Hoffman, DeVos share top spot in Philly Junior Tour stop at Tanglewood Manor

 

   John Hoffman of Marlton, N.J. and Zac DeVos, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Bensalem by earning a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship a year ago, each carded a 7-over-par 79 at Tanglewood Manor Golf Club to share the top spot in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop Sept. 26^th.

   Tanglewood Manor’s location in Quarryville, Lancaster County made it the only Philly Junior Tour stop scheduled that weekend to be played as the nor’easter that took up residence in the region kept junior players off the golf course elsewhere.

   A Philly Junior Tour stop scheduled Sept. 26^th at the John F. Byrne Golf Course in Philadelphia was canceled as was another stop in Philadelphia at Bala Golf Club, scheduled for Sept. 27^th. Hey, at least the weather has held up for the league championship and District One tournaments being played during the week as the high school season plays out.

   Hoffman got off to a fast start with birdies at the first and fourth holes and had nine pars on his scorecard, including a stretch of seven consecutive pars from eight through 14.

   DeVos made a birdie at the fifth hole and had 12 pars on his card, matching Hoffman’s run of seven straight pars from eight through 14.

   Felix Chen, a junior on the Lancaster Country Day School golf team, made birdies at the second, fourth and ninth holes and had seven pars on his card as he finished a shot behind the co-medalists in third place with an 80.

   Torrin Denton of Mullica Hill, N.J. took fourth place with an 82, Trey Barkman, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a senior at West Chester Rustin this fall, was fifth with an 83 and Joel Vogt of Rising Sun, Md. and Lucas Keysock, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Perkiomen Valley this fall, shared sixth, each tallying an 84.

   Pierce Drake, a senior on the Downingtown East golf team, took eighth place with an 86, Garrett Keninitz of Ringtown was ninth with an 87 and Nicholas Fargnoli of Mickleton, N.J. rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as he finished 10^th with an 88.

   Tucker Friedman, a sophomore on the Central Dauphin golf team, made a birdie at the 10^th hole and had 10 pars on his scorecard as he claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with an 8-over 80.

   Connor Bates, a sophomore on the Perkiomen Valley golf team, made a birdie at the 12^th hole and had nine pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Friedman in second place with an 81.

   Steven Musacchio of Glenmoore had 11 pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from the fifth through the eighth holes, as he finished in third place with an 84.

   Thayer Boyd of Kennett Square took fourth place with an 88, Caeden Ruohonan of Avondale was fifth with a 91, Charlie Wei of Cochranville was sixth with a 93 and Jackson Dingleman of Manheim and Mason Hall of White Hall, Md. shared seventh, each signing for a 94.

   Patrick Scally of Garnet Valley took ninth place with a 97 and Harrison Miller of Palmyra rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as he finished 10^th with a 111.

   Kash Gray of Eagleville and Connor Michaels of Lancaster finished in a tie atop the leaderboard among the boys 12-and-under nine-holers, each recording a 5-over 41.

   Gray had six pars on his scorecard, rattling off three straight pars at the second, third and fourth holes. Michaels had five pars on his card, opening his round with three straight pars.

   Matthew Meiswich of West Chester made a birdie at the seventh hole and had four pars on his card, including three consecutive pars at three, four and five, as he finished a shot behind Gray and Michaels in third place with a 42.

   Bennett Cho of Chesterbrook, Easton Brenner of Lititz and Ryan Kaye of Lansdale finished in a tie for fourth place, each registering a 46.

   Rounding out the boys 12-and-under division were two members of Team Swanson of Lititz as Mills Swanson took seventh place with a 49 and Dawes Swanson was eighth with a 53.

   Juniper Ha of Royersford was the lone entry in the girls 12-and-under division and she made pars at the third and ninth holes on her way to a 49.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bucknell getting a big boost from fabulous freshmen Barrickman, McDermott

 

   Anybody who follows high school golf in the Philadelphia area was well aware that the Bucknell men’s golf team was getting a major infusion of talent when Unionville’s Charlie Barrickman and Radnor’s Brad McDermott decided to take their talents to Lewisburg.

   With Barrickman finishing in third place and McDermott ending up fifth, those additions to the Bison’s roster produced Bucknell’s first team title since 2021 in the Matthew’s Auto Collegiate Golf Championship, which wrapped up Oct. 5^th at The Links at Hiawatha Landing in Apalachin, N.Y.

   Barrickman was the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Player of the Year in 2025, largely on the strength of a tie for third place in the Philadelphia Open, the annual gathering of the most talented players in the region, pros and amateurs alike, at Bidermann Golf Club.

   Barrickman capped a brilliant scholastic career a year ago by finishing in third place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State and then leading the Longhorns to the Class AAA state team crown.

   Barrickman, who plays out of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club, earned a spot in the field for the U.S. Amateur in August and opened his bid for a spot in the match-play bracket with a sparkling 1-over-par 71 at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course.

   He struggled a little at Philadelphia Country Club in the second round with a 79 as he failed to earn a spot in the match-play bracket. But teeing it up in U.S. Amateur in your hometown a couple of months after graduating from high school had to be quite an experience.

   McDermott, who plays out of Merion Golf Club, earned his second trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Radnor a year ago and helped the Raptors finish a shot behind Barrickman and Unionville in a tie for second place in the state Class AAA team chase.

   As college debuts go, Barrickman’s was fairly spectacular as he captured the individual title in the Alex Lagowitz Memorial with a sparkling 7-under 209 total at Seven Oaks Golf Club in Hamilton, N.Y. over the Labor Day weekend, becoming Bucknell’s first individual champion since 2023.

   Barrickman’s victory helped the Bison finish in fifth place in the Alex Lagowitz Memorial.

   Barrickman opened with a 4-under 68 over the 7,104-yard, par-72 Hiawatha Landing layout, and McDermott added a 2-under 70 to help Bucknell, which plays out of the Patriot League, match par in the opening round of the Matthew’s Auto Collegiate with a 288.

   That left the Bison seven shots behind La Salle, an Atlantic 10 Conference representative that opened with a sparkling 7-under 281.

   Sounds like the wind kicked up at Hiawatha Landing for the second round and Bucknell’s 10-over 298 was good enough for the Bison to overcome La Salle and capture the team crown with a 10-over 586 total.

   Barrickman added a 2-over 74 in the second round to his opening-round 68 as he finished in third place in the individual standings with a 2-under 142 total.

   McDermott added a 3-over 75 in the second round to his opening-round 70 as he finished in fifth place with a 1-over 145 total.

   Bucknell had a third top-10 finisher in the individual standings as Taylor Kuehn, a senior from the golfing Kuehn family out of Asheville, N.C., finished among the foursome tied for ninth place at 3-over 147.

   Kuehn, whose mother Brenda and sister Rachel starred collegiately at Wake Forest and have both secured clinching points in Curtis Cup victories for the United States, added a 2-over 74 in the second round to his opening-round 73.

   La Salle, behind individual champion Gavin Dosch, a senior from Draper, Utah, finished four shots behind Bucknell in second place in the team standings with a 14-over 590 total. After their hot start, the Explorers struggled in the second round with a 21-over 309.

   Dosch grabbed the individual lead with a sparkling 5-under 67 in the opening round. He matched par in the second round with a 72 and held on for a two-shot victory, becoming La Salle’s first individual tournament winner since 2024.

   La Salle also got a strong showing from graduate student Logan Paczewski, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during an outstanding scholastic career at Dallas, as he finished alone in fourth place, two shots behind Barrickman at even-par 144.

   Failed to mention this in my post on the John MacDonald Temple Invitational, but Paczewski, like Barrickman, earned a spot in the field for the U.S. Amateur in August. Paczewski was solid in qualifying for match play, carding a 3-over 73 in the opening round at Philadelphia Country Club and adding a 3-over 73 at Merion’s East Course in the second round.

   Paczewski, whose college journey has included stops at George Mason and Rutgers, contributed a 4-under 68 to La Salle’s fast start in the Matthew’s Auto Collegiate before adding a 4-over 76 in the second round.

   St. Bonaventure, another Atlantic 10 representative, finished two shots behind La Salle in third place with a 16-over 592 total, the Bonnies adding a 9-over 297 in the second round to their opening-round 298.

   St. Bonaventure was led by Colin Barber, a sophomore from Victor, N.Y. who finished among a trio tied for sixth place with Laval freshman Rafael Mouty and Trinity’s Charlie Mullin, a junior from Cincinnati, Oho, each landing on 2-over 146.

   Barber matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a 2-over 74 in the second round.

   Barrickman’s teammate on Unionville’s Class AAA state championship team a year ago, Nicolas Gaughan, gave St. Bonaventure a second top-10 finisher as he ended up in the quartet tied for ninth place at 3-over.

   Gaughan opened with a solid 2-under 70 before struggling a little in the second round with a 5-over 77.

   Iona, the reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion, finished three shots behind St. Bonaventure in fourth place with a 19-over 595 total. The Gaels, whose MAAC victory earned them a spot in the NCAA Marana Regional last spring, bounced back from an opening-round 302 with a 5-over 293 in the second round.

   Iona was led by Jennings Oelke, a sophomore from Tigard, Ore. who earned runnerup honors in the individual standings with a 3-under 141 total that left him two shots behind Dosch, the individual champion.

   Oelke matched par in his opening round at Hiawatha Landing with a 72 before adding a solid 3-under 69 in the second round.

   Le Moyne College, a Northeast Conference representative, was another six shots behind Iona in fifth place in the 13-team field with a 601 total, the Dolphins opening with a solid 6-over 294 before struggling to a 307 in the second round.

   Backing up Barrickman, McDermott and Kuehn for Bucknell was Jaxon Brown, a sophomore from Lakewood Ranch, Fla. who finished among the group tied for 25^th place with an 8-over 152 total. After opening with a 5-over 77, Brown added a 75 in the second round.

   Rounding out the Bucknell lineup was Jack Hartman, a junior from Bethesda, Md. who finished in the group tied for 76^th place with a 164 total as he added an 83 in the second round to his opening-round 81.

   Henry Bolster, a sophomore from Summit, N.J., competed as an individual for the Bison and finished in the group tied for 64^th place with a 161 total as he opened with a solid 1-over 73, but struggled to an 88 in the second round.

   Rounding out the Bucknell contingent was Conner Freedman, a freshman from Chapel Hill, N.C. who was also competing as an individual. Freedman added an 82 in the second round to his opening-round 84 as he finished in 83^rd place with a 166 total.

   Bucknell finished last of 15 teams in The Goat, which wrapped up Sept. 20^th at the Naval Academy Golf Club in Annapolis, Md., with a 69-over 921 total. Barrickman finished in a tie for 37^th place in the individual standings with 10-over 223 total.

   Laval’s Mouty opened with a 3-under 69 at Hiawatha Landing and added a 5-over 77 in the second round to join St. Bonaventure’s Barber and Trinity’s Mullin in the trio tied for sixth place at 2-over.

   Mullin matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 2-over 74 to also land in the tie for sixth place at 2-over.

   Joining Bucknell’s Kuehn and St. Bonaventure’s Gaughan in the foursome tied for ninth place at 3-over were Wagner’s Anthony Rzeszutko, a freshman from Staten Island, N.Y., and Mercyhurst’s Ryan Wolk, a freshman from Los Angeles, Calif.

   Rzeszutko opened with a solid 1-under 71 before adding a 4-over 76 in the second round. Wolk opened with a 1-over 73 before finishing up with a 74.

   Backing up Dosch and Paczewski for La Salle were graduate student Billy Pabst, the PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at North Pocono in 2021, and Payton Hawke, a senior from Canada, both of whom landed in the group tied for 45^th place at 11-over 155.

   Pabst, who began his college career at Penn State, opened with a 4-over 76 before adding a 79 in the second round. Hawke contributed a solid 1-under 71 to La Salle’s fast start, but struggled to an 84 in the second round.

   Rounding out the La Salle lineup was Kyle Virsik, a sophomore from Melbourne, Fla. who finished among the group tied for 54^th place with a 157 total. Virsik opened with a 3-over 75, but struggled in the second round with an 82.

   Another graduate student at La Salle, Jack Ross, a product of Shawnee High, competed as an individual in the Matthew’s Auto Collegiate and had a nice showing, finishing in the trio tied for 13^th place with a 4-over 148 total.

   Ross matched par with a 72 in the second round after opening with a 4-over 76.

   Rounding out the La Salle contingent was Sam Parker, a freshman from Hickory, N.C. who also competed as an individual and finished among the trio tied for 31^st place with a 9-over 153 total. After opening with a 4-over 76, Parker added a 77 in the second round.

   Lafayette senior Winston Kelenc-Blank, a Rumson, N.J. native who used to show up on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour leaderboards as a junior player, finished in the group tied for 25^th place with an 8-over 152 total.

   Kelenc-Blank, who played scholastically at The Peddie School and Choate Rosemary Hall, opened with a 3-over 75 before adding a 77 in the second round.

   Kelenc-Blank helped Lafayette, another Patriot League entry, finish in seventh place in the team standings with a 34-over 610 total.

   Bucknell and La Salle were scheduled to meet again as the Bison were hosting the Bucknell Invitational at the Bucknell Golf Club.

   The remnants of Hurricane Isaias forced tournament officials to cancel Sunday’s opening round and the tournament was shortened to 36 holes to be played Monday and Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

 

Shaw's consistency earns him another Philly Junior Tour victory at Riverwinds

 

   Kie Shaw, a senior on the Delaware Military Academy golf team, carded a solid 1-over-par 73 at the Riverwinds Golf & Tennis Club in West Deptford, N.J. to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division Sept. 20^th.

   That Sunday started rainy, but there was a weather window and the junior golfers took advantage of it to get in their appointed rounds.

   Shaw, who finished in a tie for fifth place in last spring’s Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship at Baywood Greens, made birdies at the second and 10^th holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard, including a stretch of six consecutive pars from three through eight.

   The victory at Riverwinds came just eight days after Shaw fired a 2-under 70 to capture a Philly Junior Tour victory at Odessa National Golf Club in Townsend, Del.

   David Dempsey of Franklinville, N.J. and Ryan Sun of Morganville, N.J. shared runnerup honors as each finished four shots behind Shaw with a 5-over 77.

   Dempsey made a birdie at the 10^th hole and had 12 pars on his card, including two streaks of five straight pars from five through nine and again from 12 through 16.

   Sun made birdies at the fourth, 16^th and 18^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from 12 through 15.

   Garnet Valley junior Frank Kunze finished a shot behind Dempsey and Sun in fourth place with a 78.

   Kunze’s showing at Riverwinds set the stage for a very nice scholastic postseason run as he reached the District One Class AAA Championship by finishing in a tie for sixth place in the Central League Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Course Sept. 30^th and then came back this week to finish in a tie for 11^th at Raven’s Claw Golf Club and Turtle Creek to punch his ticket to the PIAA Class AAA Championship.

   Nicholas Fargnoli of Mickleton, N.J. and Willilam Thorkeson, a Bryn Mawr resident and a sophomore on the golf team at The Haverford School, shared fifth place, each signing for a 79, Parker Kriews of Manahawkin, N.J. was seventh with an 80 and Jack Kessler, another Mickleton, N.J. guy, and Tineo Anderson of Mount Royal, N.J. finished in a tie for eighth, each tallying an 81.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was Anthony Beach of Westville, N.J. as he finished in 10^th place with an 84.

   Helmut Dang of Newtown Square and Jonathan Thomas of Landenberg finished in a tie atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division, each recording a 1-over 73.

   Dang, like Shaw, had been a Philly Junior Tour winner eight days earlier at Odessa National. Dang made birdies at the third and 13^th holes and had 12 pars on his scorecard, including a run of four straight pars from 14 through 17.

   Thomas made back-to-back birdies at the 12^th and 13^th holes, added another birdie at 15 and had 11 pars on his card, including four straight pars to close out his round and another string of five straight pars from seven through 11.

   Jackson Roy of Medford, N.J. and Jack Gilbert of Bryn Mawr finished in a tie for third place, each ending up two shots behind Dang and Thomas with a 5-over 77.

   Roy made birdies at the first and fourth holes and had 10 pars on his card. Gilbert made back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes and had nine pars on his card. Gilbert got off to a fast start and was 2-under through six holes.

   James Wilson of Wilmington, Del. took fifth place with a 78 and Victor Sage, a Broomall resident and a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team, and Michael Perry, another Wilmington, Del. guy, finished in a tie for sixth place, each registering a 79.

   Dean Matta, a freshman on the Avon Grove golf team, and Carson McNamee, a freshman on the Souderton golf team, shared eighth place, each carding an 80, and Jack Bishay of West Chester rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished 10^th with an 81.

   The best score among the girls came out of the 13-to-15 division as Mallie Heenan of Ocean City, N.J. made a birdie at the 10^th hole and had nine pars on her scorecard, including three straight pars at 15, 16 and 17, on her way to a 79 that gave her a Philly Junior Tour victory.

   Emma Cowan of Moorestown, N.J. made birdies at the seventh and 17^th holes and had eight pars on her card, including runs of three straight pars at three, four and five and again at 13, 14 and 15, as she earned runnerup honors with an 83.

   Shree Desai of Cinnaminson, N.J. had seven pars on her card, including three straight pars at the sixth, seventh and eighth holes, as she finished in third place with an 88.

   Sonia Rosenman, another Moorestown, N.J. gal, took fourth place with a 92 and Julie Costello, another Ocean City, N.J. entry, finished fifth with a 94.

   Antonella Ferrer of Wynnewood took sixth place with a 105 and Finley Campbell of West Chester rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished seventh with a 122.

   Olivia Bond of Del Haven, N.J. was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and she made back-to-back pars at the fourth and fifth holes on her way to a 102.

   Brody Rollins of Milton, Del. made birdies at the fourth and seventh holes and had six pars on his scorecard, opening his round with three straight pars, as he bested the field of 12-and-under nine-holers with a sparkling 1-under 35.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr opened his round with a birdie at the first hole and had six pars on his card with separate strings of three pars in a row at two, three and four and again at seven, eight and nine, as he finished two shots behind Rollins in second place with a 1-over 37.

   Samuel Karas of Bue Bell and Damien Dollard of Cinnaminson, N.J., the Philly Junior Tour’s boys 12-and-under Player of the Year in 2025, shared third place, each signing for 40.

   Karas made a birdie at the fourth hole and had five pars on his card, including three consecutive pars at six, seven and eight. Dollard had six pars on his card, opening his round with four straight pars.

   Kash Gray of Eagleville and Bennett Cho of Chesterbrook shared fifth place, each tallying a 41, and James Schneider of Penn Valley finished alone in seventh with a 42.

   Kayaan Patel of Mullica Hill, N.J. and Jamie Cahn, another Penn Valley guy, shared eighth place, each recording a 43, and Ryan Scully, another Chesterbrook entry, rounded out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished 10^th with a 44.

   Claire Malbacho of Haverford made a birdie at the fourth hole and had three pars on her scorecard as she bested the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a solid 5-over 41.

   Olivia Konieczki of Sewell, N.J. made three straight pars at the second, third and fourth holes as she earned runnerup honors with a 46.

   Victoria Leonard of Merion Station rounded out the field in the girls 12-and-under division as she finished in third place with a 57.