LIMERICK – At some point late in the final round of the District One Class AAA Championship Tuesday at Turtle Creek Golf Course, it became apparent that the girls title was going to be decided between Phoenixville’s sister act, Kate Roberts, a senior, and her younger sister Kayley, a sophomore.
The scenario was complicated somewhat because Kate Roberts, who finished in a tie for second place in the district championship a year ago, was playing in the group in front of Kayley, who was the runnerup in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State’s White Course as a freshman last fall.
Kayley Roberts, playing in the final group, had fallen more than a hole behind her big sister. The live scoring was stuck through 13 holes when Kate Roberts and Kayley Roberts were tied at even-par for the championship.
A lot happened in those five holes, for both players, but the title ultimately went to Kate Roberts because she laid up at the Turtle’s risk-reward, par-5 18th hole and made a par while Kayley Roberts, thinking she needed birdie to tie, went for the green in two, ended up in the pond in front of the green and eventually made a bogey.
Her par at the last gave Kate Roberts a final round of 1-over-par 73 over a Turtle Creek layout that was playing 5,817 yards for the girls, which, combined with the 1-over 72 she opened with Monday at nearby Raven’s Claw Golf Club, gave her a 2-over 145 total.
Turned out a par for Kayley Roberts would have forced a playoff with her big sister – and yeah, they’re sisters, but there’s a sibling rivalry there and Kayley made it clear afterward she wouldn’t have minded beating her big sister.
Kayley Roberts took a drop after hitting it in the water and left her approach just off the right side of the green, but with a manageable chip for par. The ball fell away at the hole for a bogey that gave Kayley Roberts a 3-over 75. Kayley Roberts had matched par in Monday’s opening round at Raven’s Claw with a 71 and finished a shot behind her big sister with a 3-over 146 total.
All along, Kate Roberts was thinking she needed to be making more birdies and fewer bogeys. Her round included five birdies, but they offset six bogeys.
“I really thought it was going to take 5-under to win, so I was trying make birdies,” said Kate Roberts, who will be making her third straight appearance in the PIAA Class AAA Championship. “I hit it good, I just couldn’t make any putts. The wind wasn’t bad, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was (Monday).
“I had 215 left on 18 and there was a tailwind, which you don’t get very often here. But I had to be rational about it. Maybe a par wasn’t going to win the title, but I was still in states and if I could have fallen to second or third or worse if going for it didn’t work out.”
Kate Roberts didn’t really know where she stood in relation to her sister, but she made the right choice and it paid off in a district title.
When Kate Roberts rattled off birdies at the 10th, 12th and 13th holes, she reached even-par for the championship. But she made bogeys at the 14th and 16th holes to fall back to 2-over.
Meanwhile, Kayley Roberts sandwiched bogeys at the sixth and seventh holes with birdies at five and eight to remain where she started the day at even-par. Kayley Roberts then rattled off six straight pars. But she faltered a little with bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes.
Kayley Roberts gave herself a really good look at birdie at the 17th hole when her approach settled 10 feet short of the pin, but she couldn’t convert the birdie try. Then came her fateful decision to try to reach the 18th green in two.
“I really thought (Kate Roberts) was 1-over or even,” Kayley Roberts said. “I had 192 yards to the pin, but I was just in the rough. I think I would have made it if my drive had stayed in the fairway.”
The Roberts’ sisters coach at Phoenixville, Sandy Waltz, is a member of the Waltz family that owns and runs Turtle Creek, so they are afforded the opportunity to play at the Turtle a lot. But neither Kate nor Kayley saw that as that big an advantage.
“You still have to execute the shots,” Kate Roberts said. “You can know all the shots, you can know all the putts, but if you don’t execute them, it doesn’t matter.”
Of course, Kayley Roberts will get one more shot to take down her big sister in next week’s PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State.
And you’ll get a chance to watch Kayley Roberts on TV next spring when she competes in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals the Sunday of Masters week at one of the shrines of the game, Augusta National Golf Club. Kayley Roberts punched her ticket to Augusta by winning the Girls 14-15 division in the regional competition last month at Aronimink Golf Club.
Plymouth-Whitemarsh junior Rhianna Gooneratne added a 5-over 77 to the opening round of even-par 71 she posted Monday at Raven’s Claw to finish two shots behind Kayley Roberts in third place with a 5-over 148 total. Gooneratne will be making her third appearance in the state tournament next week at Penn State.
Downingtown East senior Mia Pace was three shots behind Gooneratne in fourth place with an 8-over 151 total. Pace had grabbed the lead with an opening round of 1-under 70 at Raven’s Claw, but struggled a little at Turtle Creek with an 81.
Conestoga freshman Jill Burks, who led the Pioneers to the District One Class AAA team crown Monday at Raven’s Claw, added a 5-over 77 at Turtle Creek to her opening-round 76 at Raven’s Claw as she finished two shots behind Pace in fifth place with a 153 total.
Radnor sophomore Elayna Fanelli, who had captured medalist honors among the girls in the Central League Championship last month at Turtle Creek, bounced back after a slow start to post a 79 in Tuesday’s second round after opening with a 75 at Raven’s Claw as she finished a shot behind Burks in sixth place with a 154 total.
Upper Dublin’s Talia Hoffner was a shot behind Fanelli in seventh place with a 155 total as she added a 77 Tuesday at the Turtle to her opening-round 78.
Burks’ Conestoga teammate, senior Brynne Mushlin, punched her ticket to the state tournament as she recorded a second straight 78 to finish a shot behind Hoffner in eighth place with a 156 total.
The final berth to the PIAA Class AAA Championship out of the district tournament went to Souderton’s Alli Engart, who bounced back from an opening-round 83 at Raven’s Claw with a solid 4-over 76 at Turtle Creek to finish in ninth place with a 159 total.
On the boys side, West Chester Rustin junior Sam Feeney took most of the drama out of the outcome with a second straight solid round, a 1-over 73, that gave him a three-shot victory over Spring-Ford’s Charlie Ferrise and Springfield (Montco’s) Adam Fuehr.
Feeney had grabbed the lead with the best individual round of the tournament, a 2-under 70, in Monday’s opening round. Feeney came out of the gate by matching the scorecard on Turtle’s outgoing nine with nine straight pars on his way to the 73 that gave him a 1-under 143 total.
“I made bogeys at 10 and 14 and I thought I might have a two-shot lead,” said Feeney, who plays out of Applecross Country Club and works on his game with Golf Digest Top-50 instructor John Dunigan. “When I got to 17, I found out my lead was a little bigger than that.
“I just wanted to play smart golf today, center-of-the-green golf, birdie the par-5s and make as many pars on the rest that I could.”
He only got one of the par-5s, making birdie at the 13th hole, but the bogeys at 10 and 14 were the only blemishes on his card.
Feeney will be making his third straight appearance in the PIAA Class AAA Championship next week at Penn State.
“The first year at Heritage Hills, I think I was just happy to get there,” Feeney said. “I finished in a tie for 10th at Penn State last year, so I’m hoping to improve on that this time. I like the courses at Penn State.”
Spring-Ford’s Ferrise had the best round of the day, a 1-under 71, to get his share of second place at 2-over 146. Ferrise had opened with a 3-over 75.
Springfield’s Fluehr, a co-medalist in last week’s Suburban One League Championship at Five Ponds Golf Club, matched par with a 72 in Tuesday’s final round after opening with a 74 to earn a piece of runnerup honors.
Kennett senior Kasim Narinesingh-Smith earned his second straight trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship as he matched par with a 72 after opening with a 3-over 75, finishing alone in fourth place with a 3-over 147 total.
West Chester Henderson’s Josh Baker and Hatboro-Horsham’s Brent Glah shared fifth place, each landing on 4-over 148.
Baker matched par with a 72 Tuesday after opening with a 4-over 76. Glah added a 1-over 73 in Tuesday’s final round to his opening-round 75.
Lower Merion sophomore Seiji Sako bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a solid 1-over 73 in Tuesday’s final round to finish in a tie for seventh place with Unionville’s Charlie Barrickman at 6-over 150.
Barrickman, who led the Longhorns to the District One Class AAA team crown, carded his second straight 3-over 75 to end up at 6-over. Unionville, a perennial Ches-Mont League power, prevailed in a playoff with Spring-Ford, a Pioneer Athletic Conference power, after both teams finished with a 12-over 300 total.
The best score of the day for Unionville came from Jax Puskar, who signed for a 1-over 73. He had opened with a 78 and his 7-over 151 total left him in a group of five players tied for ninth place.
Feeney’s West Chester Rustin teammate, sophomore Cole Berry, was also in the group at 7-over as he added a 5-over 77 to his opening-round 74.
Radnor senior Shaun Mazzalupi bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a solid 2-over 74 to join the group at 7-over and earn his third straight trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship.
Rounding out the group at 7-over were Coatesville’s Carson Holmes and Upper Dublin’s Cole Coffey. Holmes, who had matched par in Monday’s opening round with a 72, struggled a little with a 79 in the second round, but still punched his ticket to states. Coffey added a 5-over 77 to his opening-round 74.
Three more Ches-Mont players, West Chester Rustin's Anestis Kalderemtzis, Unionville's Nicolas Gaughan and West Chester Henderson’s Cole Snyder, made up a trio tied for 14th place at 8-over 152.
Kalderemtzis struggled a little in Tuesday’s final round with an 80 after he had matched par in the opening round with a 72.
Gaughan registered a second straight 4-over 76 in the final round. Snyder earned a spot in the state tournament by adding a 3-over 75 to his opening-round 77.
Nick Linkchorst gave West Chester Rustin a fourth PIAA Class AAA qualifier as he and Radnor sophomore Brad McDermott survived a playoff among three players for the final two berths from District One to states after all three landed on 9-over 153.
Linkchorst added a 3-over 75 to his opening-round 78. By my count, 10 of the 18 qualifiers for the PIAA Class AAA Championship out of Turtle Creek were Ches-Mont League players. Clearly, a tremendous year for the Ches-Mont even with its best player, defending District One Class AAA champion Nick Gross of Downingtown West, missing the scholastic golf season because he was off playing in something called the Junior Ryder Cup in Italy. OK, I guess that’s a legit excuse for missing districts at the Turtle.
McDermott, the son of three-time BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion Mike McDermott, grinded out a 3-over 75 after opening with a 78. Linkchorst and McDermott made pars on the first hole of the playoff to advance to states.
The odd man out in the playoff was yet another Ches-Mont League player, Avon Grove’s Trevor Sikorski, who added a 6-over 78 to his opening-round 75.
I bailed as the team playoff was heading to a second extra hole, but it looks like Unionville captured the district title. The Longhorns of the era of Richie Kline and the Bennink twins, Connor and Will, won the PIAA Class AAA team crown in 2017 and were the runnerup to Pittsburgh Central Catholic in 2018.
In addition to the 73 from Puskar, the 75 from Barrickman, the medalist in the Ches-Mont League Championship last week at Wyncote Golf Club, and the 76 from Gaughan, the Longhorns got a critical 4-over 76 from Rex Opdahl. Unionville was able to toss the 85 posted by Michael Keller.
Ferrise led the way Spring-Ford with his sparkling 1-under 71. The Rams got solid showings from Abe McNelly and Lucas Kozak, each of whom registered a 2-over 74, and a fourth counter from Shaun Drover, who tallied an 81, as they came up just short of capturing a district team crown on their home course.
Rounding out the Spring-Ford lineup was Michael Gravinese, who carded an 86.
It was a near miss for Central League runnerup Radnor, which missed the playoff by a shot in a remarkably competitive District One Class AAA field with its 13-over 301 total.
In addition to the 74 the Raptors got from Mazzalupi and McDermott’s 75, sophomore Lannon Boyd contributed a 3-over 75.
Boyd had earned medalist honors in the Central League Championship at the Turtle three weeks ago, but had one of those days in an opening-round 88 in Monday’s opening round that missed the cut for the individual competition. But give the kid credit, he put the disappointment of that round behind him and nearly helped Radnor pull off what would have been a completely unexpected district team crown.
Russell Yeakel accounted for Radnor’s final counter with a solid 5-over 77. Rounding out the Radnor lineup was Thomas Cairns, who posted an 83.
Springfield (Montco) was another three shots behind Radnor in fourth place with a 304 total. Somehow, West Chester Rustin, with five individual qualifiers for states, finished in fifth place, a shot behind Springfield with a 305 total, a testament to just how deep this field in the team competition was.
Another Ches-Mont entry, West Chester Henderson, finished three shots behind its cross-town rival Rustin in sixth place with a 308 total.
Upper Dublin took seventh place with a 315 total and Perkiomen Valley, Spring-Ford’s Pioneer Conference rival, was eighth with a 319 total.
In Class AA, Dock Academy senior Trevor Ridge captured the individual district title as he added an 82 to his opening-round 80 for a 162 total.
Ridge’s teammate, senior Dylan Gable, was the runnerup as he finished nine shots behind Ridge in second place with a 171 total. Gable added an 84 to his opening-round 87. Ridge and Gable earned the only two berths to the PIAA Class AA Championship that were up for grabs at Turtle Creek.
New Hope Solebury claimed the Class AA team crown with a 329 total.
Max Wright led the way for New Hope Solebury with a 5-over 77, Michael Lontchar and Charlie Plebani each posted an 82 and Frank Aster had the final counter with an 88. Ethan Broekema rounded out the New Hope Solebury lineup with a 108.
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