The heat is on as Yenser, Engart are respective boys, girls leaders following opening round of Pennsylvania Junior Championships

 

   It was certainly a hot one Monday for the opening round of the Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) Junior Boys’ Championship, sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, at Hershey Country Club’s East Course.

   And Daniel Boone senior Chase Yenser, playing out of Reading Country Club, decided to bring some heat of his own ripping off eight birdies to surge to a three-shot lead with a sizzling opening round of 6-under-par 65.

   Starting his round off the 10^th tee, Yenser, who finished in a tie for second place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall at Penn State’s White Course, made a birdie on the 10^th hole right out of the gate.

   But he was just getting started as he rattled off four straight birdies at the 14^th, 15^th, 16^th and 17^th holes as he toured the incoming nine at Hershey East in 5-under 30.

   Yenser stumbled a little with a bogey at the third hole, but he then made birdies at the fourth, fifth and seventh holes to get it to 7-under for his round before giving a shot back with a bogey at eight.

   At nearby Lebanon Country Club, Alli Engart, playing out of the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve, put together a solid 2-under 70 to claim a one-shot lead following the opening round of the PAGA Junior Girls’ Championship.

   Engart wrapped up an outstanding scholastic career at Souderton by finishing in a tie for 12^th place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State’s White Course last fall.

   The state’s top junior golfers will again be battling high heat and humidity in Tuesday’s 36-hole windup.

   Back at Hershey, Episcopal Academy junior Freddy Hartmann, playing out of Overbrook Golf Club, also started fast on his way to a 3-under 68 that left him three shots behind Yenser in second place.

   Hartmann, starting off the first tee, made birdies at the second, fourth, fifth and seventh holes while touring the outgoing nine at Hershey East in 4-under 32.

   The first blemish on Hartmann’s scorecard came at the par-3 13^th hole, where he made a double bogey. He bounced back with a birdie at the 15^th hole and stumbled a little with a bogey at 16 before making a birdie on 17 to get it to the house in 3-under.

   Luke McGraw, the talented junior at State College, was a shot behind Hartmann in third place with a 2-under 69. McGraw, who reached the semifinals in last week’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys’ Championship, is playing out of the Toftrees Golf Resort.

   A couple of western Pennsylvania’s top scholastic players over the last couple of falls, Peters Township’s Colton Lusk, playing out of the Nemacolin Country Club, and Plum’s Wes Lorish, playing out of Edgewood Country Club, headed a group of four players tied for fourth place at 1-under 70.

   Lusk, who will join the program at Siena this summer, finished in a tie for fifth place in last fall’s PIAA Class AAA Championship while Lorish, who lost in a playoff for the state Class AAA crown as a junior in 2023, is headed for Marshall later this summer.

   Lusk and Lorish were joined at 1-under by recent St. Joseph’s Prep graduate Declan McLane, playing out of North Hills Country Club, and Kiski Area senior Max Mottura, playing out of Willowbrook Country Club.

   Oakmont Country Club’s Carson Kittsley, who captured the PIAA Class AAA title as a sophomore at Fox Chapel last fall, headed a group of five players who matched par with a 71 and are tied for eighth place.

   Strath Haven senior Luca Kleinschmidt, playing out of The Springhaven Club, was also part of that group tied for eighth place at even-par.

   Kleinschmidt is coming off a solid showing in last week’s GAP Junior Boys’ Championship, including capturing medalist honors in qualifying for match play with a 1-under 69 at Merion Golf Club’s West Course.

   Joining Kittsley and Kleinschmidt in the quintet tied for eighth place were South Hills Country Club’s Michael Quallich, a junior on the Baldwin golf team, Treesdale Golf & Country Club’s William Hilton, a recent Pine-Richland graduate who will join the program at West Chester this summer, and Toftrees’ Chris Warner, a recent State College graduate and one of McGraw’s teammates on a Little Lions team that finished in third place in the PIAA Class AAA team chase last fall.

   At Lebanon, Engart put together a steady round to finish a shot ahead of Susquehanna Country Club’s Hannah Rabb, a four-time PIAA Class AA qualifier and the 2022 Class AA state champion at Warrior Run who is coming off a solid freshman season at James Madison.

   Engart made a birdie at the second hole, but gave that shot back with a bogey at three. She made birdies at the fourth and sixth holes to get it to 2-under for round. Engart made a bogey at the 11^th hole, but picked up a birdie at 17 to get it back to 2-under for the day.

   Rabb got off to a good start with birdies at the second and sixth holes. After making a bogey at the 11^th hole, Rabb made a birdie at 11. Bogeys at the 12^th and 16^th holes dropped Rabb back to even-par for the round, but she made a birdie at 17 to finish with a 1-under 71, one of just two rounds under par for the day at Lebanon.

   The winner of the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship earns a berth in the field for next month’s U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, which tees off July 14 at the Atlanta Athletic Club’s Riverside Course in Johns Creek, Ga.

   Cardinal O’Hara sophomore Alaina Carson, a GAP Youth on Course entry, headed a group of three players tied for third place as she matched par with a 72.

   Carson made an impressive debut in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, finishing in a tie for third place.

   Joining Carson at even-par were Centre Hills Country Club’s Maddie Koshko, who captured the PIAA Class AA crown as a junior at St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy, and Lake Shore Country Club’s Cora Hirz, who finished in fifth place in the Class AA state tournament as a junior at Fairview last fall.

   Kate Roberts, who capped an outstanding scholastic career at Phoenixville by finishing in a tie for second place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship in the fall of 2023, and Nemacolin’s Mya Morgan, who captured the Class AAA state crown as a junior at Elizabeth Forward last fall at Penn State’s White Course, were in a tie for sixth place, each landing on 1-over 73.

   Kate Roberts didn’t get to play a whole lot in tournaments, but was on the roster for perennial Mountain West Conference power San Jose State during the wraparound 2024-2025 college golf season.

   By the way, Kate Roberts’ sister Kayley, who will be a senior at Phoenixville this fall, was the runnerup in a U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship qualifier at the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Course earlier this month and will take her game to a national stage next month at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

   Tam O’Shanter Golf Course’s Kate Sowers, the defending Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ champion, was alone in eighth place with a 2-over 74. Sowers was the runnerup to Koshko in the PIAA Class AA Championship at Penn State’s Blue Course as a junior at West Middlesex last fall.

   Rounding out the top 10 were Overbrook Golf Club’s Kiersten Bodge, a junior at Notre Dame Academy, and Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association representative Savannah Laverty, a junior at Moorestown High School in South Jersey, both of whom signed for a 3-over 75 and were tied for ninth place.

   Bodge flashed her considerable talent last summer when she competed against the big girls in the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship at Waynesborough Country Club and finished in a tie for ninth place.