Angelina Tolentino was a scholastic standout at Lenape High in South Jersey, but she cut her teeth in golf competing in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour.
Tolentino was always one of those junior players that just seemed to get a little better every year, so it wasn’t all that surprising to see her come out on top in the 88th Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship conducted by the Pennsylvania Golf Association at Waynesborough Country Club in Easttown Township. The Pennsylvania Women’s Am is sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Tolentino, who will join the program at Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference next month, came roaring out of the gate in the final round July 24th with four straight birdies and then held on to edge Purdue senior Natasha Kiel, who was playing out of Jericho National Golf Club, by a shot in a tense stretch duel.
Tolentino, playing out of The 1912 Club, trailed Kiel, a New Hope native who was a scholastic standout at George School, by two shots going into the final round.
But that opening birdie burst enabled Tolentino to close with a sparkling 5-under-par 68 that gave her an 8-under 211 total.
Capturing the title in the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur came with an added benefit for Tolentino as it earned her a spot in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, which tees off Monday at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
Kiel, who spent the first two years of her college career at Vanderbilt before transferring to Purdue, had matched par in the opening round with a 73, then erupted with a sparkling 5-under 68 in the second round that gave her a two-shot lead over Tolentino and former Penn State standout Jackie Rogowicz, who has joined Merion Golf Club, going into the final round.
Kiel made birdies at the first, third, fifth and 10th holes to get it to 4-under for her second round. She stumbled briefly with a bogey at the 11th hole, but closed out her round with birdies at 16 and 18.
Tolentino quickly wiped out her two-shot deficit with those four straight birdies to start her final round. When Kiel made back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th holes, she drew even with Tolentino at 8-under for the championship.
Kiel made a bogey at the 16th hole to enable Tolentino to take a one-shot edge. Tolentino’s birdie try at the 18th hole lipped out, giving Kiel one last chance to force a playoff, but Kiel’s eight-footer for birdie also lipped out and Tolentino had the victory.
It was the second straight runnerup finish in the Pennsylvania Women’s Am for Kiel as she fell in a playoff to Duke senior Rylie Heflin a year ago at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown.
“The last time I played in the U.S. Women’s Amateur was in 2021 up in New York and I’ve been trying to get back into the tournament ever since,” Tolentino told the PAGA website. “Even this year, I went down to Maryland to play, but never had my ‘A’ game in those one-day qualifiers.
“So to come out and get a win today at this tournament feels good and I am really proud of myself.”
Tolentino had opened with a solid 3-under 70 before matching par with a 73 in the second round that left her two shots behind Kiel heading into the final round.
Rogowicz, who was one of two mid-amateurs to earn a spot in the match-play bracket in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, had opened with a 2-under 71 and added a 1-under 72 in the second round that also left her two shots behind Kiel going into the final round.
Rogowicz, a two-time Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion, matched par in the final round with a 73 that left her in third place, four shots behind Kiel with a 3-under 216 total.
Rogowicz, who reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship last summer at Stonewall’s North Course, had already punched her ticket for a return trip to the U.S. Women’s Amateur with a runnerup finish in the qualifier at Kenwood Golf & Country Club in Bethesda, Md. with a 1-over 71 earlier this month.
The medalist in that qualifier was Penn State senior Michelle Cox, who starred scholastically at Emmaus. Cox carded a solid 3-under 67 at Kenwood.
At Waynesborough, Cox, playing out of Lehigh Country Club, finished in fifth place with an even-par 219 total. After struggling to a 3-over 76 in the opening round, Cox bounced back with a 3-under 70 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 73.
The only other player to finish under par for three rounds was another Jericho National entry in Megan Meng, another Jersey girl who finished in fourth place, two shots behind Rogowicz and a shot ahead of Cox with a 1-under 218 total.
Meng, a scholastic standout at Hopewell Valley High, sandwiched a 1-over 74 in the second round with a pair of 1-under 72s.
Meng, who will join the program at Big Ten power Northwestern later this month, arrived at Waynesborough after earning a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at El Cabellero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif. before falling to Brynn Kort of Henderson, Nev., 1-up, in the opening round.
In defense of the title she won a year ago at Sunnehanna, Heflin, playing out of Bidermann Golf Club, closed with a solid 4-under 69 to climb to a sixth-place finish, four shots behind Cox with a 4-over 223 total. Heflin, an Avondale, Chester County native who starred scholastically at the Tower Hill School, had struggled to a pair of 4-over 77s in the first two rounds.
Brooke Oberparleiter, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, and Bucknell Golf Club’s Hannah Rabb finished a shot behind Heflin in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 5-over 224.
Oberparleiter, a sophomore at Kentucky who has often spent her summers in South Jersey, matched par in the opening round with a 73 and added a 2-over 75 in the second round before closing with a 76.
Rabb was a four-time PIAA Class AA qualifier, winning a state championship in 2022, during an outstanding scholastic career at Warrior Run. She will join the program at James Madison next month. After opening with a solid 1-under 72, Rabb added a 4-over 77 in the second round before finishing up with a 75.
Really strong showing at Waynesborough for Notre Dame Academy sophomore Kiersten Bodge, a product of the junior program at neighboring Overbrook Golf Club along Route 320.
The kid was at the top of the leaderboard among all those college players with an opening round of 4-under 69. Bodge struggled a little after that with a 4-over 77 in the second round and a final-round 80, but she still finished alone in ninth place with a 7-over 226 total.
I’ve seen Bodge play in the Inter-Ac League individual championship at French Creek Golf Club the last two springs. She was a frustrated runnerup both times and was also the runnerup as a seventh-grader in 2022. She’s got game and she’s clearly not intimidated when she’s playing up against older competitors.
Ava O’Sullivan, a junior at Bowling Green playing out of Applecross Country Club, rounded out the top 10 as she closed with a solid 1-under 72 to finish a shot behind Bodge in 10th place with an 8-over 227 total.
O’Sullivan, who starred scholastically at Downingtown East, was coming off a runnerup finish to North Carolina senior Riley Quartermain in the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Match Play Championship at Riverton Country Club. O’Sullivan had opened with a 79 at Waynesborough before adding a 3-over 76 in the second round.
Plymouth-Whitemarsh senior Rhianna Gooneratne, the reigning PIAA Class AAA champion, former Strath Haven standout Grace Smith and Kennett Square Golf & Country Club’s Mary Grace Dunigan, who starred scholastically at Unionville, landed in a three-way tie for 11th place, each ending up with a 10-over 229 total.
Gooneratne, another entry out of The 1912 Club, closed with a solid 2-under 71 after struggling to an opening-round 82 and adding a 3-over 76 in the second round.
Smith, a junior at Stetson in South Florida, added a 77 in the second round to her opening-round 78 before finishing up with a solid 1-over 74.
Dunigan, coming off a solid freshman season at William & Mary, added a 3-over 76 in the second round to her opening-round 75 before closing with a 78. Not seeing Dunigan on the roster for the 2024-2025 season at William & Mary, so she has likely moved on to a more high-powered Division I program.
The Mid-Amateur, Senior and Super-Senior divisions were conducted concurrently at Waynesborough, but were just 36 holes and wrapped up July 23rd.
There is little doubt as to the identity of the top women’s mid-amateur in Pennsylvania as Katie Miller Gee, playing out of Green Lakes Country Club, rolled to a six-shot victory over Katrin Wolfe of Northampton Country Club for Miller-Gee’s fourth state Mid-Am crown.
Miller Gee, the wife of Oakmont Country Club head pro Dylan Gee, made two birdies in an opening round of 4-over 77 that gave her a one-shot lead over Wolfe.
Miller Gee made three straight bogeys early in her final round, but righted the ship with a birdie at the seventh hole on her way to a 2-over 74 that gave her a 6-over 152 total.
Miller Gee reached the second round of match play in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Am at Stonewall’s North Course.
After her opening round of 5-over 78, Wolfe struggled a little in the second round with an 80, but still held second place, finishing six shots behind Miller Gee with a 158 total.
After surviving a playoff among eight players for the final three spots in match play in the U.S. Mid-Am at Stonewall’s North Course last summer, Wolfe, a field staff representative for the Mid-Atlantic region of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, made a spectacular run to the round of 16, including a stunning upset of one of the three co-medalists in qualifying, Jessica Spicer, in the opening round of match play.
Allison Wix, playing out of the Country Club of Harrisburg and a former scholastic standout at Central Dauphin, finished two shots behind Wolfe with a 160 total after posting a pair of 80s at Waynesborough.
Wix, who was defending the state Mid-Amateur division title she won a year ago at Sunnehanna, has made it to the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am each of the last two summers, although she failed to earn a spot in the match-play bracket last summer at Stonewall.
Jocelyn Abel of Regents’ Glen Country Club and Barbora Millichip of Honeybrook Golf Club finished in a tie for fourth place, each ending up three shots behind Wix at 163.
Abel and Millichip had identical splits as each added an 82 in the second round after opening with an 81.
Millichip, a native of the Czech Republic, lost to Quartermain, the eventual champion, in the semifinals of the WGAP Match Play Championship at Riverton earlier this month.
Sunnybrook Golf Club’s Lisa McGill was even more dominant in rolling to the Senior division title than Miller-Gee was in the Mid-Amateur division as McGill captured the crown for the third time in the last four years by a whopping 13 shots.
McGill got off to a tremendous start as she made birdies at the second, third, sixth, seventh and 10th holes on her way to a sparkling opening round of 2-under 71. She made birdies on the seventh, 12th and 15th holes in a second-round 79 for a 4-over 150 total.
Merion’s Loraine Connolly was McGill’s closest pursuer. After opening with a solid 5-over 78, Connolly struggled to an 85 in the second round, but still earned runnerup honors with a 163 total.
Louise Gebhart of Hanover Country Club finished a shot behind Jones in third place with a 164 total as she added an 81 in the second round to her opening-round 83.
Steph Urban of Lawrence Park Golf Club was another three shots behind Gebhart in fourth place with a 167 total as she added an 83 in the second round to her opening-round 84.
Barb Pagana of Huntsville Golf Club held on for a two-shot victory over Northampton Country Club’s Noreen Mohler, a legend in Lehigh Valley golfing circles, to capture the state Super Senior division title for a third time.
Pagana took a three-shot lead over Mohler, captain of the winning U.S. side in the Curtis Cup Match in 2010, with an opening-round 81.
Mohler got it going on the outgoing nine in the second round at Waynesborough, but Pagana made three pars on the final four holes for an 85 that gave her a 166 total.
Mohler ended up with a second straight 84 to claim runnerup honors with a 168 total.
Cynthia Moore of Meadia Heights Golf Club added an 87 in the second round to her opening-round 83 to finish two shots behind Mohler in third place with a 170 total.
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