Aronimink's Updike, Butler's Wrigley capture Pennsylvania Junior crowns at Hershey

   This is a revised version of this post after I looked at the recap of the state Junior Championships on the Pennsylvania Golf Association website and realized the girls started on the back nine in the final round, which changed the dynamic of the battle between Caroline Wrigley and Michelle Cox down the stretch. Hey, it's the beauty of a blog, you can go back and fix your mistakes.

   John Updike’s career as a junior player came full circle Tuesday at Hershey Country Club’s East Course.

   It was three summers ago when Updike, something of a phenom heading into his sophomore season at Malvern Prep, captured the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Junior Boys’ Championship. He had been the best of a talented crop of freshmen in the Inter-Ac League the previous fall when he led the way in a dominating run to the league title for the Friars.

   Malvern Prep would not win another Inter-Ac title during Updike’s time there, although it was always in contention. And Updike never won the regular-season points title or the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual crown. But he was always solid.

   And that’s what he was Tuesday. He was just John Updike being John Updike, matching par with a 71 to claim a two-shot victory over a talented field and capture his second Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ crown in four years.

   Updike, who emerged from the talented pool of junior players at Aronimink Golf Club, had opened with a 1-under 70 Monday that left him in a group of five players one shot out of the lead.

   Updike picked up a couple of early birdies at the first and sixth holes before giving those shots back with bogeys at the seventh and eighth holes. There was one more bogey, at the 13^th, but a birdie at the 17^th hole got him back to even-par for the round on a day when Hershey East seems to have played a little tougher than it had in Monday’s opening round.

   Hannastown Golf Club’s Brady Pevarnik, who finished in a tie for ninth in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Greater Latrobe last fall, closed with a 1-over 72 to earn runnerup honors at 1-over 143.

   Makefield Highlands Golf Club’s Jack Irons, who had a share of the lead after an opening round of 2-under 69, fell back with a 4-over 75 and ended up in a three-way tie for third at 2-over 144.

   Irons was joined at that figure by Irem Country Club’s Logan Paczewski, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman at Dallas last fall, and Cranberry Highlands Golf Course’s Donnie Professori. Paczewski added a 74 to his opening-round 70 while Professori, who matched par in the opening round with a 71, carded a 2-over 73.

   Brock Fassnacht, who finished 11^th in the PIAA Class AAA Championship to cap his scholastic career at Warwick last fall, had the best round of the day, a 1-under 70, to move into a tie for sixth with Elmhurst Country Club’s Billy Pabst Jr. at 3-over 145. Pabst added a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 73.

   Loch Nairn Golf Club’s Nikita Romanov finished alone in eighth place as he recorded a second straight 73 for a 4-over 146 total. Romanov, one of the top scholastic players in Delaware at Mount Pleasant, will join the La Salle program at the end of the summer.

   Talamore Country Club’s Patrick Sheehan, who captured the District One Class AAA title as a senior at Central Bucks East last fall, capped a pretty nice June run by finishing in a tie for ninth at 5-over 147.

   Sheehan reached the second round of match play in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur a couple of weeks ago at Stonewall and fell in the final of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 105^th Junior Boys’ Championship last week at Coatesville Country Club. After opening with a 1-over 72 Monday, Sheehan added a 75 in Tuesday’s second round.

   Sheehan was joined at 147 by Kennett Square Golf & Country Club’s Roy Anderson, a junior at Unionville, and LedgeRock Golf Club’s Nick Fioravante, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a senior at Berks Catholic last fall. Anderson fell back from his opening-round 70 with a 77 while Fioravante improved three shots from his opening-round 75 with a solid 1-over 72 Tuesday.

   Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Patrick Isztwan, a junior at Penn Charter, headed a group of five players tied for 12^th at 6-over 148. Isztwan, who captured the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League Championship as a freshman in 2017, posted a solid 2-over 73 Tuesday after opening with a 75.

   Wildwood Golf Club’s Gregor Meyer, who finished fifth in the PIAA Class AAA Championship to cap his scholastic career at Fox Chapel last fall, also finished at 6-over as he added a 76 to his opening round of 1-over 72.

   Rounding out the group at 148 were Carlisle Country Club’s Ben Smith, who finished in a tie for 12^th in the PIAA Class AAA Championship to punctuate his scholastic career at West Perry, Luke Lestini, a South Fayette senior who was a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, and Willowbrook Country Club’s Chuck Tragesser, a junior at Franklin Regional.

   Smith fell back with a 78 after opening with a 1-under 70, Lestini added a 76 to his opening-round 72 and Tragesser carded a second straight 74.

   Smith, Pevarnik and Sheehan are part of Greg Nye’s Pennsylvania all-star recruiting class at Penn State.

   McCall Golf Club’s J.P. Hoban carded a 72 to pull away from Radley Run Country Club’s Kasim Narinesingh-Smith to capture the Junior-Junior Boys’ Championship.

   Hoban and Narinesingh-Smith had each carded an opening-round 77. McCabe’s 72 gave him a 149 total while Narinesingh-Smith posted a 76 for a 153 total.

   Adam Lauer led the way as Fox Chapel Golf Club rallied past Talamore to take the Junior Boys’ Team Championship back to the Pittsburgh area.

   Lauer had a 2-over 73, Scott Bitar added a 76 and Brice Delaney posted a 77 to give Fox Chapel a 228 score and a 453 total that was four shots better than Talamore’s 457 total.

   Led by Sheehan, Talamore had taken a narrow one-shot lead over Fox Chapel after the opening round with a score of 224. Talamore fell back with a second-round 233.

   Butler Country Club’s Caroline Wrigley added the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ crown Tuesday to the PIAA Class AAA title she won as a senior at North Allegheny last fall as a 2-over 73 gave her a one-shot edge on Lehigh Country Club’s Michelle Cox, a junior at Emmaus.

   Wrigley was a runaway winner of the state championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort last fall, taking the title by seven shots. But she had a battle on her hands at Hershey.

   Cox, who finished 13^th in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, fired a 2-under 69 in Monday’s opening round to lead Wrigley by two shots.

   The pair started on the back nine of the East Course and Wrigley was able to erase the deficit early in the round. But a birdie by Cox at the 17th hole, combined with a Wrigley bogey, restored Cox's two-shot advantage.
   Cox increased her lead to three shots with a birdie at the first, but Wrigley again battled back and trailed by a shot heading to the 359-yard, par-4 ninth hole. Wrigley's approach to the treacherous green finished 30 feet below the  hole, but Cox flew the green with her shot and was left with an impossible chip.
   Cox couldn't keep her chip on the top level of the green and it led to a three-putt double bogey while Wrigley safely two-putted to claim the title..

   Wrigley’s 73, combined with her opening-round 71, left her at 2-over 144. Cox finished with a 5-over 76 for a 3-over 145 total.

   Lake View Country Club’s Lydia Swan, the PIAA Class AA runnerup as a freshman at North East last fall, had the best round of the day among the girls, a 1-over 72, to finish a shot behind Cox in third place at 4-over 146. Lydia Swan had opened with a 3-over 74 Monday.

   As I mentioned in my Monday post, Wrigley will represent the Keystone State in U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, which tees off July 22 at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis. Wrigley was the co-medalist in a qualifier at Shannopin Country Club in Pittsburgh last week.

   Hartefeld National Golf Club’s Rylie Heflin, a Tower Hill junior and the 2017 winner of the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ crown, finished alone in fourth place at 7-over 149, three shots behind Lydia Swan. Heflin added a 3-over 74 to her opening-round 75.

   Rolling Green Golf Club’s Sydney Yermish finished in a tie for fifth and the 13-year-old will get several more shots at a state junior crown if she keeps coming back. Yermish, who finished fifth in the Girls 12-13 division of the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club in April, added a 5-over 76 to her opening-round 75 for a 151 total.

   Yermish was joined at that figure by Warren, Ohio sixth-grader Gianna Clemente, who opened with a 74 before posting a 77 in Tuesday’s second round. Clemente plays out of Avalon at Buhl Park in Sharon, not far from the Ohio border.

   A couple more talented youngsters who, like Yermish, are entering ninth grade this fall, Bluestone Country Club’s Elizabeth Beek and Indian Valley Country Club’s Kiera Bartholomew, finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

   Beek improved by two shots from her opening-round 78 with a 76 for a 12-over 154 total that was three shots behind Yermish and Clemente. Bartholomew added a 76 to her opening-round 79 to end up a shot behind Beek at 155.

   New Hope resident Natasha Kiel, a George School junior, finished a shot behind Bartholomew in ninth place at 156. Kiel struggled to an 82 after opening with a 3-over 74.

   Whitemarsh Valley Country Club’s Clare Gimpel, a two-time Class AAA East Regional qualifier in her first two seasons at Mount St. Joseph, shared 10^th place with Donae Rugola, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Uniontown who is headed for Youngstown State, at 15-over 157. Gimpel added an 80 to her opening-round 77 while Rugola added a 78 to her opening-round 79.

   Applecross Country Club’s Liddie McCook, who led Downingtown East to a runnerup finish in the PIAA Class AAA team competition last fall, and Talamore’s Sarah Scarpill, a Class AAA East Regional qualifier as a junior at Central Bucks East last fall, finished in a tie for 12^th at 161, four shots behind Gimpel and Rugola.

   McCook, who will play collegiately at Monmouth, bounced back from an opening-round 83 with a 78 while Scarpill added an 83 to her opening-round 78.

   Merion Golf Club’s Lauren Jones, who led Episcopal Academy to a second straight Inter-Ac League title as a sophomore this spring, and Lake View’s Anna Swan – I’m again going to guess she’s Lydia Swan’s sister – finished in a tie for 14^th at 163.

   Both Jones, the runnerup in the Inter-Ac League Championship last month at French Creek Golf Club, and Anna Swan improved off an opening-round 85 by posting a 78 in Tuesday’s final round.

The Springhaven Club’s Grace Smith, a sophomore at Strath Haven, was another shot behind Jones and Anna Swan in 16^th place at 164 after improving four shots from an opening-round 84 with an 80 Tuesday. Bala Golf Club’s Megan Aldeman, a freshman at Baldwin, was another shot behind Smith in 17^th place at 165 as she added an 81 to her opening-round 84.

   Indian Valley’s Rachel Joyce was unopposed in winning the Junior-Junior Girls’ Championship, but her 155 total was pretty strong for a sixth-grader. After opening with a 74, Joyce fell back a little with an 81.

   Lake View, behind Lydia Swan and Anna Swan, was an easy winner of the Junior Girls’ Team championship. Lydia Swan’s 72 and Anna Swan’s 78 gave Lake View a score of 150 after it had opened with a 159. Lake View’s 309 total was 23 shots clear of runnerup Whitemarsh Valley, which added a 164 to its opening-round 168 for a 332 total.