Fuhrer, Sowers the respective boys, girls leaders as Pennsylvania Junior Championships tee off

 

   Recent Fox Chapel graduate Dave Fuhrer, the latest in a long line of Fuhrers from Oakmont Country Club, matched par with an even-par 71 at Hershey Country Club’s East Course Monday to take a one-shot lead over a host of competitors following the opening round of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s (PAGA) 81^st Junior Boys’ Championship.

   The weekend heat wave was replaced by windy conditions that challenged Pennsylvania’s top junior players.

   The field will be right back at it for 36 holes Tuesday in the expanded Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ Championship. There was a cut following Monday’s opening round that fell at 8-over 79.

   The PAGA’S 61^st Junior Girls’ Championship is being held concurrently at nearby Lebanon Country Club, where West Middlesex junior Kate Sowers, playing out of Tam O’Shanter Golf Club, grabbed a five-shot lead with a sizzling opening round of 4-under 68.

   The girls will also play 36 holes Tuesday with the winner earning a spot in the field for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, which tees off July 15 at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif. There was no cut on the girls side.

   Fuhrer, who capped his senior season at Fox Chapel by finishing in a tie for 10^th place in last fall’s PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State, opened his round with a birdie at the par-5 first hole at Hershey’s East Course. After another birdie at the fourth hole, Fuhrer struggled a little in the gusty conditions as he made bogeys at eight, 10 and 13.

   Fuhrer got a shot back with a birdie at the 14^th hole, made a bogey at 16 and then got one more birdie at 17 to get back to even par and separate himself from a group of five players who are in a tie for second place, each landing on 1-over 72.

   Included in that group was Fuhrer’s clubmate at Oakmont and teammate at Fox Chapel, Carson Kittsley, who is coming off a solid freshman season for the Foxes.

   Merion Golf Club’s Nicky Nemo, a junior at The Haverford School who helped the Fords capture the Inter-Ac League championship last fall, was also in the group tied for second place at 1-over.

   Rounding out the group at 1-over were Hannastown Golf Club’s Nick Turowski, who lost in a playoff for the PIAA Class AAA title as a senior at Penn Trafford last fall, Cable Hollow Golf Course’s Braddock Damore, a recent Warren graduate who will join the program at St. Bonaventure later this summer, and the Toftrees Resort’s Luke McGraw, a sophomore at State College.

   North Hills Country Club’s Chris Vahey, a senior at La Salle, and Sewickley Heights Golf Club’s Severin Harmon, a Sewickley Academy junior, are tied for seventh place, each posting a 2-over 73.

   Vahey’s La Salle teammate Ian Natale, a senior for the Explorers and a USGA/Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) entry, was part of an eight-player logjam tied for ninth place at 3-over 74.

   Also in that group at 3-over were Fieldstone Golf Club’s Davis Conaway, a junior at Malvern Prep, Merion Golf Club’s Sean Curran, another member of The Haverford School’s Inter-Ac championship team as a sophomore last fall, and Honeybrook Golf Club’s Ian Larsen, a sophomore at Downingtown West.

   Saucon Valley Country Club’s Thomas Young, who reached the semifinals in last week’s GAP Junior Boys’ Championship at The Ridge at Back Brook, also was in the group at 3-over.

   Rounding out the group at 3-over were Pine Hills Country Club’s Michael Maslanka, who finished in a tie for fourth place in the PIAA Class AA Championship last fall with Riverside, White Oak Farms Golf Course’s Alex Talmadge, who finished in a tie for ninth in last fall’s PIAA Class AA Championship with West Shamokin, and Hannastown’s Jack Sacriponte, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier with Greater Latrobe last fall.

   The Springhaven Club’s Jake Lairdieson, a recent Archmere Academy graduate, was part of a six-way tie for 17^th place at 4-over 75 on the strength of a hole-in-one on the  par-3 13^th hole.

   Lairdieson was joined at the figure by Springhaven clubmate Tyler Debusschere, a former Strath Haven standout who is coming off a solid freshman season at Cornell.

   There was a team competition Monday. Pretty sure it was just a one-round affair, although it’s not entirely clear from the PAGA website.

   Looks like Hannastown, behind Turowski’s 72 and Sacriponte’s 74, captured the team title with an 11-over 224 total in the four-score-three format. Braden Riley added a 78 for Hannastown, which was able to toss the 82 turned in by Luke Sikora.

   Oakmont, behind Fuhrer’s 71 and Kitttsley’s 72, finished five shots behind Hannastown in second place with a 229 total.

   Over at Lebanon, Sowers, who finished in a tie for second place in the PIAA Class AA Championship at Penn State last fall, put together an efficient four-birdie, no-bogey masterpiece to take a commanding lead in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship.

   Sowers, seemingly unbothered by the gusty winds, made birdies at the first, third, seventh and 15^th holes with nary a bogey on her scorecard.

   St. Clair Country Club’s Sophia Severns, who helped Peters Township claim the PIAA Class AAA team crown last fall, was Sowers’ closest pursuer as she tallied a 1-over 73.

   Recent Downingtown East graduate Mia Pace, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, was another shot behind Severns in third place with a 2-over 74. Pace is playing out of Whitford Country Club.

   Last fall’s PIAA champions, Plymouth-Whitemarsh senior Rhianna Gooneratne in Class AAA and recent North East graduate Anna Swan in Class AA, were among a trio of players tied for fourth place at 4-over 76. Gooneratne is representing The 1912 Club and Swan is playing out of Lake View Country Club.

   Rounding out the trio at 4-over 76 was Bucknell Golf Club’s Hanna Rabb, who shared second place with Sowers behind Swan in the Class AA state tournament last fall as a senior at Warrior Run. Rabb will join the program at James Madison later this summer.

   White Manor Country Club’s Clarissa Leung, who won the Inter-Ac League and Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) individual crowns this spring with Episcopal Academy, headed a trio of players tied for seventh place at 6-over 78.

   Joining Leung at 6-over were Regents’ Glen Golf & Country Club’s Bryn Krosse and Savannah Laverty, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry.

   Overbrook Golf Club’s Kiersten Bodge, the runnerup to Leung in last month’s Inter-Ac Championship at French Creek Golf Club as a freshman at Notre Dame, headed a group of five players tied for 10^th place at 7-over 79.

   Joining Bodge at 7-over were Manufacturers Golf & Country Club’s Kiran Bagga, a senior at Germantown Academy, RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve’s Alli Engart, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier for Souderton last fall, another Philadelphia Publinks entry in Katherine Liu, who is a fixture on Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour leaderboards, and Bent Creek Country Club’s Elle Overly, a Warwick senior and a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall.

   The Country Club of York, with a 21-over total, took a two-shot lead over Concord Country Club with another round to go in the battle for the girls team crown.