Coming off a solid high school postseason for
Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Dylan Gooneratne cruised to a four-shot victory in one of
the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s Precision Pro Golf Open events that
wrapped up Sunday at Seaview in Galloway Township, N.J., across the bay from
Atlantic City.
Gooneratne, a junior, carded a solid 4-over-par 75 over
Seaview’s Bay Course in Saturday’s opening round. The Bay Course, home of the
ShopRite LPGA Classic, is one of those old-school classic designs, a collaboration
by Hugh Wilson, he of Merion Golf Club’s East and West Courses, and the master
himself, Donald Ross.
The Precision Pro Golf Open events have the usual age
breakdowns that the Junior Tour utilizes, but also has overall scoring for boys
and girls ages 13 to 18.
The overall leader after the opening round was Matthew
Normand of Lumberton, N.J. out of the younger 13-to-15 division. Normand carded
a sparkling 2-over 73 over the tough Bay Course.
Gooneratne’s 75 left him two shots behind Normand, a shot
behind Travis Dix of Howell, N.J. and Tyler Peters of Berlin, N.J., both of whom
opened with a 3-over 74, and a shot ahead of Spring-Ford junior Luke Watson,
who posted a solid 5-over 76 at the Bay Course.
The scene shifted to the Pines Course for Sunday’s final
round and Gooneratne fired a 2-over 73 that was three shots better than anyone
else in the field could do. That gave him a 6-over 148 total that was four
shots clear of Watson, who added a second straight 76 to take runnerup honors
at 10-over 152.
In October, Gooneratne had finished in a tie for second place
in the District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Club and was a
PIAA Class AAA qualifier, finishing in a tie for 18th place at the
Heritage Hills Golf Resort.
A November chill descended on the region Saturday morning,
although, after a cold start, the day warmed up nicely. It was calm, although it
almost always blows a little at the Shore. The wind freshened Sunday and the
scores seemed to reflect that.
Gooneratne struggled a little early in Sunday’s round at the
Pines Course, making bogeys at the first, third, fourth and fifth holes. But he
made four birdies on the back nine. He made back-to-back birdies at the 13th
and 14th holes and back-to-back bogeys at the 15th and 16th
holes before finishing up with back-to-back birdies at the 17th and
18th holes.
Gooneratne and Watson finished 1-2 in the 16-to-18 division
and in the overall scoring.
Dix struggled to an 81 Sunday at the Pines Course and
finished third in the 16-to-18 division and tied for third overall with a 155
total.
Peters also struggled at the Pines Course, posting an 82
that left him in fourth place in the division and in a tie for fifth overall at
156.
Jackson Debusschere, a junior on Strath Haven’s Central
League and District One Class AAA championship team, headed a group of four
players that finished in a tie for fifth in the division and tied for seventh
place overall at 160.
Debusschere shaved two shots off his opening-round 81 with a
79 at the Pines Course. His Central League rival, Radnor junior Tyler Tornoe,
joined Debusschere in the group at 160 as he added an 81 to his opening-round
79.
Jack Farkas of Ardmore bounced back from an opening-round 84
at the Bay Course with a solid 4-over 76 at the Pines Course to join the group
at 160. Rounding out the quartet at 160 was Zachary Loninger of Crosswicks,
N.J., who carded a pair of 80s.
Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Joseph
Giamanco of Middletown, N.J. and Chris Waldmann of Malvern, both of whom finished
in a tie for ninth place, each posting a 163 total. Giamanco opened with a
solid 79 at the Bay Course before adding an 84 Sunday at the Pines Course.
Waldmann added an 80 to his opening-round 83.
Nathan Guertler of Merchantville, N.J. finished at the top
of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division and shared third place in the
overall scoring with Dix with a 155 total. Guertler opened with a 5-over 76 at
the Bay Course before adding a 79 at the Pines Course.
Normand couldn’t recapture his opening-round magic, falling
back with an 83 at the Pines Course. Still, his 156 total left him as the
runnerup to Wuertler in the 13-to-15 division and Normand was the only other
player in the younger division to crack the top 10 in the overall scoring as he
finished in a tie for fifth with Peters.
Normand had three birdies on his card Saturday at the Bay
Course and arrived at the 18th tee with an even-par round going
before a double bogey at the par-5 finishing hole left him with a 2-over 73.
It was another 17 shots back to the next highest finisher in
the 13-to-15 division as Julien de Brechard of Brooklyn bounced back from an
opening-round 90 with an 83 at the Pines Course that left him in third place in
the division at 173.
Evan Goldberg of Linwood, N.J. finished fourth in the
13-to-15 division as he added a 91 to his opening-round 88 for a 179 total.
Joseph Fargnoli of Mickleton, N.J. and Sachin Blake of
Berwyn both landed on 182 and in a tie for fifth among the younger guys.
Fargnoli had a pair of 91s while Blake improved four shots from his
opening-round 93 with an 89 at the Pines Course.
Tommy Marshall of Marlton, N.J. finished in seventh place in
the division at 193 after adding a 99 to his opening-round 84. Michael Schafer
of Ardmore took eighth place at 197 as he shaved 13 shots off an opening-round
105 with a 92 at the Pines Course.
Andrew Todd of Newtown finished in ninth place at 205 as he
added a 106 to his opening-round 99. William Grunland of Lewisburg added a 104
to his opening-round 103 to end up in 10th place with a 207 total.
Jake Hennelly of Linwood, N.J. finished in 11th
place at 212 as he improved six shots from an opening-round 109 with a 103.
Zara Jacob of Summit, N.J. was the overall girls winner and
finished first in the 16-to-18 division as she added a solid 84 at the Pines
Course to the 86 she posted at the Bay Course for a 170 total. Jacob was steady
throughout the weekend with seven pars on her card in both rounds.
Katrina Cabinian of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. had the low
round of the weekend among the girls, an 8-over 79 Sunday at the Pines Course,
after opening with a 95 at the Bay Course as she was the runnerup to Jacob in
the 16-to-18 division and third overall with a 174 total. Cabinian had three
birdies on her scorecard in Sunday’s solid showing on the Pines Course.
Ashley Ea of Perkasie was another five shots behind Cabinian
in third place in the division and fourth place overall with a 179 total after
adding a 92 to her opening-round 87.
The overall lead following the opening round belonged to
Elle Overly of Lititz, who fired a sparkling 81 that featured seven pars and a
birdie on the 13th hole at the Bay Course. Overly struggled a little
with a 92 on the Pines Course, but her 173 total still gave her the top spot in
the 13-to-15 division and second place overall, three shots behind Jacob.
The runnerup in the 13-to-15 division was Jillian Burks of
Paoli, who added a 97 to her opening-round 99 for a 196 total that left her in
fifth place overall.
I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Burks
will represent the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour in the Drive, Chip
& Putt National Finals in April at Augusta National Golf Club after winning
the Girls 10-11 division in a regional in September at Oakmont Country Club.
Burks is a Class of 2027 competitor, which makes her, what, a fifth-grader.
Team Loninger of Crosswicks, N.J. accounted for the final
two spots in the 13-to-15 division and were sixth and seventh overall,
respectively, as Amelia Loninger was third in the division with a 197 total and
Samantha Loninger was fourth in the division with a 201 total. Amelia Loninger
added a 100 to her opening-round 97 while Samantha Loninger matched Amelia’s
opening-round 97 before posting a 104 Sunday at the Pines Course.
Matthew Sanderson of Newtown was an impressive winner in the
12-and-under coed division as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 5-over
78 total. After carding a 42 at the Bay Course Saturday, Sanderson toured the
Pines Course in even-par 36, making a birdie at the fifth hole, a bogey at the
eighth hole and seven pars.
Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. was the runnerup as he
carded a pair of 51s for a 102 total. Reagan Garnsey of Dover, Del. was a shot
behind Whitney in third place at 103 after adding a 53 to her opening-round 50.
Avery O’Neill of Romansville finished fourth at 111 after posting rounds of 53
and 58.
Anthony Primo of Marlton, N.J. and Mia Martinez of Little
Egg Harbor, N.J. finished in a tie for fifth place at 112. Primo improved four
shots from an opening-round 58 with a 54 while Martinez shaved six shots off an
opening-round 59 with a 53 at the Bay Course. Michael Liu of Garnet Valley took
seventh place with a 117 total after adding a 57 to his opening-round 60.
No comments:
Post a Comment