Last fall, a talented West Chester Rustin team was shut out of any chance for any of its individuals to reach the PIAA Class AAA Championship by a cruel wind on Day 1 of the District One Class AAA Championship.
But on Day 2 at the Turtle Creek Golf Course, the Knights responded by capturing the District One Class AAA team crown. Rustin wouldn’t be represented in the individual competition at Penn State, but the whole team would tee it up in the team competition.
A little of that team spirit was on display again July 14th as a pair of West Chester Rustin’s returning seniors, Cole Berry of Overbrook Golf Club and Anestis Kalderemtzis of Penn Oaks Golf Club, joined forces to capture the title in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 39th Francis X. Hussey Memorial at Rolling Green Golf Club, the William Flynn gem in Springfield in the heart of Delaware County.
The Hussey is a personal favorite of mine on the GAP junior schedule. It’s always interesting to see how the kids team up and there’s nothing quite as fun as a good better-ball duo.
The 16-year-old Berry, a West Chester resident, and the 17-year-old Kalderemtzis, a Glen Mills resident, put together a sparkling 8-under-par 63 over the 6,446-yard, par-71 Rolling Green layout, site of the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.
After a long wait and with stormy weather approaching, Berry and Kalderemtzis were caught by Logan Turner of White Manor Country and Pat Manion of The 1912 Club and a senior on the Devon Prep golf team as they, too, finished at 8-under.
With rain starting to fall, the foursome headed out to Rolling Green’s tough opener, the 389-yard, par-4 first hole, for a playoff.
Berry and Kalderemtzis both reached the green in two with Kalderemtzis 30 feet away, but just inside Berry on a similar line. Getting a read from Berry’s putt, Kalderemtzis buried his long birdie putt to give the West Chester Rustin pair the title.
“We’ve been long-time competitors in this event and just haven’t got the job done,” Kalderemtzis told the GAP website. “To be able to secure the victory with Cole, someone I have known for a long time, is special. The weather was super hot and then super wet. What a great finish it was.”
Strath Haven teammates Luca Kleinschmidt, playing out of The Springhaven Club, and Eddie Gephardt, a Rolling Green guy, had set the bar pretty high as they went out early and put up a 7-under 64, a total only bettered by the two teams in the playoff.
Kleinschmidt is having a really solid summer, highlighted by claiming medalist honors in GAP’s Junior Boys’ Championship at Merion Golf Club’s West Course before falling in the quarterfinals of match play.
Another Rolling Green guy, Declan Conner, a junior on the Ridley golf team, teamed with Beau Riviere, a GAP Youth on Course entry who was the Philadelphia Public League’s individual champion last fall with the Constitution/Science Learning Academy golf team, as they headed a group of four teams tied for fourth place, each posting a 6-under 65.
Joining Conner and Riviere in the foursome tied at 6-under were a couple of Jersey Shore guys, Paul Reilly of Galloway National Golf Club and Keller Tannehill of Atlantic City Country Club, the Kennett Square Golf & Country Club pair of Jax Puskar, a recent Unionville graduate, and Grant Burkhart, a junior on the Salesianum golf team, and the Cedarbrook Country Club duo of Tristan Smith and John Gavaghan, teammates on La Salle’s Catholic League powerhouse team.
Wilmington Country Club’s Jack Homer and Joe Ciconte, cousins who finished outstanding scholastic careers as Tatnall teammates in the spring, headed a group of four teams that finished in a tie for eighth place at 5-under 66 to round out the top 10 in the Hussey.
The Philadelphia Country Club duo of Will Walsh, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Radnor last fall, and Harrison Brown, who wrapped up his high school career by helping The Haverford School capture the Inter-Ac League championship last fall, was also in the group tied for 5-under.
Rounding out the group at 5-under were the teams of Colby Komancheck of RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve and Brody Bell of Spring Ford Country Club, teammates on Malvern Prep’s golf team, and Nicolas Gaughan of Concord Country Club and Charlie Barrickman of Radley Run Country Club, teammates on the Unionville golf team.
Turned out to be a nice tuneup for Barrickman, who finished in a tie for third place later in the week against the toughest field in GAP in the Philadelphia Open at Bidermann Golf Club.
The only entry in the Junior Girls division was the Rolling Green pair of Nicolette Bottos, a sophomore on the Conestoga golf team, and Anna Rufo, a sophomore on the Agnes Irwin golf team, as they joined forces for a 2-over 73 on their home course.
Ryan Comly of Llanerch Country Club and Overbrook’s Bobby Stefanski took top honors in the Junior-Junior division with a 1-under 34 on Rolling Green’s incoming nine.
Stefanski made a birdie on Rolling Green’s tough par-3 14th hole and then added birdies on the back-to-back closing par-5s at 17 and 18 to spark the team to victory.
Two teams finished two shots behind Comly and Stefanski in a tie for second place at 1-over 36, including Grayson McCann of Stonewall and Rylan Foust, a GAP Youth on Course entry, and Christos Bottos, another member of Rolling Green’s Team Bottos, and Eric Cunningham of St. Davids Golf Club.
The Waynesborough Country Club pair of Jack Kolmer and Jackson Ehrlich and Gavin Lane of Riverton Country Club and Damien Dollard, another GAP Youth on Course entry, finished in a tie for fourth place, each duo tallying a 2-over 37.
The Francis X. Hussey celebrates the memory of the avid junior member at Rolling Green whose life was tragically cut short in 1983 when he died while undergoing major heart surgery. Hussey, a student in the Haverford Township School District, displayed courage in the face of his illness and was an inspiration to all who knew him.
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