Coming off trips to two of the most popular golf destinations on the West Coast, West Philadelphia neighbors Drexel and Penn hooked up in Delaware County Monday at the William Flynn gem that is Rolling Green Golf Club and a late rally by the Dragons gave them a three-shot victory over the Quakers in the Columbia Spring Invitational, a one-day 36-hole shootout.
Google maps says it’s 19 miles from Penn’s campus to Rolling Green, but that’s taking you down to I-95 and up the Blue Route. Pretty sure if you just zipped out Walnut Street, went through 69th Street and hooked a right on Township Line Road, it would be 15 miles max.
Hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Rolling Green was preparing to host the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur, a championship that produced at least four major champions on the LPGA Tour in the ensuing decade.
Penn’s Ivy League rival Columbia has hosted this event in the late March-early April time frame in recent years and players have often been met with some dicey early spring weather. But the field caught a pretty good day to play 36 Monday, albeit with enough March wind to keep scores pretty high over the challenging 6,818-yard, par-70 layout with those always tricky Flynn greens.
Drexel, which plays out of the Coastal Athletic Association, trailed Penn by three shots following the morning round as the Quakers opened with a 15-over-par 295 while the Dragons were at 18-over 298.
But the Dragons, getting a 1-under 69 from individual champion John Keba, a junior who was a scholastic standout at Allentown Central Catholic, closed with a 12-over 292 in the afternoon for a 30-over 590 total.
It was the second team title of the wraparound 2025-2026 season for Drexel under first-year coach Scott Yurgalevicz as the Dragons also won locally last fall in the Temple Invitational at The 1912 Club. At No. 175 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, Drexel was the highest-ranked team in the field
Penn finished up with an 18-over 298 in the afternoon to earn runnerup honors with a 33-over 593 total.
Keba had opened with a 3-over 73, but his strong finish enabled him to overtake teammate Caleb Taylor, a senior from Woodbine, Md., for the individual title with Keba’s 1-under 69 giving him a 2-over 142 total.
Taylor had opened with a 1-under 69, matching the low individual round of the day, before closing with a 4-over 74 that left him a shot behind Keba in second place with a 3-over 143 total.
Drexel had a third top-10 finisher in senior Kevin Lydon, who starred scholastically at Central Bucks West and qualified for last summer’s U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif., as Lydon finished among a group of five players tied for 10th place at 9-over 149.
Lydon, coming off a strong showing in the UC San Diego Invitational at the Torrey Pines Golf Course’s North Course in San Diego, Calif. a week earlier, added a 3-over 73 in the afternoon Monday to his opening-round 76.
Penn was led by Hayden Adams, a junior from Lexington, Ky. who finished two shots behind Taylor in third place in the individual standings with a 5-over 145 total.
Adams, coming off a runnerup finish in a tough field that gathered for the Bandon Dunes Championship at the Bandon Dunes Resort’s Pacific Dunes Course on the rugged Oregon coastline in early March, was only two shots behind Taylor following an opening round of 1-over 71 before adding a 4-over 74 in the afternoon.
Max Fonseca, a junior from Miami, Fla., gave the Quakers a second finisher inside the top five as he added a 3-over 73 in the afternoon to his opening-round 74 that left him among a group of four players tied for fifth place at 7-over 147.
Manhattan, a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference representative, finished 10 shots behind Penn in third place with a 603 total. The Jaspers struggled in the opening round with a 309 before bouncing back with a 14-over 294 in the afternoon.
Manhattan was led by Cabell Faulkner, a sophomore from Potomac, Md. who joined Penn’s Fonseca, Fordham’s A.J. DePaolo, a junior from Cheshire, Conn. competing as an individual, and Maryland’s Armond Papaziani, a senior from France competing as an individual, as they comprised the quartet tied for fifth place at 7-over.
Faulkner opened with a solid 2-over 72 before adding a 75 in the afternoon.
Manhattan had another top-10 finisher as Aidan Talent, a sophomore from Canada, added a solid 1-over 71 in the afternoon to his opening-round 78 to join the quintet tied for 10th place at 9-over.
Fordham, an Atlantic 10 representative, Le Moyne, a Northeast Conference entry, and Siena, one of Manhattan’s MAAC rivals, finished in a tie for fourth place, each ending up a shot behind Manhattan with a 44-over 604 total.
The Rams recorded back-to-back 302s.
They were led by Luke Brower, a junior from Middlebury, Conn. who finished a shot behind Penn’s Adams in fourth place with a 6-over 146. Brower opened with a 1-over 71 before adding a 75 in the afternoon.
Liam Howard, a junior from Leesburg, Va., ended up in the group tied for 10th place for Fordham as he bounced back from an opening round of 8-over 78 with a solid 71 in the afternoon.
DePaolo may have earned himself some consideration for a spot in Fordham’s first five by finishing in the quartet tied for fifth place at 7-over while competing as an individual. DePaolo added a 2-over 72 in the afternoon to his opening-round 75.
The Dolphins of Le Moyne bounced back from an opening-round 309 with a 15-over 295 in Monday afternoon’s second round. The Saints of Siena opened with a 306 before adding an 18-over 298 in the afternoon.
Saint Joseph’s had an even shorter route to Rolling Green as City Line Avenue just turns into Township Line Road in Delaware County.
The Hawks, one of Fordham’s A-10 rivals, finished in a tie for eighth place in the 12-team field with host Columbia and Lafayette, a Patriot League entry, each landing on 49-over 609. St. Joe’s added a 305 in the afternoon to its opening-round 304.
Backing up the trio of Keba, Taylor and Lydon for Drexel was sophomore John Stevenson, a scholastic standout at La Salle and a back-to-back winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship in 2023 and 2024, as he finished among the group tied for 42nd place with a 16-over 156 total.
Stevenson added a 6-over 76 in the afternoon to his opening-round 80.
Rounding out the Drexel lineup was sophomore Nathan Guertler, who starred scholastically at Haddon Heights, as he finished in the trio tied for 64th place with a 163 total. Guertler added an 81 in Monday afternoon’s second round to his opening-round 82.
Drexel was coming off a solid fourth-place finish in the UC San Diego Invitational, which wrapped up March 24th at Torrey Pines, home of a regular PGA Tour stop, with a 7-under 857 total.
Lydon led the way as he finished in a tie for 11th place with a 5-under 211 total. Keba and Taylor also had top-20 finishes at Torrey Pines as they finished in the group tied for 20th place at 2-under 214.
Maryland, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, didn’t field a full team at Rolling Green, but sent several individuals.
Papaziani was one of those players and he matched par in the afternoon with a 70 after opening with a 77 to join the quartet tied for fifth place at 7-over.
Merrimack’s Rafli Sati, a senior from Indonesia, finished alone in ninth place with an 8-over 148 total as he opened with a solid 2-over 72 and added a 76 in the afternoon.
The Warriors, another MAAC representative, finished in 11th place with a 66-over 626 total.
Rounding out the quintet tied for 10th place at 9-over was a pair of Lafayette players, junior Winston Kelenc-Blank, who played scholastically at Peddie School and Choate Rosemary Hall, and Viktor Kofod-Olsen, a freshman from the United Arab Emirates who competed as an individual.
Kelenc-Blank, who regularly appeared on Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour leaderboards as a junior player, opened with a 3-over 73 before adding a 76 in the afternoon. Kofod-Olsen opened with a 4-over 74 and added a 75 in the afternoon.
Lafayette shared eighth place with Saint Joseph’s and Columbia with a 49-over 609 total.
Backing up Adams and Fonseca for Penn was Wesley Hu, a sophomore from Suwanee, Ga. as he finished among the group tied for 22nd place with an 11-over 151 total. Hu opened with a 2-over 73 before adding a 78 in the afternoon.
Henry Chen, a freshman from Hillsborough, Calif., finished in the group tied for 34th place at 154 for the Quakers as he bounced back from an opening-round 81 with a 3-over 73 in Monday afternoon’s second round.
Rounding out the Penn lineup was Kayden Wang, a freshman from San Diego, Calif. who finished in the group tied for 60th place at 162 as opened with a 7-over 77 before adding an 85 in the afternoon
Adams has had a really strong spring for Penn, highlighted by his runnerup finish in the Bandon Dunes Championship, which wrapped up March 10th at the Tom Doak-designed Pacific Dunes Course at Bandon.
Adams closed with a sizzling 7-under 65 to end up with an 8-under 205 total.
He led Penn to a final round of 7-under 281 that left the Quakers in 10th place in a tough 15-team field with a 17-over 869 total.
Penn opened its spring campaign by finishing in a tie for 13th place in a 20-team field in the Loyola Intercollegiate, which wrapped up Feb. 17th at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Ariz., with a 4-over 868 total.
Adams led the way for Quakers at Palm Valley as well as he finished in a tie for 22nd place with a 4-under 212 total.
Saint Joseph’s was led by its pair of talented freshmen, George Williamson Jr. of Sykesville, Md. and Michael Henry Jr., who was one of the top performers in the tough Inter-Ac League during his scholastic career at Malvern Prep.
Williamson, who is having a good spring, added a 5-over 75 in the afternoon to his opening-round 76 to finish among the group tied for 22nd place with an 11-over 151 total.
Henry was in a trio of players tied for 29th place at 12-over 152 as posted a pair of 6-over 76s at Rolling Green.
Junior Noah Moelter, who finished in a tie for sixth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Central Bucks South in 2022, and senior Christian Matt, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during an outstanding scholastic career at Wissahickon, finished among the group tied for 34th place at 154 for St. Joe’s.
Moelter opened with a 5-over 75 before adding a 79 in Monday afternoon’s second round. Matt had the opposite splits, rebounding from an opening-round 79 with a 5-over 75 in the afternoon.
Junior Kevin Lafond, a PIAA Class AAA Championship qualifier as a senior with Catholic League power La Salle in 2022, rounded out the Saint Joseph’s lineup as he opened with a 7-over 77 and added an 83 in the afternoon to finish in a tie for 56th place with a 160 total.
Freshman Ian Natale, another product of the La Salle scholastic program, competed as an individual for Saint Joseph’s and added an 82 in the afternoon to his opening-round 85 to finish in 68th place with a 167 total.
Natale and Drexel’s Stevenson were in the lineup for the Explorers when they were the runnerup in the PIAA Class AAA team chase in 2023.
