It seems like Rylie Heflin, an Avondale resident who plays
out of Hartefeld National Golf Club, is always in contention at the
Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) Junior Girls’ Championship.
Heflin captured the title in 2017, was the runnerup a year
later and finished fourth last year. Well, Heflin is in the hunt again as she
fired a 3-under-par 69 Monday at Lebanon Country Club and trails Megan Meng of
Jericho National Golf Club by a shot heading into Tuesday’s final round.
Pretty sure Heflin lost her junior season at Tower Hill in
Delaware to the coronavirus pandemic. It appears she’s headed for Duke in the
summer of 2021, joining a perennial powerhouse on the Division I college scene.
Heflin was headed into ninth grade when she captured the
Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ crown in 2017. And it appears Meng is that kid now,
a Class of 2024 player from Pennington, N.J. Not sure where she’s headed to
play scholastic golf, but it looks like somebody is getting a player.
Starting on the 10th hole, Meng ripped off
birdies at the 10th, 11th and 15th holes to
tour the back nine at the par-72 Lebanon layout in 3-under 33. She got it to
4-under with a birdie at the second hole, gave a shot back with the only bogey on
her scorecard at the third hole and immediately got that shot back with a
birdie at the third hole to complete a 4-under 68.
Heflin went off the first tee and got off to a fast start
with birdies at the second and seventh holes before falling back to 1-under
with a bogey at the ninth hole.
It was a roller-coaster ride on Lebanon’s incoming nine for
Heflin. She birdied the 10th and 11th holes to get it to
3-under, stumbled at the 12th with a double bogey and responded with
birdies at the next three holes, the 13th, 14th and 15th
to get it to 4-under. A bogey at the 18th hole left her at 3-under,
a shot behind Meng.
Yardley Country Club’s Jade Gu, coming off a five-shot
victory in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour Precision Pro Golf Open event
at Turtle Creek Golf Club last week, got herself in contention with a 2-under
70 that left her alone in third place, a shot behind Heflin.
Gu captured the Class AAA East Regional title at Golden Oaks
Golf Club as a sophomore at Pennsbury in 2018.
Heflin’s Tower Hill teammate, Jennifer Cleary, who is headed
for the University of Virginia, also got it in under par with a 1-under 71 and
was alone in fourth place.
Pretty sure Cleary, playing out of Applecross Country Club,
lost her senior season to the pandemic this spring. It is just awful what the
Class of 2020 has missed out on because of this virus. Cleary has had a
wonderful junior career and will be a nice addition to the UVA roster.
Two of the three players who were involved in a playoff for
the PIAA Class AAA title last fall at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort, Blue Bell
Country Club’s Elizabeth Beek, who claimed the state crown, and White Manor
Country Club’s Victoria Kim, were tied for fifth place at 1-over 73, a shot
behind Cleary.
Beek was the state champion as a freshman at Wissahickon
while Kim, who captured the District One Class AAA crown as a freshman in 2018,
will be a junior at West Chester East.
Lehigh Country Club’s Michelle Cox, who was in contention
right to the finish in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ a year ago before setting
for runnerup honors to Caroline Wrigley, headed a group of five players tied
for seventh place at 3-over 75. Cox capped an outstanding scholastic career at
Emmaus by finishing fourth in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall.
Joining Cox at 3-over were Carlisle Country Club’s Paige
Richter, who finished right behind Cox in fifth place at Heritage Hills as a
sophomore at Camp Hill last fall, another Jericho National entry in Natasha
Kiel, a George School senior, Lake View Country Club’s Anna Swan and Caroline
McConnell of The Club at Nevillewood.
Meng and Kiel enabled Jericho National to take a commanding
16-shot lead in the girls team competition. Playing a three-score-two format,
Meng’s 68 and Kiel’s 75 gave Jericho National a 1-under 143 total. Jericho
National’s third player, Ellison Lundquist, carded a solid 76.
Carlisle Country Club was in second place with a 15-over 159
total.
On the boys side, Out Door Country Club’s Carson Bacha, who
capped an outstanding scholastic career at Central York by capturing the PIAA
Class AAA crown last fall at Heritage Hills, carded a solid 2-under 69 at
Hershey Country Club’s challenging East Course to gain a share of the lead with
Oakmont Country Club’s Rocco Salvitti.
Bacha, who, like Heflin, is seeking a second state Junior
crown, having captured the title in 2018. He will join the program at
Southeastern Conference power Auburn later this summer.
It was a typically steady round for Bacha. Starting off the
10th tee, Bacha made birdies at the 16th and 17th
holes and was 2-under heading for the outgoing nine. He made a birdie at the
second hole before making a bogey at the sixth hole, the only blemish on his
card, to finish at 2-under over the par-71 Hershey East layout.
Salvitti, who finished seventh in the PIAA Class AAA
Championship as a freshman at Pittsburgh Central Catholic last fall, was
equally solid. Salvitti started at the first hole and, after making a birdie on
the seventh hole, bogeyed the eighth, his only bogey of the day. Birdies at the
10th and 14th holes on the incoming nine got him a share
of the lead with Bacha.
Phoenixville Country Club’s Morgan Lofland, who has had a
great month since competitive golf returned from this spring’s
coronavirus-enforced layoff, was alone in third place with a 1-under 70.
Lofland, a senior at Conestoga and the Class AAA East
Regional winner last fall at Golden Oaks, started on the 10th hole
and birdied that hole before giving the shot back with a bogey at the 11th
hole. He followed up a bogey at the 13th hole by making a birdie at
the 14th. Lofland make birdies at the first and sixth holes around a
bogey at the second to get it in under par.
Jericho National’s Calen Sanderson, who finished in a tie
for second place in the District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek as
a sophomore at Holy Ghost Prep last fall, headed a group of three players tied
for fourth place at even-par 71.
Sanderson was joined at even-par by Merion Golf Club’s John
Bradbeer and The Country Club of Scranton’s Michael Maslanka.
Nicholas Gross, a rising star who plays out of Applecross,
headed a group of three players tied for seventh place at 1-over 72. Gross, who
will join the Downingtown West program as a freshman later this year, was the
winner of the Boys 12 division in the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship at the
Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s No. 8 Course last summer.
Gross was joined at 1-over by another member of Lake View’s
Team Swan, Isaiah Swan, and Luke Lestini, a PAGA individual member.
Blue Bell’s Matt Lafond, who capped his scholastic career at
La Salle by winning the Catholic League title last fall, headed a trio of
players tied for 10th place at 2-over 73.
Lafond was joined at that figure by a couple of players who
were top-five finishers in Class AAA in the state tournament last fall,
Carlisle Country Club’s John Peters, who finished in a tie for third place at
Heritage Hills as a junior at Carlisle, and Fox Chapel Golf Club’s Adam Lauer,
who finished in a tie for fifth at Heritage Hills as a junior at Shady Side
Academy.
Aronimink Golf Club grabbed a three-shot advantage over
Carlisle Country Club in the boys team championship.
Haverford School senior Jake Maddaloni and Devon Prep
freshman Nick Ciocca, coming off a victory last week in the Philadelphia Boys
Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood Country Club, each carded a 5-over 76 to
lead the way for Aronimink. Maddaloni made a nice run to the semifinals of last
week’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 106th Junior Boys’
Championship at The 1912 Club.
Jack Davis added a 77 as Aronimink put together a 16-over
229 in the four-score-three format. Aronimink tossed the 87 carded by Hunter
Stetson. Carlisle was three shots back in second place at 232.
Ian Larsen of Honeybrook Golf Club led a tightly-bunched
foursome in the Junior-Junior Boys’ Championship, being contested at Lebanon
Country Club, with a 4-over 76.
Merion’s J.P. Hoban was a shot behind Larsen in second place
with a 77, Jesse Shue of Crossgates Golf Club was third with a 78 and Evan
Gross of Applecross’ Team Gross was fourth with a 79.
Elle Overly of Bent Creek Country Club signed for an 80,
also at Lebanon, to take a 15-shot lead in the Junior-Junior Girls’
Championship. Talia Hoffner of Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club was in
second place with a 95.
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