D'Ambrosio, Mussina have solid showings in Dixie Amateur at Eagle Trace

 

   Amani D’Ambrosio was a member of the Fox Chapel team that cruised to the PIAA Class AAA team title in 2019.

   For the second straight December, D’Ambrosio had a nice finish in the Dixie Amateur, which wrapped up Friday at the Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs, Fla.

   D’Ambrosio, after getting in a tie for the lead following the opening round a year ago, finished in a tie for fifth place.

   D’Ambrosio finished strong this time around, closing with a 3-under-par 69 to finish alone in 14^th place with a 5-over 293 total.

   D’Ambrosio, a Cheswick resident, was a member of the golf team at Division II power Barry University down Florida’s East Coast in Miami Shores, Fla. Looks like he was playing some amateur golf in western Pennsylvania in the summer, representing the Longue Vue Club.

   Two summers ago, D’Ambrosio reached the semifinals of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, where he fell to Peyton Mussina, the Muncy native who finished among the group tied for 21^st place in this week’s Dixie Amateur at 9-over 297.

   You can never tell for sure, but in recent years some amateur players a year or two out of college have used the Dixie Amateur as a jumping-off point for a foray into professional golf the following year. We’ll see.

   Or maybe D’Ambrosio just headed south looking for a place to get warm and get in some competitive reps.

   D’Ambrosio didn’t get off to as good a start as he did a year ago, opening with a 4-over 76 at Eagle Trace. He matched par in the second round with a 72 before falling back a little with another 4-over 76 in the third round.

   But D’Ambrosio, maybe finally shaking off the rust a little, finished strong. He opened his final round with birdies at the second, fifth, sixth and eighth holes while touring the outgoing nine at Eagle Trace in 4-under 32.

   D’Ambrosio had eight pars and a bogey at the 17^th hole on Eagle Trace’s incoming nine, his 3-under round enabling him to move well inside the top 20 in a field that included college players, grizzled mid-ams and, as always in Florida, some on-the-rise junior players.

   Mussina, the son of Hall of Fame pitcher Mike Mussina, finished out a really solid college career at Penn College by earning a trip to the NCAA Division III Championship last spring.

   Looks like Mussina might have had some rust to shake off as well as he opened with a 5-over 77 and added a 78 in the second round. But Mussina found his groove, posting back-to-back 1-under 71s in the final two rounds to join the group at 9-over.

   After defeating D’Ambrosio in the semifinals of the Sigel Match Player two summers ago, Mussina lost in the final to former Penn State standout Patrick Sheehan, who has since turned pro.

   Mussina was 12 shots better at Eagle Trace than he was a year ago when he finished in a tie for 59^th place. Wonder if he’s considering wading into the professional ranks?

   The Dixie Amateur title went to James Earle, a Jupiter, Fla. resident and a sophomore at Southeastern Conference power Georgia, which was 33^rd in the Scoreboard powered by clippd rankings at college golf’s midseason pause.

   Earle, who finished in a tie for second place in the Dixie Amateur a year ago, pulled away in the final round with a sparkling 4-under 68 that gave him a 10-under 278 total and a two-shot victory.

   Earle was in the starting lineup for Georgia throughout the fall portion of the wraparound 2025-2026 season.

   After struggling a little in the opening round with a 2-over 75, Earle tallied a 3-under 68 in the second round and then moved into a tie for the lead with a sparkling 5-under 67 in the third round that left him at 6-under going into the final round.

   Earle had seven birdies in his first 13 holes in Thursday’s third round before cooling off with a couple of late bogeys.

   Earle got it going early in the final round, rattling off three straight birdies at the third, fourth and fifth holes and another birdie at eight before making a bogey at nine, the only blemish on his scorecard.

   After making a birdie at the 10^th hole to get to 10-under, Earle carefully protected his lead with eight straight pars.

   Earle’s closest pursuer turned out to be Will Block, a mid-am from Plantation, Fla. who matched Earle’s final round of 4-under 68 to earn runnerup honors with an 8-under 280 total.

   Block, who teed it up in the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. in September, had opened with a 1-under 71 and matched par in Wednesday’s second round with a 72 before getting into contention with a 3-under 69 in the third round.

   Australian Arrow Aarav Shah had earned a share of the lead with Earle going into the final round as he signed for back-to-back 1-under 71s in the first two rounds and a 4-under 68 in the third round to get it to 6-under.

   He closed with a 1-over 73 to finish in a tie for third place with Mason Deal of Perrysburg, Ohio, a junior on the Toledo golf team, and B.J. Boyce of Spring Lake, N.C., a senior with Southern Conference power North Carolina Greensboro, as each ended up with a 5-under 283 total that left them three shots behind Block.

   Aarav Shah was a co-medalist in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier for the U.S. Junior Amateur at Chambersburg Country Club in the summer. Aarav Shah failed to earn a spot in match play in the U.S. Junior Am in sweltering July heat at the Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas.

   Aarav Shah’s dated American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) page indicated that he had made a verbal commitment to join the program at South Carolina, but he didn’t show up on the roster for the Gamecocks this fall.

   Obviously, the kid can play a little. He’ll show up somewhere eventually.

   Deal had the lead at Eagle Trace with an opening round of 4-under 68, struggled to a 79 in Wednesday’s second round, but bounced back with the best round of the tournament, a sizzling 7-under 65 in the third round. He closed with a 1-under 71.

   After opening with a 2-over 74, Boyce got it going in the middle two rounds with a 3-under 69 in the second round and a 4-under 68 in the third round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Another familiar name popped up at Eagle Trace as Jack Irons, who lost in the final of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship to Temple’s Conor McGrath in 2021 at Cedarbrook Country Club, finished among a trio tied for 35^th place with a 301 total.

   Irons was a Naples, Fla. guy who would summer in Medford Lakes, N.J. and often showed up on GAP leaderboards as a junior player. Looks like he’s doing a lot of golf videos these days. Not sure if he rates as an official golf influencer at this point, but he can still play a little.

   After opening with a 5-over 77 in the Dixie Amateur, Irons recorded back-to-back 75s in the middle two rounds before closing with his best round of the week, a 2-over 74.

   Nathan Radwanski, who finished in a tie for 10^th place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Governor Mifflin in the fall of 2024, made the 54-hole cut on the number and then closed with a solid 2-under 70 to finish in the group tied for 41^st place at 303.

   A freshman on the West Chester golf team’s roster, Radwanski opened with a 6-over 78, added a 76 in Wednesday’s second round and just survived the cut with a 79 in the third round.

   Andrew Bilson, who finished in a tie for 10^th place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Manheim Township in the fall of 2023, finished in a tie for 45^th place with a 304 total.

   Bilson, a sophomore on the golf team at Rider in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, opened with a 2-over 74 at Eagle Trace, added a 79 in Wednesday’s second round and a 76 in the third round before closing with a 75.