Smith's sizzling 67 gives him a Philly Junior Tour victory at Back Creek

 

   Nathan Smith of Chestertown, Md. really got it going in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour event at Back Creek Golf Club in Middletown, Del., lighting it up with a 4-under-par 67 to breeze to an eight-shot victory in the 16-to-18 division Aug. 24^th.

   Smith made birdies at the first, fifth, sixth, ninth, 14^th and 17^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard, closing with a 2-under 34 on Back Creek’s incoming nine.

   Joshua Freeman, playing close to his Middletown, Del. home, made birdies at the 11^th and 13^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard as he earned runnerup honors with a 4-over 75. Back Creek played pretty tough for everybody except Smith.

   Evan Gephart of Camden Wyoming, Del. made birdies at the fifth and 11^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, including five straight to close out his round, as he finished in third place with a 5-over 76.

   Michael Dignazio, who helped Tower Hill School win the Delaware state team crown to cap his junior year in the spring, took fourth place with a 79, Orville Potts of Elkton, Md. was fifth with an 85 and Rudy Mench of Wilmington, Del. was sixth with an 86.

   Rounding out the field in the 16-to-18 division was Braden Potts, another member of Team Potts out of Elkton, Md. who finished in seventh place with an 88.

   Wyatt Cudmore, another Elkton, Md. guy, made a birdie at the third hole and had 11 pars on his scorecard as he finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 6-over 77.

   Archmere Academy sophomore Michael Liu made a birdie on the seventh hole and had 10 pars on his card as he finished four shots behind Cudmore in second place with an 81.

   Jack Okonowicz, playing close to his Middletown, Del. home, had 12 pars on his card, including five straight to close out his round, as he finished in third place with an 82.

   Evan Smith, yet another Elkton, Md. entry, took fourth place with an 85, Collin Burke of Wilmington, Del. was fifth with a 92, Grayson Levy of New Hope was sixth with a 97 and Stanley Marchlik, another guy playing close to his Middletown, Del. home, was seventh with a 98.

   Rounding out the field in the 13­-to-15 division was Michael Tucker of Bear, Del. as he finished in eighth place with a 99.

   Only three shots separated the top three contenders in the girls 13-to-15 division with Stella Bernardi of Sewell, N.J. making six pars on her way to a 90 that gave her a Philly Junior Tour victory.

   Miranda Post of Lincoln University had five pars on her scorecard as she claimed runnerup honors with a 92. Gabrielle Hamstead of Milton, Del. had six pars on her card as she finished a shot behind Miranda Post in third place with a 93.

   Kiera Post, another member of Team Post out of Lincoln University, took fourth place with a 97 and Lydia Bernardi, another member of Team Bernardi out of Sewell, N.J., rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished fifth with a 104.

   Ben Meixell of Wilmington, Del. made a birdie on the seventh hole and had four pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of nine-holers with a solid 3 -over 38.

   Ethan Meersman of Fort Washington and Rayan Shah of Newtown shared runnerup honors as each finished five shots behind Meixell with an 8-over 43.

   Meersman had two pars on his card while Shah, who has been a dominating force on the coed 12-and-under division all summer, had four pars on his card.

   Steven Musacchio of Glenmoore took fourth place with a 46 and Declan Mayo of Chadds Ford was fifth with a 49.

   Rounding out the field in the coed 12-and-under division was Lucas Shank of West Chester as he finished in sixth place with a 52.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fieger, Lutz come up short with second-round losses in U.S. Senior Amateur at Martis Camp

 

   Chris Fieger Sr. of Denver, Lancaster County and Chip Lutz, the legendary senior amateur from Reading, both saw their bids in the U.S. Senior Amateur at the Martis Camp Club in Truckee, Calif. halted with tough losses in second-round matches Tuesday morning.

   The 60-year-old Fieger, a scholastic standout four decades ago at Nether Providence playing out of Heidelberg Country Club, dropped a 2 and 1 decision to Curtis Holck of Ankeny, Iowa while the 68-year-old Lutz went to the 19^th hole before falling to Bob Royak of Alpharetta, Ga. in a battle between a pair of U.S. Senior Amateur champions.

   Only five holes were halved between Fieger, winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Senior Amateur Championship in 2019, ’20 and ’22, and Holck in a tense battle.

   When Holck won the par-3 17^th hole to close out the match, it was the first time in the match that either player held a 2-up advantage.

   Holck won the first hole with a par, but Fieger picked up wins at two and three with pars to grab a 1-up lead. Holck answered by taking the fourth and sixth holes with birdies as he gained a 1-up edge.

   Fieger drew even by winning the seventh hole with a birdie, Holck won nine with a par and Fieger again evened the match by taking 10 with a birdie.

   Holck again put a nose in front by winning the 12^th hole and Fieger once more answered with a birdie at 14 to again draw even.

   But Holck had the final answer as he moved in front by winning the short par-4 16^th hole before closing out Fieger with the par on 17.

   Fieger has made it to the U.S. Senior Amateur three times since turning 55 and three times he has earned a spot in the match-play bracket. His trip to Martis Camp did nothing to make Fieger think he can’t play with these guys.

   The match between Lutz, the 2015 winner of the U.S. Senior Amateur at Hidden Creek Golf Club at the Jersey Shore, and Royak, who captured the title in 2019 at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, N.C. and was a semifinalist a year ago at The Kittansett Club on Buzzards Bay in eastern Massachusetts, figured to be a great match and lived up to its billing.

   Lutz, GAP’s Senior Player of the Year nine years in a row from 2010 to 2018, got the jump on Royak with wins at the second hole with a birdie, at three with a par and at four with another birdie to take a 3-up lead.

   Royak cut into the lead by taking the fifth hole with a par before Lutz, who plays out of LedgeRock Golf Club, restored his 3-up lead with a win at six with a par.

   Royak, though, was just getting started. He evened the match by winning the seventh hole with a par and nine and 10 with birdies.

   Then they went back and forth, Lutz winning the 11^th hole with a par, Royak taking 12 with a par, Lutz again putting a nose in front by winning 13 with a par and Royak answering again by taking 14 with a par to even the match.

   They had halved just two holes to that point, but they halved the next four to send the match to the 19^th hole, where Royak prevailed with a par to win the match.

   At 68, Lutz still made a trip across the pond to tee it up in The Senior Amateur Championship, which he has won three times in his brilliant career as a senior, and finished in 11^th place with a 2-over 293 total at Woodhall Spa in England, and he still was a bounce here or there away from reaching the round of 16 in the U.S. Senior Amateur. There’s still some life left in the old guy and as a fellow 68-year-old, that’s pretty inspiring.

   The conquerors of Fieger and Lutz came back in the afternoon to win their round-of-16 matches and earn a spot in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinals.

   Holck and Royak were both 2 and 1 winners, Holck knocking off James Volpenhein of Cincinnati, Ohio and Royak getting past Tom Lape of Atlanta, Ga.

   Todd White, a senior “rookie” from Spartanburg, S.C. and the medalist in qualifying at Martis Camp, also earned a spot in the quarterfinals, but it wasn’t easy.

   White faced a tough test Tuesday morning as he drew New Zealander Brent Paterson, the winner of The Senior Amateur Championship last month at Woodhall Spa. It took White 21 holes to pull out a victory over Paterson before he took out Ken Wade of Kennewick, Wash., 5 and 4, in his afternoon round-of-16 match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naseem finishes strong to claim a victory in a NIne-Hole Series stop at Moselem Springs

 

   Taimoor Naseem had a short trip to Moselem Springs Golf Club in Fleetwood from his home in Sinking Spring in Berks County for a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour Nine-Hole Series stop Aug. 24^th.

   Naseem finished strong on the outgoing nine at Moselem Springs, making four straight pars from the fifth through the eighth holes before a closing birdie at nine as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 1-over-par 36. Naseem ended up with six pars overall on his scorecard.

   Henry Sokol of Villanova and Ty Thompson of Devault shared runnerup honors as each posted a 5-over 40 to finish two shots behind Naseem.

   Henry Sokol made back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth holes and had two pars on his card while Thompson started fast, opening his round with pars on the first five holes.

   Preston Minio of Lansdale and Jack Metroka of Meadowbrook finished in a tie for fourth place, each recording a 42, and Jack Sokol of Villanova’s Team Sokol and Logan Turner of Berwyn shared sixth place, each tallying a 43. Jack Sokol finished three shots behind twin brother Henry in the battle for low-Sokol honors.

   Baylor Keim of Blue Bell took eighth place with a 48, Connor Masulis of Pottstown was ninth with a 50 and Charlie Shutte of Allentown was 10^th with a 53.

   Rounding out the field in the coed 12-and-under division was Jack Gilbert of Bryn Mawr as he finished in 11^th place with a 54.