Springfield's Flaherty, Lower Merion's Yermish are the respective boys, girls medalists in Central League Championship

    LIMBERICK – Danny Flaherty signaled that he was ready for the coming scholastic season last month when he made six birdies while firing a 4-under-par 67 in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Paxon Hollow Country Club.

   The Springfield junior proved that round was no fluke Wednesday when he claimed the top spot in the Central League Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Club on a wildly windy day in western Montgomery County as summer wasn’t quite ready to give it up, even though the calendar said it was the first day of fall.

   Starting at the 13^th hole, Flaherty offset three bogeys with three birdies as he matched par with a 72 over the 6,375-yard, par-72 Turtle Creek layout to best the field of Central League guys by four shots. More importantly, Flaherty booked a return trip to the Turtle in a couple of weeks for the District One Class AAA Championship.

Central League golfers get their marching orders Wednesday at Turtle Creek in this image from a drone deployed by Garnet Valley coach Doug Grande.

   It was at Turtle Creek two years ago that Lower Merion’s Sydney Yermish, then a freshman, nailed down a District One crown after she had opened with a startling 6-under 65 on Day 1 at nearby Raven’s Claw Golf Club. It was a district title Yermish never got to defend as concerns over the coronavirus pandemic prevented the Central League from staging a championship in time to get its golfers qualified for districts.

   But Yermish overcame the winds and a Turtle Creek course she hasn’t seen since winning the district title two years ago to card a solid 1-over 73 that was 15 shots better than any of the other Central League girls could post.

   Flaherty, too, was in unfamiliar territory at the Turtle, although he did get in a practice round Saturday.

   “I shot 75 Saturday, but, to be honest, I was just trying to make sure I hit greens and avoided any blowup holes,” Flaherty said after a really solid round. “I was just concentrating on making sure I made the cut.”

   Flaherty’s progress as a golfer has been pretty quick. He was a JV player two years ago – “I had trouble breaking 60 for nine holes at times,” he said. – and he still wasn’t quite there during 2020’s confusing, truncated season.

   Flaherty opened his round with a birdie on the par-5 13^th at the Turtle. A bogey at the par-4 16^th hole sent him to the first tee at even-par. He began his tour of the outgoing nine at the Turtle with a birdie at the par-4 first hole. He made a bogey at the tough par-3 third hole, but got that shot right back with a birdie at the par-4 fourth.  A bogey at the tough par-3 ninth bole left him at even-par and he parred the last three holes of his round to get in with a 72.

   “I told one of the guys I was playing with, ‘Don’t tell me where I stand,’” Flaherty said. “I’m just better off if I don’t know what I’m shooting.”

   His parents became full members at Rolling Green Golf Club a couple of years ago and Flaherty credits the club’s head pro, Scott Chisholm, with his rapid improvement. Flaherty’s nine-hole average this season has been a sparkling 36.5.

   “I’ve worked really hard, just constantly working on my swing whenever I can,” Flaherty said.

   And he is leading the way for one of the best Springfield golf seasons in a long time. The Cougars had only lost to perennial Central League power Conestoga, although they have a couple of tough matches ahead.

   Flaherty will be joined at districts by teammates and fellow juniors, Ben Pintof, who was part of a group of four players tied for seventh place with a 79, and J.P. Devinney, who finished in a tie for 11^th with an 80.

   “We haven’t always had good teams,” Flaherty said. “We have some young guys who have worked hard. It’s been kind of a lightning-strike season for us.”

   Holy Ghost Prep needed a place to qualify for districts and the Central League graciously invited the Firebirds to tee it up alongside its players Wednesday. Flaherty’s 72 even beat reigning PIAA Class AAA champion Calen Sanderson, a Notre Dame recruit who settled for a 2-over 74.

   Conestoga senior Michael Walz was Flaherty’s closest pursuer as he carded a 4-over 76 to earn runnerup honors. A couple of Harriton guys, junior Cyrus Parvizi and senior Jason Dichter, shared third place with Marple Newtown senior Jake Micewski, each registering a 5-over 77.

   Strath Haven junior Tyler Debusschere was another shot behind that trio in sixth place with a 6-over 78. Joining Springfield’s Pintof in the tie for seventh place at 7-over 79 were Conestoga sophomore Sachin Blake, Haverford senior Liam Hempel and Ridley junior Jake Hagan.

   Joining Springfield’s Devinney in the trio tied for 11^th place at 8-over 80 were Garnet Valley senior Matt Pulcinella and Marple Newtown sophomore Aiden Hennelly.

   I followed Parvizi, Debusschere and Pulcinella while they played the back nine in swirling winds that made club choices a guessing game. Debusschere played well with the exception of a triple bogey 8 at the par-5 eighth hole and a double bogey 6 at the par-5 18^th.

   Debusschere and the Panthers are unbeaten in Central League play and were coming off a two-shot victory over Garnet Valley at their home course, The Springhaven Club. Strath Haven had never won a Central League title until capturing the crown two seasons ago and proceeded to back it up by capturing the first District One Class AAA title in the program’s history.

   Garnet Valley senior Nick Woods, Harriton junior Jack Chodlowski, Penncrest junior Eli Shah and Radnor sophomore Shaun Mazzalupi finished in a tie for 14^th place, each signing for an 81.

   Penncrst senior Chas Katz and Harriton sophomore Ben Braver finished in a tie for 18^th place, each punching their ticket to the district tournament with an 82.

   As is often the case at the Central League Championship, most of the drama came at the end with six players battling for the league’s last two berths to districts. Radnor senior Chase Stephano and Harriton junior David Cronan were the two survivors of two playings of the Turtle’s difficult par-3 ninth hole.

   Two of Cronan’s teammates, sophomore Jack Gallagher and junior Ben Patterson, Springfield junior Jack Morrissey and Garnet Valley junior Braden Rogers matched the 84s recorded by Stephano and Cronan, but couldn’t advance out of the playoff.

   Yermish, like Flaherty a Rolling Green member, would like to get the state championship that eluded her when she lost in a playoff at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort as a freshman two years ago, that she was denied a chance to compete for as a sophomore in 2020.

   She appeared to be ready to contend in the postseason as she followed the formula for success at the Turtle with birdies at three of the four par-5s, the 18^th, second and eighth holes, to offset a double bogey at 12 and a couple of bogeys.

   But it wasn’t her power that enabled her to birdie the par-5s, it was the wedge game that she has been working hard it that got her close.

   “The wind was insane,” said Yermish, who started on the 16^th hole. “It was swirling so much, I couldn’t really go for the par-5s in two. I hit a wedge from 70 yards and had a tap-in at two. I had 66 yards at eight and hit it to five feet. At 18, I laid up short of the water and had 100 yards and hit a wedge to five feet.”

   The birdies had added meaning beginning with Wednesday’s Central League Championship. Yermish is a volunteer firefighter at the Penn Wynne-Overbrook Hills Fire Company #21 that suffered a devastating loss this summer when Sean McMuynck was killed in the line of duty just before he was to return to his native Canada.

   Yermish has started a “Birdies for the Fallen” campaign with people pledging money to the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Md. for every birdie Yermish makes in the Central League, District One and PIAA Championships. She got off to a good start with her three birdies Wednesday.

   “He was a good friend and the charity means a lot,” said Yermish, who has attracted attention from some of the top Division I programs in the country. “We were up to $357 per birdie going into today, so we raised $1,071 for the day. It means a lot to me and gives me a little extra motivation for the postseason. Let’s see if I can shoot 64 at Raven’s Claw this time.”

   Yermish capped a busy summer of golf with a pair of playoff losses in AJGA events in August, at the Imperial Headwear Junior Classic at DuPont Country Club outside of Wilmington, Del. and at the AJGA Junior at Carolina Trace at Carolina Trace Country Club’s Lake Course in Sanford, N.C.

   “I played pretty well at Carolina Trace, I was 5-under for regulation, so I came out of that feeling pretty good about the high school season,” Yermish said.

   Strrath Haven senior Grace Smith and Conestoga freshman Mimi Kambayashi shared runnerup honors, each carding an 88. Smith has played a key role in Strath Haven’s perfect record in the Central, much as she did when the Panthers won the District One Class AAA team crown two years ago. Smith also finished in ninth place in the PIAA Class AAA girls individual chase as a sophomore two years ago at Heritage Hills.

   Ridley senior Anna Bauer took fourth place with a 91 and Radnor junior Tegan Kelsall and Conestoga sophomore Brynne Mushlin shared fifth, each registering a 92.

   Sophomore Alessia DeMatteo will join the strong contingent of Harriton guys headed for districts as she finished alone in seventh place with a 93.

   Radnor senior Molly Haas and Marple Newtown sophomore Sarah Koh finished in a tie for eighth place, each signing for an 87. A couple of Conestoga girls, senior Sophia Brubaker and junior Maggie Hawkins, rounded out the group of Central League girls qualifying for districts as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each posting a 98.