U.S. trails Great Britain & Ireland following Day 1 at Lahinch, but Russell and Watts get their point across

 

   At some point this week as his United States team prepared for the 51^st Walker Cup Match at Lahinch Golf Club in County Clare on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland, captain Nathan Smith came to the realization that it made perfect sense to pair his two teen-age phenoms as a foursome team.

   The two left-handers, Miles Russell, the 17-year-old from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., and Tyler Watts, the 18-year-old from Huntsville, Ala. who will join the program at Tennessee when his Walker Cup duties are completed, are just that good.

   Russell is No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and lost in the final of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club this summer.

   Watched Watts, No. 8 in the WAGR, battle eventual runnerup Jay Leng Jr. in the round of 16 last month in the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course. Watts lost, but his game, his demeanor, his competitiveness couldn’t have been more impressive.

   Russell and Watts validated the decision by Smith, the Pittsburgh native and a four-time winner of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, to put them together in a Saturday morning foursome match against Great Britain & Ireland.

   They jumped out to a 3-up advantage over Englishmen Luke Poulter, a senior at Florida and No. 8 in the WAGR, and Sam Easterbrook, a senior at Purdue and No. 76 in the WAGR, only to see Poulter and Easterbrook battle back to send the match to the 18^th tee all tied up.

   If playing in an opening-session foursome match on foreign soil against the son of Ian Poulter was ever going to rattle a couple of teen-agers, this would be the time.

   But nah. The two kids calmly made a birdie at Lahinch’s par-5 finishing hole to earn the only full point the Stars & Stripes would get out of the opening session with their 1-up victory.

   Maybe their lack of experience showed up a little in the afternoon singles as Poulter got a bit of revenge with a 2 and 1 victory over Russell and Watts dropped a 3 and 2 decision to Scotland’s Niall Sheils Donegan, a senior at North Carolina and No. 18 in the WAGR.

   You probably remember Sheils Donegan, whose family moved to the Bay Area when he was 3-years-old, as the guy who made a memorable run to the semifinals of last summer’s U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

   GB&I had grabbed a 3.5-2.5 lead following the morning foursome session and then split the eight singles matches in the afternoon and will take a 6.5-5.5 lead into Sunday morning’s foursome session.

   The U.S. has rattled off five straight victories in this series dating back to 2017, but this one feels a little different.

   GB&I is always tough on its home soil and Lahinch looked like a difficult puzzle to solve for the visiting U.S. team. The morning foursomes were blessedly broadcast on The Golf Channel and the Lahinch I’ve heard so much about didn’t disappoint.

   And this team, under captain Dean Robertson, just might be the most talented side GB&I has fielded in a while.

   GB&I’s best player Saturday just might have been its lone Irishman, 33-year-old Stuart Grehan.

   Grehan is a reinstated amateur who played on the GB&I team that fell to the U.S. a year ago at The Cypress Point Club, the iconic layout on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula.

   The Walker Cup Match is normally a biennial affair, but it came back just a year later this year in order to synch it with the women’s Curtis Cup Match in even years and leave the odd years for the World Amateur Team Championship.

   Grehan’s victory in the Royal & Ancient’s Amateur Championship this summer at Royal Liverpool Golf Club has him up to No. 28 in the WAGR. And an Irishman playing in a Walker Cup Match in Ireland, well, you know that it’s pretty special for him.

   And, truth be told, with the majority of the 18,000 golf-mad fans rooting on their native son, it’s one of the many reasons the Walker Cup is so special, too.

   Grehan was paired with Englishman Eliot Baker, another veteran of last year’s Walker Cup Match at Cypress Point, in the opening foursome match Saturday morning, and the team grabbed a half-point when Oklahoma State senior Preston Stout, who inherited the No. 1 spot in the WAGR when Jackson Koivun turned pro earlier this summer, missed a makeable birdie putt at the 18^th hole that would have given the U.S. a full point.

   Smith’s leadoff pairing of Stout and his Oklahoma State teammate, Ethan Fang, made even more sense than the teen twosome of Russell and Watts.

   Stout and Fang were members of the winning U.S. team at Cypress Point a year ago and Fang is a proven commodity on the other side of the pond, as he became the first American to win The Amateur Championship since 2007 last summer at Royal St. George’s Golf Club.

   Oh yeah, Stout and Fang also helped the Cowboys capture the program’s 12^th national championship in the spring of 2025 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

   Grehan capped his memorable day by gutting out a 1-up decision over Stout in the first singles match of the afternoon.

   The U.S. got on a little roll in the middle of the afternoon singles as Fang knocked off Englishman Jack Whaley, the winner of the U.S. Amateur at Merion last month and No. 45 in the WAGR, 1-up, Alabama junior William Jennings, No. 4 in the WAGR, pulled out a 1-up decision over Scotland’s Connor Graham, the Texas Tech junior playing in his third Walker Cup Match and No. 25 in the WAGR, Leng, the Stanford junior who was the beaten finalist in the U.S. Amateur at Merion and is No. 12 in the WAGR, earned a 2 and 1 win over Englishman Tyler Weaver, a senior at Florida State and No. 3 in the WAGR, and Stewart Hagestad, the grizzled veteran at 35 of all six of those most recent U.S. Walker Cup wins, claimed a 2 and 1 verdict over 19-year-old Englishman Ben Bolton.

   But GB&I battled back with Poulter’s win over Russell, Sheils Donegan’s victory over Watts and Baker earning a 3 and 2 victory over Auburn senior Josiah Gilbert, who is No. 7 in the WAGR.

   It was a tough day for Gilbert as he and Oklahoma senior Ryder Cowan, who is No. 6 in the WAGR, suffered a 4 and 3 setback at the hands of Sheils Donegan and Englishman Josh Hill, who wrapped up his college career at Tennessee in the spring, in a morning foursome match.

   The formidable GB&I pair of Graham and Weaver accounted for the other full point for the home side in the morning foursome matches with a 1-up victory over Leng and Brigham Young sophomore Kihei Akina, who is No. 11 in the WAGR.

   Smith will keep his teen tandem of Russell and Watts together for the Sunday morning foursome matches and they’ll take on Graham and Weaver.

   If you’ve got an early tee time Sunday, I would highly recommend getting up a little early to watch some of that match. The next time you see Russell and Watts playing together in a foursome match will probably be in some Ryder Cup in six years or so.

 

 

 

Mohn finishes strong to earn a Philly Junior Tour victory at Coatesville

 

   Josh Mohn, a Wilmington, Del. resident and a senior at St. Mark’s, carded a solid 1-under-par 70 at Coatesville Country Club to capture a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division Aug. 12^th.

   Mohn, who finished in third place in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship at Baywood Greens in May, made birdies at the 11^th, 14^th and 15^th holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard, including a stretch from three through 10 in which he made eight consecutive pars.

   Mohn’s birdie binge enabled him to tour the incoming nine at Coatesville in 2-under 34.

   Mohn was coming off a tie for third place a day earlier in the Harry Hammond Invitational, one of the Philly Junior Tour’s major championships, at Penn Oaks Golf Club.

   Mohn finished a shot ahead of another Wilmington, Del. guy, Kie Shaw, a senior at the Delaware Military Academy who made a birdie at the 13^th hole and had 16 pars on his card, including 12 straight pars to open his round, as he matched par at Coatesville with a 71.

   Shaw finished in a tie for fifth place in the DIAA Championship at Baywood Greens in the spring.

   Braydon Jakatt, a senior on the Coatesville golf team playing close to home, and Vaughn Smartt of Bryn Mawr shared third place, each posting a 5-over 76.

   Jakatt made a birdie at the eighth hole and had 12 pars on his card, including a string of five straight pars from three through seven. Smartt had 13 pars on his card, finishing up his round with seven straight pars.

   Three players finished in a tie for fifth place at 79, including Mason Stephan, a Collegeville resident and a senior on the Malvern Prep golf team, Julian Frustaci, a Haverford resident and a senior on the St. Joseph’s Prep golf team, and Chris Cipollone, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Haverford High last fall.

   Chase Schmidt of Waterford, N.J. took eighth place with an 80 and Morgan Thompson, a senior on the Phoenixville golf team, finished ninth with an 81.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Bobby Ross of West Chester and Matthew Wisler of Dover, Del. as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each signing for an 82.

   Thayer Boyd of Kennett Square and Ruben Yoon, a Wilmington, Del. resident and a sophomore on the Archmere Academy golf team, shared top honors in the 13-to-15 division as each recorded a 4-over 75.

   Boyd made a birdie at the second hole and had 12 pars on his scorecard, including a run of five straight pars from eight through 12.

   Yoon caught fire at the end of his round, rattling off consecutive birdies at the 15^th, 16^th, 17^th and 18^th holes. He also had six pars on his card.

   Jack Ferry of Port Deposit, Md. made birdies at the third and 15^th holes and had nine pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Boyd and Yoon in third place with a 5-over 76.

   Noah Gates, a sophomore on the Haverford High golf team, took fourth place with a 78, Grayson McCann of Downingtown was fifth with a 79, Victor Sage of Broomall was sixth with an 80 and Harry Nepereny of Devon and Matthew Pilcher of Wilmington, Del. finished in a tie for seventh place, each registering an 81.

   Michael Perry, another Wilmington, Del. guy, took ninth place with an 83 and the pair of M.J. Nestor of Greenville, Del. and Charlie Murray of Berwyn rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as they finished in a tie for 10^th, each tallying an 85.

   The best score among the girls came out of the 13-to-15 division as Shree Desai, taking a road trip from Cinnaminson, N.J., made a birdie at the 11^th hole and had two pars on her scorecard to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory with a 91.

   Mae Racowski of Newtown Square made a par at the 11^th hole as she earned runnerup honors with a 99.

   Naaya Patel of Moorestown, N.J. had four pars on her card, including back-to-back pars at the sixth and seventh holes, as she finished in third place with a 100.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Emily Milito, a Coatesville resident playing close to home, as she finished in fourth place with a 105.

   Erin Urbanski, a West Chester resident and a junior on the Villa Maria golf team, was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and she finished up her round with a birdie at the 18^th hole and also had two pars on her scorecard on her way to a 101.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr has been one of the top performers among the boys 12-and-under nine-holers all summer long and he rattled off consecutive birdies at the sixth, seventh and eighth holes and had three pars on his scorecard as he claimed another Philly Junior Tour victory with a 1-over 36.

   Dino Luccia of North Wales and Kash Gray of Eagleville shared runnerup honors as each finished three shots behind Muego with a 4-over 39.

   Luccia had five pars on his card, opening his round with consecutive pars at the first, second and third holes. Gray had six pars on his card, including a string of three straight pars of his own at the third, fourth and fifth holes.

   Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville, coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory the previous week at Paxon Hollow Country Club, and Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. shared fourth place, each posting a 40.

   Grayson Wright of Philadelphia took sixth place with a 42, Jack Kolmer of Wayne was seventh with a 43 and Landon Post of Lincoln University and Lorenzo Carbonel of Mount Joy finished in a tie for eighth, each signing for a 44.

   Bennett Cho of Chesterbrook took 10^th place with a 46 and Mason Kelly of Wyncote rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished 11^th with a 60.

   Lauryn Kirby of Chester Springs made pars at the second and sixth holes as she bested a short field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 49.

   Juniper Ha of Royersford rounded out the field in the girls 12-and-under division as she finished in second place with a 64.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheftic, McReynolds the respective boys, girls winners in Harry Hammond Invitational at Penn Oaks

 

   Wissahickon senior Ty Sheftic scorched the incoming nine at Penn Oaks Golf Club with a spectacular 6-under-30 on his way to a 2-under 69 that gave him a victory in the Harry Hammond Invitational, a major championship on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, Aug. 11.

   The Harry Hammond is a tournament of champions of sorts with invitations going out to players who finished in first or second place in a Philly Junior Tour event over the last two years.

   The tournament is named for Harry Hammond, a Master PGA professional who was the co-owner of Penn Oaks until selling the course a couple of years ago. When it comes to advocating for junior golf in the Philadelphia area, there is Harry Hammond and then there is everybody else.

   There is a scholarship aspect to the Harry Hammond as players are encouraged to write an essay with results of the scholarship announced later. There are only boys 16-to-18 and girls 16-to-18 divisions, so the tournament is geared toward players who are planning for higher education.

   Conestoga senior Corinne McReynolds, who helped the Pioneers capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown last fall, matched par with a 71 to run away with the victory in the girls 16-to-18 division by seven shots.

   Sheftic, the son of Mark Sheftic, the director of instruction at Sunnybrook Golf Club, was a District One Class AAA qualifier for the Trojans last fall.

   Sheftic was coming off a tie for fifth place with a solid 1-over 72 a day earlier in the Junior Tour Championship at Chester Valley Golf Club.

   It turned out to be perfect preparation for the challenging layout at Penn Oaks, located where Thornbury Township, Delaware County meets Thornbury Township, Chester County along Route 202.

   Sheftic opened the back nine at Penn Oaks with a birdie at the 10^th hole, then ripped off consecutive birdies at 12, 13 and 14 before adding birdies at 16 and 18 to finish out a masterful 2-under 69 that gave him a three-shot victory over Fleetwood senior Cameron Peffel.

   Sheftic also had nine pars on his scorecard.

   Peffel, who finished in a tie for second place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State’s White Course as a sophomore in the fall of 2024, made birdies at the seventh, 15^th and 18^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, including a stretch of five straight pars from 10 through 14, as he earned runnerup honors with a 1-over 72.

   A couple of Wilmington, Del. guys, Quinn Marshall, a senior at the Wilmington Friends School, and Josh Mohn, a senior at St. Mark’s, shared third place as each finished a shot behind Peffel with a 2-over 73.

   Marshall, a top-20 finisher in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship at Baywood Greens in May, made back-to-back birdies at the 11^th and 12^th holes and had 12 pars on his card. Marshall had a pair of streaks of five pars in a row from five through nine and again in the final five holes of his round.

   Mohn, who capped his junior season by finishing in third place in the DIAA Championship at Baywood Greens in the spring, made birdies at the 10^th and 17^th holes and had 12 pars on his card, including a string of five straight pars from 11 through 15.

   Malvern Prep senior Colby Komancheck, one of the Inter-Ac League’s top returning players, headed a group of five players who finished in a tie for fifth place, each posting a 3-over 74.

   Komancheck, a top-five finisher in the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac’s individual championship in each of his first three seasons with the Friars, capped his junior season by claiming the individual title in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Championship at Radley Run Country Club.

   Rounding out the group at 3-over were Souderton senior Chase Andrews, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, Cumberland Valley senior Carson Will, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier a year ago, Brayden Hughes of Hockessin, Del., and Lenape High senior Ravi Gohel, who had been one of the hottest players on the Philly Junior Tour heading into the Harry Hammond.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 16-to-18 division was the trio of Logan Hyndman, a Newtown resident and a senior on the golf team at The Pennington School, David Dempsey of Franklinville, N.J. and Chris Cipollone, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Haverford High last fall, as each recorded a 4-over 75.

   Conestoga’s McReynolds made birdies at the seventh, 10^th, 16^th and 18^th holes and had 10 pars on her scorecard in finishing at the top of the leaderboard in the girls 16-to-18 division with her even-par 71.

   McReynolds had a solid summer and was coming off a tie for eighth place a day earlier in the Junior Tour Championship, which was shortened to nine holes for the girls by stormy weather.

   Exeter senior Giulia Weisser, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in each of her first three seasons of scholastic golf, was McReynolds’ closest pursuer as she made birdies at the sixth and 18^th holes and had nine pars on her card to earn runnerup honors with a 7-over 78.

   Clearview senior Stella Bernardi made a birdie at the 16^th hole and had 11 pars on her card, including a stretch of six consecutive pars from 10 through 15, as she finished a shot behind Weisser in third place with a 79.

   Harriton junior Megan Choi, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in each of her first two seasons of scholastic golf, finished a shot behind Stella Bernardi in fourth place with an 80.

   Choi had lost in a playoff to Valerie Danby for the overall girls title in the Junior Tour Championship a day earlier at Chester Valley.

   Megan Tyhanic of Little Egg Harbor, N.J. and Emily Maurer of Mount Laurel, N.J. shared fifth place, each recording an 83.

   Clearview senior Lydia Bernard, Stella Bernardi’s sister – twins maybe? – finished in seventh place with an 84.

   Indian River junior Ellie Walls, who capped her sophomore season by finishing in third place in the DIAA Championship at Baywood Greens, and Mariana Walker, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Council Rock North last fall, finished in a tie for eighth place, each landing on 85.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the girls 16-to-18 division was Anna Firko, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Concord in the spring, as she finished in 10^th place with an 88.

   Firko, who will attend Thomas Jefferson, a Division II school in Philadelphia, and play golf for the Rams, was the winner of the girls division in the Harry Hammond a year ago.