Bucknell junior Chris Tanabe, playing out of Sewickley
Heights Golf Club, continued his domination of the front nine at Aronimink Golf
Club, the Donald Ross gem in Newtown Square, and it resulted in a comfortable
victory for him in the 106th Pennsylvania Amateur Championship
Wednesday.
Tanabe, the 2016 PIAA Class AA champion as a senior at
Quaker Valley, had taken control of the tournament with a stunning 7-under-par
28 tour of the front nine at Aronimink on his way to a 5-under 65 in Tuesday’s
second round. It gave Tanabe a three-shot lead going into Wednesday’s final
round.
And he kept the rest of a talented field in the Pennsylvania
Amateur, presented by LECOM, at bay with three more birdies in a 2-under 33 on
the front nine in Wednesday’s final round. His fast start enabled him to
survive a double bogey-bogey finish after severe weather forced an 87-minute
delay.
Tanabe still carded a 1-over 71 in the final round for a
5-under 205 total and a misleading two-shot margin of victory over Nate Menon,
a redshirt sophomore at Stanford playing out of LedgeRock Golf Club, and Kansas
State junior Kyle Vance, a two-time District One Class AAA champion at
Methacton.
“I was able to set myself up in good positions on the front
nine today and took advantage of it,” Tanabe told the Pennsylvania Golf
Association (PAGA) website. “I just wanted to hit fairways, hit greens and give
myself a good look for birdie and I was able to do so for the most part.”
A hole-out for eagle on the first hole jump-started Tanabe’s
sizzling start in Tuesday’s second round. He didn’t match that, but he did hit
his approach to 15 feet and made the birdie putt to quickly get it to 7-under.
After a bogey at the fourth hole dropped him back to
6-under, Tanabe stiffed his approach to four feet at the sixth hole and rolled
in the birdie putt. He drilled his approach at the seventh hole to six feet and
again converted his birdie try to make the turn at 8-under.
He offset a bogey at the 10th hole with a birdie
at the par-5 16th hole to again get it to 8-under before stumbling a
little on the final two holes.
Menon, who bested Tanabe to claim the 2015 PIAA Class AA
champion when he was a junior at Wyomissing, closed with a solid even-par 70 to
finish at 3-under 207. Menon was a member of the Stanford team that claimed the
NCAA Championship in the spring, although he was not in the starting five for
the Cardinal at either the regional or the nationals at The Blessings Golf Club
in Fayetteville, Ark.
Aronimink, the site of next summer’s KPMG Women’s PGA
Championship and the 2026 PGA Championship, was the perfect tuneup for Menon as
he prepares for the U.S. Amateur, which tees off in a couple of weeks at the
Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in Pinehurst Village, N.C.
The No. 2 Course at Pinehurst, where the majority of the
match-play portion of the National Amateur will be contested, is also the work
of Ross, one of the acknowledged masters of golf course design. The recently
renovated Pinehurst No. 4 will be the other course for qualifying and will also
be used in the championship match, scheduled for 36 holes.
Vance, a PAGA individual member, put his considerable talent
on display as he closed with a 2-under 68 to share second with Menon at
3-under. Vance has had a tough time making the starting lineup for the
Wildcats, but he served notice this week that he’s ready to become more of a
contributor for the underrated Big 12 program.
Drexel senior Connor Schmidt, playing out of Nemacolin
Country Club, fired a 3-under 67, sharing honors for low round of the day with
Lafayette sophomore and former Conestoga standout Ryan Tall, to finish in a tie
for fourth place at 2-under 208. It was a solid defense of the title Schmidt
won a year ago at Sunnehanna Country Club outside of Johnstown.
Schmidt was joined at 2-under by talented Central Dauphin
junior Garrett Engle, who finished with a 1-under 69. Engle will certainly be
one of the players to watch on the high school scene this fall.
Brett Young, another entry playing out of Nemacolin, posted
his second straight even-par 70 to finish alone in sixth place at 1-under 209.
Virginia junior Max Siegfried, crowned the club champion at
Aronimink Sunday, capped a solid week with a second straight 1-over 71 to
finish alone in seventh place at even-par 210. Siegfried was a scholastic
standout at The Haverford School.
Spring-Ford Country Club’s Tall, winner of the 2018 Golf
Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys’ Championship, got a share of eighth
place at 1-over 211 with his sparkling final-round 67.
Former Kennett standout Evan Brown, who captured the
Delaware Amateur in June at Maple Dale Country Club, joined Tall in the tie for
eighth at 211. Brown, a PAGA individual member, had a strong spring to conclude
his sophomore season at Loyola of Maryland.
Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Benjamin Cooley earned a
top-10 finish as he carded a final round of 2-over 72 to end up alone in 10th
place at 2-over 212.
It’s been a strong final summer of junior golf for Talamore
Country Club’s Patrick Sheehan, who won the Jock MacKenzie Memorial and was the
runnerup in the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship. The Penn State-bound Sheehan,
the District One Class AAA champion as a senior at Central Bucks East last
fall, matched par in the final round with a 70 to get a share of 11th
place at 3-over 213.
LuLu Country Club’s Michael Brown Jr., who will defend his
Patterson Cup title next week at Applebrook Golf Club, also landed on 213 with
a final round of even-par 70.
Loch Nairn Golf Club’s Zachary Barbin, whose younger brother
Austin defeated Sheehan in the GAP Junior Boys’ final, rounded out the trio
tied for 11th at 3-over. The Liberty University junior had surged
into contention with a 4-under 66 in Tuesday’s second round, but struggled to a
76 in Wednesday’s final round.
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