West Chester Rustin junior Sam Feeney was the best player not named Nick Gross in last year’s District One Class AAA Championship field at Turtle Creek Golf Course.
Gross, the then Downingtown West junior who was coming off a run to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., dominated the District One tournament with a mind-boggling 14-under-par 130 total.
If anybody bothered to keep records about this sort of thing, I’m pretty sure Gross’ score was a District One record.
I’m also pretty sure Gross’ fellow Ches-Mont League competitors were thrilled that the future Alabama golfer was chosen to represent the United States in last month’s Junior Ryder Cup in Italy. When a kid from your league gets an honor like that, it speaks well about the whole league, right?
It also meant that Gross would be out of the picture for the scholastic postseason for his senior season and well, Gross’ Ches-Mont League rivals didn’t necessarily view that as a bad thing.
Feeney, the runnerup to Gross by nine shots as a sophomore a year ago, carded a very efficient 2-under-par 70 on a blustery Monday in northwest Montgomery County’s Limerick Township to take a two-shot lead following the opening round of the District One Class AAA Championship.
Feeney’s 5-under 139 total a year ago over the 6,375-yard, par-72 Turtle Creek layout would have made him a contender for an individual district crown in just about every other year, just not last year.
Looks like Feeney started on the par-5 13th hole in Monday’s shotgun start and rattled off five straight pars before making his lone mistake of the day, a bogey at the risk-reward, par-5 18th.
Feeney made a birdie at the first hole and then got both the par-5s on the Turtle’s outgoing nine with birdies at two and eight to get it to 2-under. Feeney then closed with four straight pars to get to the house with a 2-under 70.
Feeney went on to finish in a tie for 10th place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State as a sophomore a year ago. His strong start Monday puts Feeney in a very good position to earn a third straight trip to the state tournament.
Round 2 of the District One Class AAA Championship will be Tuesday back at the Turtle with the top finishers – looks like it was top 18 a year ago – advancing to next week’s PIAA Class AAA Championship, which returns to Penn State. The plan is to get out the clipboard, head to the Turtle and do a little live-blogging for Tuesday’s final round.
It was a pretty good day for the Ches-Mont at Turtle Creek and Rustin in particular.
One of Feeney’s Rustin teammates, Anestis Kalderemtzis, shared second place with Coatesville’s Carson Holmes, each matching par with a 72.
Another Rustin player, Cole Berry, headed a group of four players tied for fourth place at 2-over 74, two shots behind Kalderemtzis and Holmes.
Joining Berry at 2-over were Adam Fluehr of Springfield (Montco), a co-medalist in last week’s Suburban One League Championship at Five Ponds Golf Club, Cole Coffey of Upper Dublin and Matthew Rieger of Methacton.
Three more Ches-Mont League players, Unionville sophomore Charlie Barrickman, Kennett senior Kasim Narinesingh-Smith, and Avon Grove’s Trevor Sikorski, comprised half of the group of six players tied for eighth place at 3-over 75.
Barrickman was the medalist in last week’s Ches-Mont League Championship at Wyncote Golf Club. Narinesingh-Smith is bidding for a return trip to the state tournament after he finished in a tie for 19th place a year ago at Penn State.
Rounding out the group at 3-over were Spring-Ford’s Charlie Ferrise, Pope John Paul II’s Ryan McQuarrie and Hatboro-Horsham’s Brent Glah.
A District One Class AAA team champion will be crowned Tuesday at the Turtle.
A couple of Dock Academy entries, Trevor Ridge and Dylan Gable, will battle it out for the District One Class AA Championship after Ridge grabbed a seven-shot lead over his teammate with an 8-over 80. Gable was in second place after posting an 87.
The day of the Ches-Mont extended to the girls side Monday as Downingtown East senior Mia Pace grabbed a one-shot lead following the opening round of the District One Class AAA Championship by recording a 1-under 70 a couple of miles up Ridge Pike from Turtle Creek at Raven’s Claw Golf Club.
Pace, the medalist among the girls in last week’s Ches-Mont Championship at Wyncote, finished strong with birdies at the 17th and 18th holes to get it in red figures for her round.
Pace also made birdies at the seventh, 10th and 13th holes, giving her five birdies that offset her four bogeys.
Plymouth-Whitemarsh junior Rhianna Gooneratne and Phoenixville sophomore Kayley Roberts were just a shot behind Pace as each matched par with a 71 at Raven’s Claw, which played host a couple of times to an event on the LPGA Tour’s developmental circuit, then known as the Symetra Tour, but which has since been rebranded as the Epson Tour.
It was another shot back to senior Kate Roberts, the older of Phoenixville’s Roberts sisters who was alone in fourth place with a 1-over 72.
Kate Roberts and Gooneratne were two of the three players who finished in a tie for second place behind three-time district champion Sidney Yermish of Lower Merion a year ago.
Kate Roberts and Gooneratne will both be seeking a third straight trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State when the girls head for Turtle Creek for Tuesday’s Round 2 of the district tournament.
Radnor sophomore Elayna Fanelli, the medalist in last month’s Central League Championship at Turtle Creek, tallied a 4-over 75 at Raven’s Claw that left her three shots behind Kate Roberts in fifth place.
Conestoga freshman Jill Burks was a shot behind Fanelli in sixth place after she carded a 5-over 76.
Burks left Raven’s Claw with a gold medal as she led the Pioneers to the District One Class AAA team crown with a 30-over 243 total.
That left Conestoga with a six-shot margin of victory over its Central League rival Radnor.
Backing up Burks in the five-score-three format were Brynne Mushlin, who posted a solid 78, and Mimi Kambayashi, who contributed a crucial 89. The Pioneers were able to toss a 90 from Corinne McReynolds and a 96 by Suri Ahn.
Conestoga will represent District One in next week’s PIAA Class AAA team championship next week at Penn State.
Backing up Fanelli for Radnor were Arden Jensen, who recorded an 83 and Annika Fernandes, who tallied a 91. Rounding out the foursome who competed for the Raptors at Raven’s Claw was Molly Ott, who carded a 93.
A year ago, the Roberts sisters led Phoenixville to the team title at Raven’s Claw and then turned around a week later to power the Phantoms to the PIAA Class AAA team crown at Penn State. Phoenixville finished in third place in defense of its district team crown with a 260 total that left the Phantoms 11 shots behind runnerup Radnor.
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