Owen J. Roberts' Wade tunes up for District One Championship by claiming a Philly Junior Tour victory at Berkleigh

 

   Bret Wade, a freshman on the Owen J. Roberts golf team, tuned up for his appearance in the District One Class AAA Championship by carding a solid 3-over-par 75 at Berkleigh Golf Club in Kutztown to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division Oct. 3^rd.

   Wade made a birdie at the ninth hole, finished out his round with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18 and had nine pars on his scorecard, including five straight pars from 10 through 14, to finish a shot ahead of his Owen J. Roberts teammate and fellow freshman Sam Whitehouse.

   Whitehouse was a par machine at Berkleigh, once the home of the LPGA Tour’s Betsy King Classic, as he had 14 pars on his card, rattling off seven straight pars from the fourth through the 10^th holes and closing out his round with five straight pars.

   Connor Bates, a sophomore on the Perkiomen Valley golf team, made birdies at the fifth, 15^th and 18^th holes and had nine pars on his card as he finished two shots behind Whitehouse in third place with a 78.

   Ian Lu took a road trip from Edison, N.J. to Berks County and finished in fourth place with an 80.

   Carson McNamee, a freshman on a Souderton golf team that captured the District One Class AAA team crown, headed a group of four players tied for fifth place at 83 that included Jackson Ehrlich of Berwyn, Carter Bove of Kennett Square and Toby Parker of Chester Springs.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Brendan Haney, a freshman on the Cardinal O’Hara golf team, and Noah Gates of Ardmore, as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each signing for an 84.

   Lucas Keysock, a senior on the Perkiomen Valley golf team, made a birdie at the 16^th hole and had 13 pars on his scorecard, including a pair of streaks of five pars in a row from three through seven and again from 10 through 14, as he earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with a 5-over 77.

   Shane Cornell, a senior on the Avon Grove golf team, made a birdie at the 15^th hole and had nine pars on his card as he finished two shots behind Keysock in second place with a 79.

   Torrin Denton of Mullica Hill, N.J. rounded out a short field in the 16-to-18 division as he made birdies at the 10^th and 15^th holes and had five pars on his card to finish in third place with an 83.

   Sydney Wellen, a junior on the Agnes Irwin golf team, made a birdie on the 13^th hole and had 11 pars on her scorecard, including a stretch of four consecutive pars from eight through 11 as she captured a Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 16-to-18 division with an 81.

   Wellen finished in a tie for third place in last spring’s Inter-Ac League Championship at Sandy Run Country Club.

   Mya Dendler, a junior on the Pennsbury golf team, opened her round with a birdie at the first hole and had four pars on her card as she rounded out a short field in the 16-to-18 division by finishing in second place with a 92.

   Molly Wagner, a Newark, Del. resident and a junior on the St. Mark’s golf team, made birdies on the ninth and 14^th holes and had six pars on her scorecard, including three straight pars at 11, 12 and 13, as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with an 83.

   Natalie Soporowski of Nazareth made a birdie at the ninth hole and a par at 13 as she rounded out a short field in the 13-to-15 division by finishing in second place with a 100.

   Blake Shurman of Villanova made back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth holes and had six pars on his scorecard, including four straight pars to close out a stellar 1-under 34 as he bested the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers. The kid’s 10-years old.

   Grayson Wright of Philadelphia had eight pars on his card, including seven straight pars to close out his round, as he earned runnerup honors with a 1-over 36.

   Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville made a birdie at the second hole and had five pars on his card, rattling off consecutive pars at four, five and six, as he finished a shot behind Wright in third place with a 37.

   Ryan Kaye of Lansdale and Declan Brainard of Pipersville shared fourth place, each tallying a 39, and Bennett Cho of Chesterbrook and Kash Gray of Eagleville finished in a tie for sixth, each recording a 40.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division was a trio of players tied for eighth place at 53 that included Mason Freeborn of Reading, James Schneider of Penn Valley and Sid Joshi of Coopersburg.

   Natasha Lobo, the talented 11-year-old from Collegeville, had four pars on her scorecard, closing out her round with back-to-back pars at the eighth and ninth holes, as she bested the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 7-over 42.

   Lillian Fry of Pennsburg had four pars on her card, going back-to-back with pars at the sixth and seventh holes, as she earned runnerup honors with a 44.

   Rounding out a short field in the girls 12-and-under division was Juniper Ha of Royersford as she made pars at the fourth and eighth holes to finish in third place with a 49.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gallagher, Comly lead host Haverford School to an Inter-Ac sweep at Gulph Mills

 

   With senior Quinn Gallagher and freshman Stephen Comly each matching par with a 35 at Gulph Mills Golf Club, The Haverford School swept the Inter-Ac League’s invitational Thursday to tighten the race with two more mini-tournaments remaining on the schedule next week.

   Gallagher and Comly led the way as the host Fords put together a 5-over 180 over the challenging Donald Ross layout that is an oasis in the busy traffic pattern in King of Prussia.

   Malvern Prep, behind the individual medalist for the day, junior Mason Matlack, who carded a sparkling 1-under 34, was five shots behind The Haverford School in second place at Gulph Mills with a 185 total.

   Reigning Inter-Ac champion Episcopal Academy finished another four shots behind Malvern Prep in third place with a 189 total.

   The Churchmen maintained their hold on first place with a 17-3 mark through the first four invitationals, but Haverford School and Malvern Prep moved a little closer to EA.

   With their sweep Thursday, the Fords are in second place with a 16-4 record and Malvern Prep is right behind The Haverford School in third place with a 15-5 ledger.

   Backing up Gallagher and Comly for The Haverford School was senior Harry Neilly, who signed for a 1-over 35. Rounding out the counters for the Fords were two more freshmen, Eric Cunningham and Christos Bottos, each of whom recorded a 2-over 37.

   Matlack had three birdies on his scorecard in claiming individual medalist honors for the day and leading the way for Malvern Prep.

   Junior Danny DiDomenico backed up Matlack as he matched par with a 35. Senior captain Colby Komancheck added a 37 for the Friars and senior Michael DiDomencio chipped in with a 4-over 39.

   Sophomore Owen Ciesielka and freshman Charlie Blok each registered a 40 with one of those two scores becoming Malvern Prep’s final counter.

    A day earlier in a nonleague dual match with Central League runnerup Radnor, Malvern Prep established a school record with a spectacular 6-under 169 on its home course at Waynesborough Country Club.

   The Friars’ previous best in relation to par was a 2-under 173 last year at Merion Golf Club’s West Course.

   Michael DiDomenico and Ciesielka led the way for Malvern Prep in its 169-183 victory over the Raptors as each tallied a 3-under 32.

   Senior tri-captain Freddy Hartmann led the way for Episcopal Academy at Gulph Mills with a solid 2-over 37.

   Five other Churchmen posted a 3-over 38, including EA’s two other senior tri-captains, Liam Crowley and Arthur Hampel, senior Connor Smolenski and juniors Jack Gioffre and Tucker Dempsey.

   Hartmann and Malvern Prep’s Komancheck are locked in a tight battle in the Inter-Ac’s individual points chase through four invitationals.

   Hartmann, the winner of the points title a year ago, has compiled a 165-13-10 mark against the rest of the league, good for 340 points. Komancheck has a 164-16-7 record and 336 points.

   The other three Inter-Ac schools, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, Germantown Academy and the William Penn Charter School each carded a 205.

   The Inter-Ac is breaking ties this year by going to a team’s sixth player and Springside Chestnut Hill took fourth place for its first two wins of the season.

   Senior Brandon Varga led the way for the Blue Devils with a 3-over 38.

   Germantown Academy finished in fifth place with a pair of Patriots, junior Sean Taylor and sophomore Oliver Hubbert, leading the way as each recorded a 40.

   Penn Charter finished in sixth place with Jack Sheward and Cole Brown leading the way for the Quakers as each registered a 39.

   Germantown Academy and Penn Charter are tied for fourth place after four invitationals, each owning a 5-15 ledger. Springside Chestnut Hill is in sixth place with a 2-18 mark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creamean is leading the way for Penn State with back-to-back top-five finishes

 

   Penn State’s Alex Creamean, a senior from Winnetka, Ill., has been on a nice little roll as the fall portion of the wraparound 2026-2027 season has been playing out for the Nittany Lions.

   Creamean finished in third place in the Moraine Intercollegiate, hosted by Miami of Ohio, which wrapped up Tuesday at Moraine Country Club in Kettering, Ohio with a 3-under-par 210 total that helped the Nittany Lions finish in seventh place in the 16-team field with a 17-over 869 total.

   I want to focus a little more closely on the showing by Creamean and the Nittany Lions in last week’s Cullan Brown Intercollegiate, hosted by Kentucky at Lexington Country Club in Lexington, Ky., where Creamean finished in a tie for fifth place and led Penn State to a fifth-place finish in the team standings in a tough field that featured some Southeastern Conference entries.

   I will try to touch on all of Penn State’s outings up to this point as head coach Mark Leon tries to build a foundation that might be capable of giving the Nittany Lions, playing out of the Big Ten, a chance to earn its first NCAA regional appearance since 2018.

   Tennessee was the runaway winner of the Cullan Brown, which wrapped up Oct. 6^th, with a 22-under 830 total over the 7,255-yard, par-71 Lexington Country Club layout.

   The Volunteers have been a middle-of-the-pack team in the powerful SEC, but that might be changing with the arrival in Knoxville of Tyler Watts, a freshman from Huntsville, Ala. who is the No. 2 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

   The Cullan Brown was particularly intriguing as it marked the college debut of Watts, who had spent the early part of the season representing the United States in a riveting edition of the Walker Cup Match, the Red, White & Blue ultimately surrendering the Cup with a 13.5-12.5 loss to Great Britain & Ireland at Lahinch Golf Club in County Clare, Ireland.

   The kid was the youngest winner of the Sunnehanna Amateur, an Elite Amateur Series event held at Sunnehanna Country Club, an A.W. Tillinghast gem in Johnstown, in the summer of 2025 when he was going into his senior year in high school.

   He became the youngest winner of the Northeast Amateur, another Elite Amateur Series staple held at Wannamoisett Country Club, the Donald Ross gem in Providence, R.I., in the summer of 2026.

   Got a chance to watch Watts do this thing in a big spot in August in the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course. He fell to eventual runnerup Jay Leng Jr., 1-up, in the round of 16, but Watts’ poise under pressure was really impressive for anybody, let alone a teen-ager.

   It seems unlikely that Watts will stay at Tennessee for four years, but for this season, he makes the Volunteers a force to be reckoned with.

   Watts is joining a pretty talented bunch, too.

   One of the co-medalists in the Cullan Brown was Tennessee’s Christian Pardue, a junior from Arlington, Tenn. who shared the top spot on the leaderboard with Vanderbilt’s Carlos Astiazaran, a senior from Tucson, Ariz. who was competing as an individual as they each landed on 9-under 204 at Lexington.

   Pardue had three rounds in the 60s, opening with a 3-under 68 and adding a 2-under 69 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a sparkling 4-under 67 to earn his first collegiate victory.

   Tennessee just kept getting better as the tournament wore on. The Volunteers opened with a 2-under 282 and added a 6-under 278 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a sizzling 14-under 270. Their 22-under total gave them a 22-shot victory over SEC rival Mississippi State.

   It was in that final round when Watts flashed his considerable talent, firing a 6-under 65 that enabled him to climb into a tie for third place in the individual standings with Xavier’s Kellen Dean, a junior from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., each recording a 6-under 207 total that left them three shots behind Pardue and Astiazaran.

   Watts stood at even-par entering the final round as he opened with a 1-over 72 and added a 1-under 70 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round.

   Tennessee had a third top-10 finisher as Jackson Herrington, a junior from Dickson, Tenn. and No. 73 in the WAGR, ended up in a group of four players tied for eighth place at 2-under 211.

   Herrington sandwiched a 2-under 69 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round with a pair of even-par 71s.

   Tennessee earned a trip to the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. by finishing in fifth place as the three seed in the Bryan Regional last spring.

   The Volunteers came up just short of a spot in the match-play bracket at La Costa as they finished in a four-way tie for seventh place and failed to survive a playoff among those four teams for the final two quarterfinal berths.

   Mississippi State only trailed Tennessee by three shots going into the final round of the Cullan Brown as the Bulldogs opened with a 6-under 278 and added a 1-over 285 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round.

   A final round of 5-over 290 left Mississippi State alone in second place at even-par 852, 22 shots behind the Volunteers.

   Mississippi State was led by Yago Horno Mateo, a freshman from Spain who landed in the group tied for eighth place at 2-under. Horno Mateo sandwiched an even-par 71 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round with a pair of 1-under 70s.

   Mississippi State punched its ticket to the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring by finishing in fifth place as a seven seed in the Bermuda Run Regional. The Bulldogs never got it going at La Costa and failed to earn a spot in the match-play bracket.

   North Carolina State, an Atlantic Coast Conference representative, finished two shots behind Mississippi State in third place with a 2-over 854 total.

   The Wolfpack added a 2-over 286 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to their opening-round 287 before closing with a solid 2-under 281.

   N.C. State failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a nine seed in the Bermuda Run Regional last spring.

   Host Kentucky, another SEC representative, was another shot behind N.C. State in fourth place with a 3-over 855 total.

   The Wildcats were solid in the opening-day double round, adding a 2-under 282 in the afternoon to their opening-round 281. Kentucky closed with an 8-over 292.

   Kentucky also teed it up in the Bermuda Run Regional last spring and failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a 10 seed.

   Really nice showing by Penn State as the Nittany Lions struggled in the opening-day double round, adding an 8-over 292 in the afternoon to their opening-round 293. But with Creamean leading the way with a 4-under 68, Penn State closed with a sparkling 12-under 272 to finish in fifth place in the 15-team field with a 5-over 857 total.

   Creamean matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added a 2-under 69 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with that 68 that left him in a tie for fifth place with Western Kentucky’s Will Easterlin, a sophomore from Americus, Ga. with a 5-under 208 total.

   Backing up Pardue, Watts and Herrington for Tennessee was Rudy Sautron, a senior from France who finished among the group tied for 12^th place with a 1-under 212 total. Sautron contributed a sparkling 4-under 67 to the Volunteers’ strong finish after opening with a 1-over 72 and adding a 73 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round.

   Rounding out the Tennessee lineup was Pennson Badgett, a freshman from Pilot Mountain, N.C. who finished in the group tied for 25^th place at 2-over 215. Badgett matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added a 1-under 70 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 2-over 74.

   Tennessee’s depth was on display as Bruce Murphy, a graduate student from Atlanta, Ga. competing as an individual, joined his teammate Herrington in the foursome tied for eighth place at 2-under.

   After opening with a 2-over 73, Murphy put together a sparkling 4-under 67 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Two other Volunteers competing as individuals, Chase Kyes, a sophomore from Birmingham, Ala., and Luke Smith, a sophomore from Canada, finished in the group tied for 21^st place at 1-over 214.

   Kyes opened with a solid 2-under 68 and added a 3-over 74 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 72. Smith was really solid, opening with a 1-under 70 before adding a pair of 1-over 72s in the final two rounds.

   SEC power Vanderbilt didn’t send a full team to the Cullan Brown, but Astiazaran, one of the four Commodores competing as individuals, got a share of the individual medalist honors with Tennessee’s Pardue with a 9-under total.

   Astiazaran, a transfer from Pacific, trailed Western Kentucky’s Easterlin by a shot going into the final round after Astizaran added a sparkling 5-under 66 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening-round 69. He closed with another 2-under 69 to get a share of first place.

   Really nice showing by Xavier’s Dean as he added a 1-under 70 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening-round 68 before closing with a 69 to share third place with Tennessee’s Watts at 6-under, three shots behind the co-medalists.

   Dean helped the Musketeers capture the Big East crown last spring.

   After opening with a 1-under 70, Western Kentucky’s Easterlin ripped off a sizzling 7-under 64 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to take a one-shot lead into the final round.

   Easterlin closed with a 3-over 74 to fall back into a tie for fifth place with Penn State’s Creamean at 5-under.

   A couple players from Big 12 representative Cincinnati earned top-10 finishes in the Cullan Brown as Timmy Hollenbeck, a senior from Mason, Ohio, finished alone in seventh place with a 4-under 204 total and Brayden Miller, a sophomore from Goshen, Ind., rounded out the quartet tied for eighth at 2-under.

   Hollenbeck added a sparkling 4-under 67 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening-round 70 before closing with a 1-over 72. Miller posted back-to-back 1-under 70 in both ends of the opening-day double round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Backing up Cremean at the Cullan Brown was senior Tim Peters, a State College homeboy who was a two-time PIAA Class AA qualifier at St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy and began his college career at Millersville. Peters closed with a 2-under 69 to finish in the group tied for 25^th place at 2-over 215. He had opened with a pair of 2-over 73s in the opening-day double round.

   It’s been a solid fall for freshman John Curran, a member of Devon Prep’s PIAA Class AA championship team as a junior in 2023. Pretty sure Curran took a gap year before ending up at Penn State.

   Curran and fellow Nittany Lion Jackson Saroney, a sophomore from Syracuse, N.Y., finished among the group tied for 36^th place, each ending up with a 4-over 217 total.

   Curran struggled a little in the opening-day double round, opening with a 5-over 76 and adding a 74 in the afternoon. But he closed with the best round of his fledgling college career, a sparkling 5-under 67.

   Saroney contributed a 4-under 68 to Penn State’s final-round surge. Saroney had opened with a 2-over 73 before adding a 76 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round.

   Will Preston, a junior from Grand Rapids, Mich., rounded out the Penn State lineup as he finished in the trio tied for 76^th place with a 229 total. Preston struggled in the opening-day double round, adding a 7-over 78 in the afternoon to his opening-round 79, but finished up with a solid 1-over 72.

   Junior Hunter Stetson, winner of the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac League’s individual championship as a sophomore at Episcopal Academy in 2021, was in the lineup for N.C. State and finished in a tie for 68^th place with a 225 total.

   Stetson, a Golf Association of Philadelphia major champion after capturing the title in the Patterson Cup in 2025 at Waynesborough Country Club, added a 5-over 76 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening-round 77 before closing with a solid 1-over 72.

   Stetson got to play a home game in the U.S. Amateur when he earned a spot in the field at Merion’s East Course in August. Stetson failed to earn a spot in the match-play bracket as he opened with a 7-over 77 at Philadelphia Country Club and added a 6-over 76 in the second round at Merion.

   Creamean was right back at it for Penn State in this week’s Moraine Intercollegiate in Ohio.

   He opened with a 3-under 68 and added a 1-under 70 in the afternoon of Monday’s double round before closing with a 1-over 72 to finish in third place with a 3-under 210 total, one of just six players in the field to finish under par for the tournament.

   It was Creamean’s second straight top-five finish.

   After opening with a 5-over 289, Penn State matched par with a 284 in a solid team effort in the afternoon of Monday’s double round. The Nittany Lions closed with a 296 to finish with a 17-over 869 total.

   Penn State had opened its season by again co-hosting the Canadian Collegiate Invitational, which wrapped up Sept. 14^th at the Oviinbyrd Golf Club in MacTier, Ontario.

   The Nittany Lions finished in eighth place in the 13-team field with a 41-over 893 total.

   Peters led the way for Penn State north of the border as he finished in the group tied for 15^th place with a 5-over 218 total.

   Creamean got his senior season off to a solid start at Oviinbyrd as he finished in a tie for 18^th place with a 7-over 220 total.

   In its second start of the fall campaign, Penn State finished last of 16 teams against a tough field in the Windon Memorial, hosted by Big Ten power Northwestern, which wrapped up Sept. 29^th at the Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest, Ill.

   The Nittany Lions opened with a 5-over 285 and added a 293 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 292 to finish with a 30-over 870 total.

   Curran made his college debut in the Windon Memorial and was the leading Lion, ending up in the group tied for 55^th place with an 8-over 218 total. Curran opened with a 1-over 71 and added a 72 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 75.