Unionville's Gaughan, Keller finish 1-2 in Harry Hammond Invitational at Penn Oaks

 

   Two members of the reigning District One Class AAA champion Unionville golf team, junior Nicolas Gaughan and senior Michael Keller, went 1-2, respectively, in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s Harry Hammond Invitational Aug. 13^th at Penn Oaks Golf Club where Delaware County meets Chester County along Route 202.

   Players must have finished first or second in a Philly Junior Tour event in 2024 to earn an invitation to tee it up in the Harry Hammond, named for one of the most decorated PGA of America professionals in the country and as big an advocate for junior golf as there is in this region.

   Hammond is still very much active in the Philadelphia Section and is part of the ownership group at Penn Oaks as well as at the Golf Zone driving range in the northern section of Chester County along Route 322.

   Pretty sure there is a college scholarship aspect to the Harry Hammond as top finishers are invited to submit an essay with scholarship winners named at a later date.

   All of which contributed to a large and very competitive field of guys gathering at Penn Oaks. The boys and girls competed in just one age group, the 16-to-18 division, although younger players were still allowed to tee it up, if eligible.

   Gaughan opened his round with 10 straight pars, finishing with 15 pars on his scorecard, and finished up his round with a birdie at the 18^th hole as he edged Keller by a shot for the top spot on the leaderboard with a sparkling 1-over 72.

   Gaughan qualified for the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State individually last fall and helped the Longhorns finish in third place in the team competition.

   Keller finished strong with birdies at the 15^th and 17^th holes, helping him tour the incoming nine at Penn Oaks in 1-under 35, and he had 13 pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 2-over 73.

   Four players each posted a 5-over 76 to finish in a tie for third place, three shots behind Keller, including Michael Dignazio, a spring graduate of the Tower Hill School, Strath Haven junior Eddie Gephardt, Lansdale Catholic junior John Gavaghan and Connor Breen of Medford, N.J.

   Dignazio had 13 pars on his card, including a string of six pars in a row from the seventh through the 12^th holes, in his steady round. Gebhardt made a birdie on the seventh hole and had 11 pars on his card.

   Gavaghan made a birdie on the 14^th hole and had 11 pars on his card. Breen made birdies at the 15^th and 18^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, rattling off six pars in a row from the ninth through the 14^th holes.

   Radnor junior Brad McDermott, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, and Haverford High teammates Kieran Gillespie, a junior, and Pierce Murphy, a senior, finished in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 78.

   Shaun Mazzalupi, who wrapped up an outstanding scholastic career at Radnor by earning his third straight trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, headed a group of five players who rounded out the top 10, finishing in a tie for 10^th place with a 79.

   Joining Mazzalupi in the quintet tied for 10^th place were Archmere Academy junior Michael Liu, a Garnet Valley resident who helped the Auks capture the team crown in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship in the spring at Maple Dale Country Club, Zach Moua of Berwyn, Tommy Marshall of Marlton, N.J. and Nazareth senior Zachary Miller, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall.

   Sophia DeSantis, a spring graduate at West Chester Rustin, where she was a scholastic standout, claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory with a solid 7-over 78.

   DeSantis, who has, by now, joined the program at Fairfield, finished off her round in style with an eagle at the par-5 18^th hole. DeSantis also made a birdie at the seventh hole.

   DeSantis had seven pars on her card, including four straight pars from the 14^th to the 17^th holes as she went 1-under over her last seven holes.

   Sabrina Swope, a spring graduate at Neshaminy, earned runnerup honors in the girls 16-to-18 division with an 85 as she was tuning up for the start of her college career at Millersville. Swope had six pars on her card.

   Brynne Mushlin, a spring graduate at Conestoga, had seven pars on her card as she finished in third place with an 89. Mushlin helped the Pioneers capture the program’s first District One Class AAA team crown and finish third in the PIAA Class AAA team competition last fall.

   Agnes Irwin junior Makayla Stone, a Garnet Valley resident, finished three shots behind Mushlin in fourth place with a 92, Nadia Yackanicz, a senior on the Perkiomen Valley girls golf team was fifth with a 93, Daria Yoh, a junior on the Mount St. Joseph golf team and a Willow Grove resident, was sixth with a 96 and Annalise Capoli of Medford, N.J. was seventh with a 97.

   Alana Cristino, a sophomore on the Manheim Township girls golf team, finished in eighth place with a 98. Cristino helped Manheim Township earn runnerup honors in the PIAA Class AAA team competition in the first year the program fielded a full girls team.

   Nicole Tarquinio of Bridgeton, N.J. took ninth place with a 103 and Sophia Stultz of Monroeville, N.J. rounded out the field in the girls division as she finished 10^th with a 125.