Radnor's Boyd, Conestoga's Dirkes share medalist honors in Central League Championship at Turtle Creek

 

   LIMERICK – The Overbrook Golf Club junior program accounted for two of the three players who left Turtle Creek Golf Course with gold medals following the Central League Championship on a sun-splashed Wednesday in northwest Montgomery County.

   Radnor sophomore Lannon Boyd, an Overbrook guy, picked up a critical birdie on the par-4 17^th hole that earned him a share of the boys crown with Conestoga junior Gavin Dirkes as each finished with a solid 1-over-par 73 over the 6,375-yard, par-72 Turtle Creek layout that was two shots clear of what is always a talented field of Central League boys.

   On the girls side, Radnor sophomore Elayna Fanelli, another player whose home course is Overbrook, carded a solid 5-over 77 to claim medalist honors by two shots over Conestoga freshman Jill Burks.

   A year ago, Boyd carded an 82 in the Central League Championship, missing a playoff for the final berths to the District One Championship by a shot.

   But he was in his comfort zone Wednesday at the Turtle, where he fired a 3-under 69 during Radnor tryouts last month.

   “I really like this course,” Boyd said after just missing an outright title when his 15-foot birdie try at the par-5 18^th hole, his last of the day, did a rude 360-degree lipout around the cup. “It wasn’t too bad out there. There were some holes when we were into the wind a little, maybe a club up a couple of times.”

   Boyd made birdies on the seventh and at the par-5 13^th holes. He made bogeys at the ninth, 10^th, 14^th and 15 holes. It was actually a good bogey at the 14^th after the left-hander drove it into a waste area on the right side of the hole and had to take an unplayable lie.

   By the time Boyd arrived at the tee box at the 412-yard, par-4 17^th hole, he was aware that he was around the lead, that maybe another birdie might help.

   “I hit 8-iron in there from 145 (yards),” Boyd said.

   His ball finished eight feet from the hole and he calmly rolled in the birdie try on top of a birdie putt on a similar line by Lower Merion sophomore Seiji Sako.

   Boyd laid up at the 552-yard, par-5 risk-reward finishing hole at the Turtle with a 7-iron and then drilled a 52-degree wedge onto the green for that final birdie look.

   “I really want to get to states this year,” Boyd said.

   He’ll be right back at the Turtle Oct. 9 to take the next step toward a trip to states when he tees it up in the opening round of the District One Class AAA Championship.

   Dirkes, whose home course is White Manor Country Club, had the same goal in mind as Boyd did: Get to districts.

   Dirkes started hearing he might be in the hunt for medalist honors Wednesday, but he kept his head down and kept playing. His next-to-last hole was the tough par-3 ninth hole and he made a bogey to fall back to 1-over.

   Dirkes’ final hole was the short par-4 10^th hole. Much like Boyd, Dirkes just missed on a birdie try on his final hole that would have left him alone atop the leaderboard.

   “People were telling me I was leading, but I was just trying to tune that stuff out,” said Dirkes. “I got it on at 10 and gave the putt a pretty good try, but it just broke away at the hole.”

   Dirkes has been around Turtle Creek enough to sense what he needed to do at Centrals.

   “I came here thinking something sub-80 would get me in,” Dirkes said. “I try to keep the same mindset all the time. Get it in the fairway, get it on the green and two-putt. If you make a putt, fine.”

   Boyd’s Radnor teammate Brad McDermott and Marple Newtown’s Aiden Hennelly finished in a tie for third place, each ending up two shots behind Boyd and Dirkes at 3-over 75.

   Radnor senior Shaun Mazzalupi began his bid for a third straight trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship as he finished in a tie for fifth place with Strath Haven’s Eddie Gephardt.

   Conestoga’s Yaejoon Wee finished alone in seventh place with a 77.

   That birdie at the 17^th hole enabled Lower Merion’s Sako to join five other players tied for eighth place at 6-over 78.

   Joining Sako at 6-over were Conestoga’s Aiden Fahey, Radnor’s Russell Yeakel, Strath Haven’s Liam Stinson, Ridley’s Cade Showalter and Haverford’s Billy Williams.

   Another Ridley Showalter, Luke Showalter, shared 14^th place with a pair of Strath Haven players, Davis Fairbanks and Matt Caputo, and Harriton’s Carson Deringer, each recording a 79.

   With the sun setting on the Turtle, five players, all of whom had carded an 80, battled it out in a playoff for the final four spots from the Central League to districts.

   Ridley’s Declan Conner, Radnor’s Thomas Cairns and Harriton’s Thomas Cronan each made a par on the tough par-3 ninth hole to secure their district berths.

   Conestoga’s Colin Curvan and Haverford’s Bryce Cinchetto both made a bogey and battled on for the final spot, playing the ninth hole twice more before Curvan advanced with a par.

   Like her Overbrook clubmate Boyd, Fanelli felt comfortable at Turtle Creek as she had posted a 2-over 74 there earlier this season.

   Starting her round on the 18^th hole, Fanelli made birdies at the seventh and 12^th holes.

   “I was a little shaky near the end,” said Fanelli, who works with Union League Liberty Hill pro Linda Nevett. “I made double bogeys at 14 and 15, but I pulled it together.”

   The first round of the District One Class AAA girls tournament will be up Ridge Pike at Raven’s Claw Golf Club with the top finishers in Round 1 Oct. 9 at Raven’s Claw heading for the Turtle for Round 2 the next day with berths to the state tournament on the line.

   “We played at Raven’s Claw in a little tournament Saturday and I finished second with a 76, so that helps for districts,” Fanelli said.

   Burks led a solid group of Conestoga players headed for the District One Class AAA Championship.

   Mimi Kambayasha finished five shots behind Burks in third place with an 84. Conestoga’s Brynne Mushlin shared fourth place with Fanelli’s Radnor teammate, Arden Jansen, as each posted an 85.

   Marple Newtown’s Sarah Koh finished in sixth place with an 88, Conestoga’s Alex Myers was seventh with a 93 and two more Pioneers, Sue Ahn and Corinne McReynolds, rounded out the Central League’s contingent to districts as they shared eighth place, each registering a 94.

   Those four individual qualifiers for districts from Strath Haven shows why the Panthers are in the hunt for their third Central League crown in the last five years.

   Strath Haven is undefeated in the Central League under head coach Samantha Miller, who was a scholastic standout at Springfield a decade ago, with five league dual matches left.

   The big match, Miller said, will be a battle with once-beaten Harriton on the Panthers’ home course, The Springhaven Club. The top two teams in the Central League will represent the league in the District One Class AAA team competition on Oct. 10, the second day of the district tournament at Turtle Creek.

   There’s still a pretty good chance Miller’s team will be back at the Turtle Creek in a couple of weeks trying to match the feat of the 2019 Strath Haven team that won the first District One Class AAA team crown in program history.