Nicholas Gross, an eighth-grader at Downingtown Middle
School, had dominated the Philadelphia Section PGA’s 12-and-under coed
nine-holers in the wraparound 2017-’18 season.
Gross won 20 times and swept the Graham Company Player of
the Year and Sam Penecale Scoring Average Leader awards. His winning scoring
average was 38.04. Gross opened 2018 with a trip to Augusta National Golf Club
for the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals the Sunday of Masters week and won
the putting competition while finishing third overall in the Boys 10-11
division.
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| Nicholas Gross poses with the Payne Stewart statue. |
The 12-year-old Gross moved on from the Junior Tour and has
been competing on a national level in 2019. Gross’ continued improvement was on
display when he came home from the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship at the
Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in Pinehurst, N.C. earlier this month with
a dominating five-shot victory in the Boys 12 division.
After opening with a 3-under 69 over the 5,910-yard, par-72
Pinehurst No. 8 Course, he added an even-par 72 in the second round. He led the
field after each of the first two rounds.
Gross then finished it off with a sparkling 4-under 68 as he
hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation and made five birdies. Gross ended up with a 7-under-par
209 total for the 54-hole event. Gross’ closest pursuer was Sam Udovich of
Inner Grove Heights, Minn., who posted a 2-under 214 total.
Gross has been a regular at the U.S. Kids Golf World
Championship ever since he finished in a tie for 44th in the Boys
6-and-under division in 2013. He finished in a tie for fifth place in the Boys 7 in
2014, tied for 21st in the Boys 8 in 2015, tied for sixth in the
Boys 9 in 2016, tied for ninth in the Boys 10 in 2017 and tied for seventh in
the Boys 11 last year.
Gross plays out of Applecross Country Club and has been
working with White Manor Country Club teaching pro John Dunigan, a nationally
recognized instructor. His current USGA handicap index is +1.6 and his lowest
tournament score is a 63.
Gross is in the top 20 in Junior Golf Scoreboard’s rankings
for the Class of 2024. In 24 tournaments this year, Gross has eight wins and
recorded top-5 finishes in eight other tournaments. He has a scoring average of
73.1 and has bettered par in 18 of his 30 competitive rounds.
Gross even took a stab at earning a return trip to Pinehurst
for the U.S. Amateur, teeing it up in a 36-hole qualifier at Mountain Branch
Golf Club in Joppa, Md. a little more than a week before the U.S. Kids Golf
World Championship. He finished in a tie for sixth. Not bad for a 12-year-old
kid.
Gross was also a member of the Delaware I team that reached
the 7th PGA Junior League Championship last fall at Grayhawk Golf
Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. The team was based at Hartefeld National Golf Club and
captained by Hartefeld National professional Dave Seeman.
The team was coached by Shawn Gross, Nicholas’ dad, who
reached out to me to let me know what Nicholas was up to this year and provided
a lot of the statistical information that appears in this post. It seems like
just about all the youngsters that got a taste of golf at the national level at
Grayhawk have had strong seasons in 2019.
Nicholas Gross and a couple of his teammates on that
Delaware I team were in the field in last week’s American Junior Golf
Association’s Golf Performance Center Junior All-Star at The Redding Country
Club in Redding, Conn.
After opening with a 74, Gross added a sparkling 3-under 68
before closing with a 2-over 73 for a 2-over 215 total that left him in a tie
for seventh place. Among the Class of ’24 entrants in the field, Gross was five shots
better than the next highest finisher.
Win Thomas of Coatesville was a teammate of Gross’ on the
Delaware I team that made it to Grayhawk. Thomas also swept the Graham Company
Player of the Year and Sam Penecale Scoring Average Leader awards on the Junior
Tour in the 13-to-15 division in the wraparound 2017-’18 season.
Thomas finished in a tie for 11th in the Golf
Performance Center Junior All-Star. He got off to a good start with an opening-round
72 before matching par in the second round with a 71. Thomas struggled to a
4-over 75 – if you can call a 13-year-old kid shooting 75 struggling – in the
final round to finish with a 5-over 218 total.
Another member of the Delaware I team, Tower Hill freshman
Henry Stone of Kennett Square, finished in a tie for 38th at The
Redding Country Club with a 232 total. Stone opened with a 77 and added a
4-over 75 in the second round before finishing up with an 80.
Heading up the local contingent in the Golf Performance
Center Junior All-Star was Holy Ghost Prep sophomore Calen Sanderson, who
finished alone in fourth place with an even-par 213 total. After a slow start
with a 5-over 76, Sanderson ripped off rounds of 3-under 68 and 2-under 69.
Logan Paczewski, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman at
Dallas last fall, finished alone in 21st place. Paczewski struggled
in the opening round with an 87, but got it together with a 3-over 74 in the
second before closing by matching par with a final-round 71.
Darren Nolan of Glenside finished in a tie for 41st
with matching 78s in the first two rounds and a final-round 77 for a 233 total.
Jack Tarzy, another Junior Tour regular from Medford, N.J.,
was also in the group along with Nolan at 233. Tarzy’s best round at The
Redding Country Club was his first round, a 4-over 75. He added rounds of 81
and 77.
Benjamin Saggers, winner of the Golf Association of
Philadelphia’s Junior-Junior Championship last summer, finished alone in 45th
place. After struggling in the opening round with an 85, Saggers had solid
rounds of 75 and 76 for a 236 total. I’m hearing Saggers will be playing
scholastic golf at Bishop Shanahan this fall.
Zach Sandler of Gladwyne finished in a tie for 48th
at 232, sandwiching an 82 in the second round with a pair of 78s.
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