Unlike 2022 when the Curtis Cup was staged at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course and 2023 when the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship was held at Stonewall’s North Course – the “Udder Course” as it’s known among the partners at Stonewall – there wasn’t anything that big on the calendar around here for 2024.
Well, there was a U.S. Women’s Open not all that far away at the William Flynn gem that is Lancaster Country Club, but I never quite made it there, although it will certainly earn a mention as I look back on the golf journey this golf blog took me on in 2024.
I expanded T Mac Tees Off about this time nine years ago after I was informed my services would no longer be needed at the Delaware County Daily Times, where I had started the blog as a supplement to the stuff I was able to get in the newspaper.
It was an inauspicious end to a 38-year journalism career, but I thought why not keep the blog going. I wasn’t exactly sure what I would put in it, but I knew I had a decent base of followers of my coverage of junior and high school golf. That was always my bread and butter while on the golf beat at the Daily Times and in the early days of this blog.
And covering the local kids remains the bread and butter of this blog. I couldn’t possibly have imagined that I would revive a long dormant career as a caddy – it was nearly 35 years between my last loop at Merion in the second round of the 1981 U.S. Open and my first loop at Stonewall on a cold day in March of 2016 – but business was brisk at the ’Wall in 2024 and that contributed to a record low output of posts this year.
Of course, it would help if the editor would force the writer to cut down on the length of these posts. Oh yeah, I’m the editor, too. I’ll have to have a long talk with myself one of these days.
There are a lot of things I didn’t get to in the blog this year that I have in the past. It seemed to me I was playing catchup with the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stuff a lot in the summer and if that’s because there were a lot more Philly Junior Tour events than in the past and maybe having some blogger religiously report on them has made them more popular, well, great.
If I am, in some small way, encouraging some young kids to take up a game they’ll likely still be playing 50 years from now, then I am accomplishing one of the chief goals that this blog should have had from the very beginning.
For some reason, the Inter-Ac League golf scene was always in the bulls-eye for this blog. When the league went to the format it still uses when it switched from playing in the spring to a fall schedule, the results of any of the six invitationals that make up the regular season never really translated to two or three paragraphs in the newspaper, so I used to expand on them in the blog.
And, with a lot of help from Malvern Prep head coach Gary Duda and some of the other Inter-Ac coaches, I’ve been able to continue to do so. A caddying commitment kept me from making it to Whitemarsh Valley Country Club for the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac’s individual crown in October.
It was the first Bert Linton I’ve missed in a while and I’ve been a fan of Whitemarsh Valley since my older brother used to take me there for the old IVB Philadelphia Golf Classic back when the PGA Tour used to come to Philadelphia every summer. Seriously, every summer. IVB? It was a bank.
I missed a command performance by Haverford School junior Sean Curran, who put together a 5-under-par 67 as the George Thomas gem to capture the title in the Bert Linton by six shots.
Curran had been the leading points-getter during the six invitationals, making him the Inter-Ac’s champion golfer of the year – but the individual points winner during the regular season has often struggled in the Bert Linton, expectations being what they are.
I’ve seen a lot of good players in the Inter-Ac in the last 13 years or so, going back to Haverford School’s Cole Berman and Malvern Prep’s Michael Davis, who would go on to meet in the 2015 BMW Philadelphia Amateur final at Llanerch Country Club while they were college standouts, Berman at Georgetown and Davis at Princeton.
Saw Haverford School’s Michael Kania and Penn Charter’s Brian Isztwan and Patrick Isztwan – caddied for Brian in a Christman Cup at Stonewall’s North Course and him and Patrick in a practice round for that event, one of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s major championships for juniors. Saw current Malvern Prep standout Davis Conaway capture the Bert Linton two years ago as a freshman when he drove the green at Llanerch’s risk-reward short, par-4 finishing hole. Conaway was the runnerup to Curran in the Bert Linton this fall.
But what Curran did this fall was a notch above all of them. While he was winning the individual-points race during the regular season, Curran also led the Fords to the Inter-Ac team crown.
So, following Curran’s tour de force at Whitemarsh Valley, I had one last chance to see him play at the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Championship at Radley Run Country Club the Monday before Halloween.
Despite living in West Chester for a good part of my life, I had never seen Radley Run, so it was a good excuse to see the golf course. And the weather was just spectacular. Have we ever had such a glorious stretch of golf weather from like Labor Day to Veterans Day? It never rained. It was almost always sunny. The wind didn’t even blow much.
Curran, who plays out of Merion, went off the sixth tee in the PAISAA’s shotgun start and I caught up to him just in time to see him lip out for birdie on the 17th hole.
I only saw seven holes, but it was impressive. Curran chipped in for birdie at the first hole and reached the green at the par-5 second in two and converted a tough two-putt birdie from 40 feet. He finished with a flourish, draining an 18-footer for birdie at Radley Run’s fifth hole, its No.-1 handicap hole.
It was another 5-under 67, just like he had done at Whitemarsh Valley, and another six-shot victory, this time over his Haverford School teammate J.P. Hoban, who also had a lot to do with the Fords’ run to the Inter-Ac crown.
And, as he had in leading Haverford School to the Inter-Ac title, Curran’s individual win at Radley Run propelled the Fords to the team crown in the PAISAA Championship. Curran had basically won everything he could win, individually and team-wise in a tremendous fall of golf.
The wind did blow a couple of Mondays before the PAISAA Championship for the opening round of the District One Championship, the girls playing at Raven’s Claw Golf Club and the boys a few miles down Ridge Pike at Turtle Creek.
Caught a loop that Monday in an outing at Stonewall and it was absolutely howling. I figured the scores at districts would be high and they were. Eventual District One Class AAA boys champion Brent Glah of Hatboro-Horsham called it the toughest conditions he had ever played in.
I did make it over to the Turtle for Day 2 and was treated to a great battle between reigning PIAA Class AAA champion Rhianna Gooneratne, a senior at Plymouth-Whitemarsh, and Phoenixville junior Kayley Roberts.
Gooneratne made a couple of birdies down the stretch at the 14th and 16th holes to pull away for a three-shot victory over Roberts, who had been the runnerup a year earlier in districts to older sister Kate.
Also got a chance to chat with Kate’s and Kayley’s dad at the Turtle and he filled me in on some of the details of a breathtaking two-week stretch in the summer when Kate went from taking a gap year before starting college to joining the program at perennial Division I power San Jose State.
Kate Roberts captured an American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) victory in the Babygrande D.C. Classic at the East Potomac Golf Links’ Blue Course in Washington, D.C. in July and suddenly started hearing from Division I colleges.
The next thing she knew, she was off to northern California to begin the next chapter of her golfing life with teammates from Sweden, Germany and Spain.
I’m always fascinated with college recruiting stories and the Kate Roberts story is certainly one of the more interesting ones.
Gooneratne saw her bid for a second straight PIAA Class AAA Championship thwarted the week after her win at districts as Elizabeth Forward junior Mya Morgan edged Gooneratne by a shot at Penn State. Still, it was a pretty impressive scholastic career for Gooneratne, who will join the program at Delaware next summer.
It was a third straight strong showing at the state tournament for Kayley Roberts as she finished among a group of four players tied for third place, two shots behind Gooneratne.
Also in that group tied for third place at 2-over 146 was Cardinal O’Hara freshman Alaina Carson. Pretty sure that’s the best finish ever for a Catholic League girl in the PIAA Class AAA Championship.
Pretty nice postseason for Conestoga sophomore Jill Burks as she finished in a tie for third place in the District One Class AAA Championship with Souderton senior Alli Engart. I had made it out to the Turtle for the Central League Championship a week before districts and Burks was the medalist among the girls as she matched par with a 72.
On the boys side, Hatboro-Horsham’s Glah bounced back from an opening-round 79 in the wicked winds of the opening round at Turtle Creek with a sparkling 3-under 69 in the second round that gave him the District One Class AAA crown by a shot.
Somehow, Conestoga freshman Will Johnson had put together a 1-over 73 in the windswept first round at the Turtle. He struggled a little in the final round with a 76, but still earned a share of runnerup honors with Downingtown West sophomore Ian Larsen, a shot behind Glah.
Had a chance to chat with Johnson when he captured the title in the Central League Championship a week earlier. He has the demeanor of a much older player.
Johnson capped a fairly spectacular postseason at Penn State, where he was the only player from District One to finish in the top 10 as he ended up in a group tied for ninth place.
Fox Chapel sophomore Carson Kittsley carded a pair of 4-under 68s at Penn State’s White Course to cruise to a state title in Class AAA by two shots.
Did manage to catch the Inter-Ac League Championship for the girls at French Creek Golf Club, across the street from Stonewall, in May and watched Episcopal Academy junior Clarissa Leung chip in for eagle from 75 feet away on the ninth hole to capture the title by five shots with a sizzling 3-under 32.
Leung played well in the summer, too, highlighted by earning a spot in the field for the Girls Junior PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club’s Blue Course. She missed the 36-hole cut, but playing on a national stage like that only makes you a better player.
By the way, somebody is doing something right at White Manor Country Club as Leung and Conestoga’s Johnson and Burks are all products of the junior program there.
Notre Dame freshman Kiersten Bodge was the runnerup to Leung in the Inter-Ac Championship at French Creek, the third straight year that Bodge has finished second in a scholastic career with the Irish that started when she was in seventh grade.
Bodge’s potential was on display in the Pennsylvania Women’s Championship in July at Waynesborough Country Club as she grabbed the lead following an opening round of 3-under 69 and ended up in ninth place against a field of top college and mid-am players.
Bodge, Leung and Burks all work with swing coach John Dunigan, a Top 50 Golf Digest instructor who hangs his shingle at Applebrook Golf Club these days.
That Girls Junior PGA Championship at Congressional proved to be the coming-out party for Avery McCrery, a product of the junior program at Wilmington Country Club who carded a steady 1-under 71 in the final round to claim a two-shot victory with a 6-under 281 total in one of the major national events for junior golfers each summer.
McCrey began her scholastic career at the Tower Hill School, but is wrapping up her high school studies at the ICL Academy, an on-line arm of the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA). She will join the program at Atlantic Coast Conference power Duke next summer, part of a recruiting class that includes Rianne Malixi of the Philippines, who captured titles in both the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship last summer.
McCrery went on to finish in a tie for fifth place in the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the marquee event on the AJGA schedule that was played Thanksgiving week at TPC San Antonio’s Canyons Course, and ended up in a tie for ninth earlier this month in the Women’s Dixie Amateur at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs, Fla.
Managed to put together a post after the fall portion of the wraparound 2024-2025 was completed on the progress of Nick Gross, whose standout scholastic career at Downingtown West included a PIAA Class AAA title in 2021 when he was a sophomore.
Gross began his college career at Southeastern Conference power Alabama this fall and was in the starting lineup for a young Crimson Tide team every time they teed it up.
Gross played a limited schedule leading up to the start of his college career. He finished in a tie for 22nd place in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville, S.C. in March.
In a week when April was turning into May, though, Gross put his considerable talent on display.
In the opening round of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 83rd George Dressler Memorial, Gross blitzed the tough LedgeRock Golf Club layout with a spectacular 10-under 62. He would go on to claim an eight-shot victory with a 14-under 130 total.
A couple of days later in a U.S. Open local qualifier at the Country Club of York, Gross captured medalist honors with a sizzling 7-under 63.
Gross came up short of earning a spot in the U.S. Open as he finished four shots out of a playoff for the final berths out of final qualifying at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit N.J. on “Golf’s Longest Day.”
That freed up Gross for Plan B, a trip across the pond to play in the Royal & Ancient’s Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin Golf Club in Donegal, Ireland. Gross posted a pair of 77s at Ballyliffin’s Old Links and Glashedy Links and failed to make match play, but I’m sure the scouting mission to get a taste of links golf will pay dividends some day.
Gross earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., but was knocked off by Liam Pasternak off Morristown, N.J. in the opening round of match play.
Looking forward to what 2025 will bring for Gross, the best player produced by District One since, I don’t know, Jay Sigel, Buddy Marcucci?
Probably the most impressive college debut by a local player was authored by Angelina Tolentino, the Mount Laurel, N.J. native who had steadily improved during her years of junior golf.
Tolentino hinted at what was coming when she captured the title in the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur at Waynesborough in July. Tolentino trailed Purdue senior Natasha Kiel by two shots heading into the final round, but birdied the first four holes on her way to a 5-under 68 that enabled her to overtake Kiel and claim the crown by a shot.
A few weeks later, on the day before Labor Day, Tolentino made a birdie putt on the iconic 18th green at Pebble Beach on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula to give Vanderbilt the team title in the Carmel Cup.
The birdie at 18 gave Tolentino a final round of 1-under 71 and she finished in a tie for fourth place at 3-under to get her college career off to a flying start.
Tolentino couldn’t quite match that kind of performance as the fall wore on, but she still appeared in the starting lineup in three of the Commodores’ four fall events, no small feat for a freshman, who, like Gross, was competing at a school in the SEC, probably the most competitive golf conference in the country.
It was another really strong year for Braden Shattuck, the director of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club.
Shattuck, a scholastic standout more than a decade ago at Sun Valley, finished in a tie for 16th place in defense of the PGA Professional Championship title he won in 2023 to earn a second straight trip to the PGA Championship, one of professional golf’s four major championships, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
Shattuck needed a birdie on the 18th hole at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco at the PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas to assure himself a spot on the Colebridge Financial Team, the 20 players who represent club pros around America at the PGA.
Shattuck then made the 36-hole cut at Valhalla, one of only two Colebridge Financial Team members to do so, and ended up with low club-pro honors with a 1-under 283 total.
Shattuck won three times on the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit and finished second in the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship on his home course at Rolling Green on his way to a third straight Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Player of the Year honor.
Not a bad year for Zac Oakley, an instructor at Bidermann Golf Club, either.
Oakley was also in the group tied for 16th place in the PGA Professional Championship at Fields Ranch East and played in the PGA for the third time in the last four years, although he failed to make the cut at Valhalla.
Oakley capped a solid 2024 by contending in the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla. in November before ending up in a tie for second place.
I was never able to find time to fit in any posts on the senior amateur scene, but I was aware that I was missing a fairly epic year for one of my favorite swinging seniors, Jeff Frazier of Mechanicsburg and Carlisle Country Club.
I’ve caddied for Frazier and his pal, Brent Will, an assistant coach for the men’s golf team at Mount St. Mary’s, on three difference occasions in Stonewall’s Fall Scramble when it was an open tournament. Frazier, a left-hander, is a dazzling player, a guy with all the shots who can move the ball from right to left and left to right and loves him some driver off the deck.
The 59-year-old Frazier simply dominated the GAP senior scene in 2024, more than doubling his closest competitor in points to easily win GAP’s Senior Player of the Year honors.
Frazier won titles in the first two GAP senior majors of the season, capturing the Francis B. Warner Cup in April at Laurel Creek Country Club and the Frank H. Chapman Memorial in June at Radnor Valley Country Club.
Frazier reached the quarterfinals of the Brewer Cup in June, although it took Neil Gordon of Doylestown Country Club 19 holes to oust Frazier at French Creek Golf Club.
Frazier finished in a tie for second place in the GAP Senior Amateur Championship in September at Rolling Green as Chris Fieger of Heidelberg Country Club captured that title for the fourth time not far from where he grew up in Wallingford. The only thing standing between Frazier and the grand slam of GAP’s major championships for seniors is a win in the GAP Senior Amateur.
Frazier’s scores at Rolling Green, combined with his winning scores in the Warner Cup and the Chapman Memorial gave him the Senior Silver Cross Award by a whopping 11 shots.
Frazier also claimed the title in the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Senior Amateur Championship when the event was shortened to 18 holes by weather in August at Llanerch.
Frazier was still exempt into the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship in late September at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn. based on his run to the semifinals of the 2022 U.S. Senior Am at The Kittansett Club along Buzzards Bay in eastern Massachusetts.
Frazier earned a spot in the match-play bracket at The Honors Club, but was knocked out in the first round of match play.
So yeah, pretty good year for Frazier. I just love the way the guy competes and that competitiveness was never more evident than it was in 2024.
Yuka Saso, a native of the Philippines who now calls Japan home, won that U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster, her second victory in the biggest event in women’s golf.
Saso was a 15-year-old when she reached the semifinals of the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green, like Lancaster, a classic Flynn design. Another of the contenders at Lancaster was Andrea Lee, the former Stanford standout who had reached the quarterfinals in 2016 at Rolling Green.
Their experience putting those slick Flynn green complexes at Rolling Green appeared to have paid dividends eight years later at Lancaster.
Shot of the Year? That’s an easy one.
Caught a loop in October with Stonewall partner Jason Brett and three of his guests. One of my guys was Michael Talarico, a Delco guy who played mostly on public courses, although good ones like The Golf Course at Glen Mills, and was finding the Old Course to be quite a challenge.
The 176-yard, par-3 15th hole at the Old Course, one of my favorites, is a reverse Redan for you afficionados of the golf course architecture of C.B. Macdonald and his protégé Seth Raynor. It’s possible to catch the steep bank left of the green to reach the green that way rather than carry the several bunkers that guard the front of the green.
It appeared as though Talarico’s shot did just that. Billy Beamer, my frequent caddy partner, uttered simply, “that’s putting,” while I said “you caught the hill perfect,” pretty much simultaneously.
When we got to the green, we couldn’t find the ball. A lot of times when the ball carries on the green from the bank on the left, its momentum takes it over the green. We searched everywhere off the back. No ball. Finally, Talarcio, muttering, “you guys said it was perfect,” dropped a ball and hastily chipped one off the green on the other side.
In the meantime, Brett had chipped up and holed a nice, right-to-left breaking eight-footer for par. In all the confusion, nobody had grabbed the pin yet. Billy went to get the pin and retrieve Brett’s ball and well, you can figure out what happened next. “There’s two balls in the hole,” Billy said.
And one of them was the ball Talarico had struck off the tee and, as it turned out, did catch the hill perfectly and went right in the hole. It was a hole-in-one, Talarico’s first.
Talarico was stunned. We all were. But we had violated the No. 1 rule when you hit a shot to a blind par-3 that you think might be close, but you can’t find it: Look in the hole, it just might be there.
