Komancheck right at home as he lights up RiverCrest for Junior Tour victory

    You have to figure Colby Komancheck was looking forward to Monday’s stop on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour at the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve.

   Komancheck’s dad Jamie is the head pro at RiverCrest and his mother Kelly manages the pro shop. So, it would make sense that Colby Komancheck knows his way around the par-71 RiverCrest layout in Upper Providence Township just outside of Phoenixville.

   Colby Komancheck is still a kid. He was teeing it up in the Philly Junior Tour’s coed 12-and-under division earlier in the year, the nine-holers. He moved up to playing 18 holes against some older guys in the 13-to-15 division and he’s been holding his own, earning some top-10 finishes. He will be an eighth-grader when school starts up again in a few weeks.

   But with the Philly Junior Tour coming to the familiar surroundings of RiverCrest, Komancheck was ready to take off. Boy, was he ready.

   The kid made an eagle on the par-5 second hole and birdies at the third, fourth and eighth holes. A par at the ninth hole gave him a sizzling 5-under 31 on RiverCrest’s outgoing nine. Komacheck finally made a couple of bogeys at the 13^th and 14^th holes, but then he got those two strokes right back with his second eagle of the day at the par-5 15^th hole.

   Komancheck was back to 5-under with three holes to play. Komancheck made a couple of mistakes on those last three holes and a bogey at the 17^th hole and a triple bogey at the par-4 finishing hole left him with a 1-under-par 70.

   Could it have been better? Sure. But it was still four shots better than anybody else signed for at RiverCrest. And Komancheck’s Philly Junior Tour victory clearly stamped him as a young player on the rise.

   Nolan Corcoran of Lansdale, Shane Callahan of Schwenksville and Ian Larsen of Glenmoore were nine shots behind Komancheck in a tie for second place in the 13-to-15 division, each signing for a 79.

   Corcoran matched Komancheck’s eagle at the par-5 second hole, made a birdie at the 16^th hole and had 10 pars on his scorecard. Callahan made back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes and had nine pars on his card. Larsen made a birdie at the 16^th hole and had eight pars on his card.

   Zach Moua of Berwyn, Anthony Proud of Stroudsburg and Carson Holmes of Thorndale finished in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 81.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were two players, Link Matozzo of Philadelphia and Quin Zuegner of New Hope, who finished in a tie for 10^th place, each landing on 83.

   Bonner-Prendie senior Chris DiRita had the second best round of the day, a solid 3-over 74 that gave him a victory in the 16-to-18 division. DiRita made birdies at the second, fourth, 10^th and 16^th holes and had eight pars on his scorecard.

   Benjamin Pintof, a senior at Springfield High, made birdies at the second, ninth and 16^th holes and had nine pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 6-over 77.

   Radnor junior Shaun Mazzalupi, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, made birdies at the second and fourth holes and had seven pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Pintof in third place with a 78.

   Recent Owen J. Roberts graduate Victor Mominey and Charlie Ferrise of Phoenixville shared fourth place, each recording a 79, and Owen J. Roberts junior Erik Harken and Andrew Bauer of Reading shared sixth place, each ending up with an 81.

   Pope John Paul II senior (and Stonewall looper) Jack Brennan and Marshall Kain of Newtown Square finished in a tie for eighth place, each posting an 82.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was Owen Wisner of Reading as he finished alone in 10^th place with an 83.

   The low score among the girls also came out of the 13-to-15 division as Alexandra Engart of Harleysville made a birdie on the ninth hole and had nine pars on her scorecard as she carded a solid 4-over 75 to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory.

   From what I can tell with a little Internet searching, Engart, like Colby Komancheck, might also have been playing in familiar surroundings as it looks like she belongs at RiverCrest.

   Katherine Liu of Moorestown, N.J. had five pars as she was the runnerup with an 85. Alyssa Schuebel of King of Prussia made a birdie on the 15^th hole and had five pars on her card as she took third place with an 87.

   Mirai Kambayashi of Malvern took fourth place with an 89 and Charlotte Anstine of Chester Springs was fifth with a 103.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Caitlyn Monestere of Downingtown as she finished in sixth place with a 116.

   Nicole Yun, a senior on the Spring-Ford girls golf team, pulled out a victory in the 16-to-18 division as she made birdies at the second and 15^th holes and had seven pars on her scorecard on her way to a 78.

   Only three shots separated the top three finishers among the older girls. Audrey Schuebel of King of Prussia’s Team Schuebel made birdies on the ninth and 16^th holes and had five pars on her card to take runnerup honors with a 79, a shot behind Yun.

   Abigail McCorkell of Schwenksville made birdies at the ninth, 12^th and 16^th holes and had four pars on her card as she finished two shots behind Audrey Schuebel in third place with an 81.

   Looks like the older girls got chased off the golf course with a hole to play – weather the likely culprit -- as they all had a one on their cards for the par-4 18^th hole.

   Oley Valley senior Heidi Wegscheider took fourth place with a 93 and Jiayin Ou of Pottstown rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 field division as she finished fifth with a 99.

   Dane Mohap of Nazareth continued his scorching stretch of recent play as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 1-over 37.

   Mohap has finished either first or second in the coed 12-and-under division in at least the last six Philly Junior Tour events in which he has teed it up. At RiverCrest, Mohap opened his round with six straight pars and made a birdie at the ninth hole.

   Carter Hippauf of Quakertown made a birdie at the fifth hole and had two pars on his scorecard as he earned runnerup honors with an 8-over 44. Ethan Clouser of Newtown made a birdie at the ninth hole and had a par at six as he ended up in third place with a 46.

   Nicolette Bottos of Berwyn took fourth place with a 47 and Winston Chew of Exton and Joseph Welsh of Hershey finished in a tie for fifth, each signing for a 48.

   Henry Mysliwiec of Doylestown, Sebastian Park of Lansdale and Max Davis of Newtown Square finished in a three-way tie for seventh place, each landing on 51.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division were Gavin Schraegle of Phoenixville and Christos Bottos of Berwyn’s Team Bottos as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each registering a 53.