan added an 88 to his opening-round 83 for a 171 total while White finished with an 85 after opening with an 87 for a 172 total. They were the only two Class AA players who advanced to next week’s East Regional at Golden Oaks.

   White and Pope John Paul II, however, were 12 shots better than New Hope-Solebury and captured the District One Class AA team title. Pope John Paul II finished with a 340 total and New Hope-Solebury ended up at 352.

   On the girls side, West Chester East freshman Victoria Kim halted the reign of Conestoga senior Samantha Yao and captured the District One Class AAA individual title.

   Kim had grabbed a two-shot lead after carding a 3-under 68 on Gilbertsville Golf Club’s Red and White Nines Monday. She added a solid 3-over 75 Tuesday at Turtle Creek for an even-par 143 total and a three-shot victory over Pennsbury’s Jade Gu and Unionville’s Charlotte Scully.

   Yao was the two-time defending District One champion, but struggled to an 80 on a Turtle Creek course on which she has often played well, for a 151 total that left her alone in sixth.

   Yao still earned a trip to Golden Oaks and remains on track for another appearance at the PIAA Championship at which she was the runnerup two years ago and finished fourth last year.

   Kim, like Yao, plays out of White Manor Country Club and, like Yao, is coached by White Manor’s decorated head of instruction John Dunigan.

   “I played well (Monday) at Gilbertsville and I played pretty well (Tuesday),” said Kim, who captured the Ches-Mont League girls title at Applecross Country Club. “I’m only a freshman, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I play as much as I can because I’m always trying to improve.”

   Kim struggled a little on the front nine in Tuesday’s final round with bogeys at two, three and eight and a double bogey at nine against a birdie at the seventh. But she righted the ship with birdies at 12 and 15 before a bogey at the 17^th.

   Gu and Scully, who came into the final round trailing Kim by three after each posted a 1-under 70 at Gilbertsville, both added a 76 Tuesday to finish three shots behind Kim at 146.

   Downingtown East senior Liddie McCook, the PIAA Class AAA runnerup a year ago, had the best round of the day among the girls at the Turtle, a 1-under 71. That earned McCook, who offset three bogeys with four birdies, a share of fourth place with Haverford sophomore Riley Quartermain.

   Quartermain, another player who seeks the advice of Dunigan, added a 74 to her opening-round 73 to join McCook at 147. Quartermain had four birdies, three of them on par-3s.

   Sarah Scarpill of Central Bucks East finished seventh, five shots behind Yao at 156. Scarpill added an 80 to her opening-round 76.

   Grabbing the final two tickets to the PIAA Class AAA East Regional were the Mount St. Joseph pair of Olivia Wirsching and Clare Gimpel, both of whom finished tied for eighth at 157.

   Wirsching opened with a 77 at Gilbertsville and added an 80 Tuesday at the Turtle. Gimpel added a 79 Tuesday to her opening-round 78. Wirsching and Gimpel led the Mount to the District One Class AAA team title Monday at Gilbertsville.