Friel puts together a steady round at Bensalem Township to capture a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Charles Friel, a Gladwyne resident and a junior on the golf team at The Haverford School, carded a solid 4-over-par 74 in windy conditions on a windy first Saturday in May to finish in first place in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Bensalem Township Country Club.

   Friel made a birdie on the 15^th hole and had 13 pars on his scorecard. Friel made pars on 11 of his first 12 holes, including six straight pars to open his round.

   Vaughn Smartt of Bryn Mawr made birdies on the ninth and 16^th holes and had eight pars on his card, including four straight pars to open his round, as he earned runnerup honors among the older guys with a 6-over 76 that left him two shots behind Friel.

   Alex Fischer of Fort Washington had 11 pars on his card, making pars on seven of his first eight holes, including six straight pars to open his round, as he finished a shot behind Smartt in third place with a 7-over 77.

   Robert Rittereiser, in the midst of his freshman season on the golf team at Salesianum, and Robert Stout of Trenton, N.J. shared fourth place, each tallying a 79, Ryan Eisenhart, a sophomore on the Spring-Ford golf team, was sixth with an 82, Anthony Gracey, a sophomore on the Central York golf team, was seventh with an 83 and Brady Morris, a junior on the Governor Mifflin golf team, finished eighth with an 85.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Neil Ray of West Chester and Christian Bennett of Wilmington, Del. as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each signing for an 89.

   Thomas Holt IV of Haddonfield, N.J. and Helmut Dang of Newtown Square shared the top spot in the 13-to-15 division as each recorded an 8-over 78.

   Holt made an early birdie on the seventh hole, went back-to-back with birdies at 11 and 12, added a fourth birdie at 15 and had three pars on his scorecard.

   The 13-year-old Dang, a Newtown Square resident who was regularly in contention while playing in the ranks of the 12-and-under nine-holers a year ago, made birdies at the 12^th and 15^th holes and had six pars on his card.

   Carter Robbins of Warrington had 10 pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from the second through the fifth holes, as he finished a shot behind the two co-medalists in third place with a 79.

   Mason McGovern, a Newtown Square resident and a sophomore on the golf team at St. Joseph’s Prep, and Kaycen Subbio of Blue Bell finished in a tie for fourth place, each tallying an 82.

   Stephen Comly III, another Newtown Square guy, Nathan Barker of Malvern and Camden Blevins of Glen Mills finished in a tie for sixth place, each registering an 84.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Crissman Sullivan, a sophomore on the Spring-Ford golf team, and Jack Bishay of West Chester as each carded an 85 to finish in a tie for ninth place.

   The best score among the girls emerged from the 13-to-15 division as Sara Fanelli, coming off a solid sophomore season with the Radnor golf team, opened her round with a birdie at the first hole and had eight pars on her scorecard on her way to an 81 that earned her a Philly Junior Tour victory.

   Alexa Mcelwain of Schnecksville had four pars on her card, three of them coming on the Bensalem Township’s incoming nine, as she earned runnerup honors with an 88.

   Team Soporowski of Nazareth, Lindsay and Natalie – both Class of 2030 competitors, so maybe twins – finished in a tie for third place, each posting a 96.

   Lindsay Soporowski made a birdie on the 11^th hole and had two pars on her card and Natalie Soporowski had three pars on her card.

   He Hannah of Chadds Ford took fifth place with a 97, Gigi Lake of Newtown was sixth with a 100 and Annabelle Barr of Gladwyne was seventh with a 107.

   Gian Patel of Malvern, Texas took eighth place with a 121, Karena Boyd of Kennett Square was ninth with a 128 and Brooke Platt of Blue Bell rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished 10^th with a 130.

   Nicole Tarquinio of Bridgeton, N.J. made birdies on the eighth and 12^th holes and had six pars on her scorecard as she earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with an 87.

   Julia Biko, a sophomore on the North Pocono golf team, had five pars on her card, four of them coming on the incoming nine at Bensalem Township, as she earned runnerup honors with a 93.

   Mariana Walker, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Council Rock North last fall, had four pars on her card as she finished a shot behind Biko in third place with a 94.

   Kalista Spence of Phoenixville took fourth place with a 107 and Christina St. Pierre, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Pennsbury last fall, rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as she finished fifth with a 110.

   Brody Rollins of Milton, Del. made back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes and had five pars on his scorecard as he topped the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with a solid 1-over 36.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr went back-to-back with birdies at the eighth and ninth holes and had three pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 4-over 39.

   James Wilson of Wilmington, Del. made a birdie on the third hole and had four pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 40.

   Muego and Wilson were coming off co-medalist honors in the boys 12-and-under division in a Philly Junior Tour stop the previous Sunday at Maple Dale Country Club.

   Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. took fourth place with a 41, Alex Cheng of Wilmington, Del. was fifth with a 42, and Damien Dollard of Cinnaminson, N.J., the reigning Philly Junior Tour Player of the Year in the boys 12-and-under division, and Luke George of Mullica Hill, N.J. finished in a tie for sixth, each recording a 43.

   Aidan Herbert of New Hope took eighth place with a 45, Brock Gogolak of Philadelphia was ninth with a 50 and Beau Townend of Devon and Jamie Cahn of Penn Valley rounded out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division as they finished in a tie for 10^th, each tallying a 51.

   Skylar Crutchfield of Elkins Park made pars on the second and seventh holes as she topped a short field in the girls 12-and-under division with a 45.

   Olivia Konieczki of Sewell, N.J. made a birdie on the second hole and a par at seven as she rounded out the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers by finishing in second place with a 49.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ole Miss knocks off Florida in final at Sea Island to wear SEC crown for the first time in 42 years

 

   It would have been easy to overlook Mississippi going into the Southeastern Conference Championship, which wrapped up April 26^th at the Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course on St. Simons Island, Ga.

   Ole Miss was only No. 12 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings with four SEC rivals ranked higher, including No. 1 Auburn.

   But there the Rebels were hoisting the SEC trophy a couple of Sundays ago after they knocked off the aforementioned top-ranked Tigers, 3-2, in the semifinals a day earlier and then pulled out a 4-1 victory over Florida in the final, the Gators then at No. 4 in the Scoreboard rankings and having risen to No. 2 in the aftermath of the SEC Championship.

   It was only the second SEC championship in the history of the Ole Miss program and its first since the 1984 squad captured the program’s only other SEC crown.

   Maybe some people dismissed Ole Miss’ chances when Michael La Sasso, the NCAA individual champion a year ago at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., departed the program during the midseason pause to join LIV Golf.

   But, with Cameron Tankersly, a senior from Dickson, Tenn. and No. 37 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), delivering the clinching point in both the semifinal win over Auburn and in the final against Florida, Ole Miss landed at the top of the heap of America’s deepest and most talented collection of amateur golf talent.

   You will be seeing many of the top-10 finishers in 54 holes of qualifying for stroke play at Sea Island, which concluded April 24^th, on PGA Tour leaderboards in the next decade or so.

   As I wade my way through five days of high-level play in the SEC Championship, the bids to the NCAA regionals will be released, so I’ll work them into this post. Trust me, most of these SEC teams will be headed for the regionals, which tee off May 18.

   Tankersley held on for a 1-up victory over Parker Sands, a senior from Edmond, Okla., that sealed the deal in the final for Ole Miss and capped a 3-0 march through match play for Tankersley.

   Tom Fischer, a senior from Birmingham, Ala. and No. 26 in the WAGR, put a point on the board for Ole Miss as he rolled to a 5 and 4 decision over Zack Swanwick, a sophomore from New Zealand and No. 51 in the WAGR. That also capped a 3-0 run through the match-play bracket for the red-hot Fischer.

   Swanwick was one of the heroes as a freshman in Florida’s run to the SEC title a year ago at Sea Island.

   Ole Miss’ other full point came from Collins Trolio, a junior from West Point, Miss., as he, too, capped a 3-0 run in match play with a 4 and 3 victory over Matthew Kress, a senior from Saratoga, Calif. and No. 45 in the WAGR.

   Collins’ older brother Cohen, a senior from West Point, Miss. and No. 53 in the WAGR, finished in a deadlock with Florida’s Jack Turner, a junior from Orlando, Fla. and No. 24 in the WAGR.

   Cohen Trolio had led the way for the Rebels in qualifying for match play as he finished in a tie for third place with a 10-under 200 total over the 7,055-yard, par-70 Seaside Course layout.

   Cohen Trolio had set the tone for the week for Ole Miss when he torched the Seaside Course layout with a sizzling 6-under 64 in the opening round.

   Daniel Tolf, a freshman from Sweden, battled Luke Poulter, a junior from Orlando, Fla. and No. 18 in the WAGR, to a tie. But who are we kidding, Poulter is the son of U.S. Ryder Cup nemesis Ian Poulter, and is very much a Brit, despite his current address in Orlando.

   Tankersley, Fischer and Cohen Trolio were in the lineup for Old Miss in a hard-fought loss to eventual national champion Oklahoma State in the NCAA Championship semifinals a year earlier at La Costa.

   Ole Miss was awarded a No. 2 seed in the Bermuda Run Regional. Florida is one of four SEC teams to earn No. 1 seeds out of the six regionals as the Gators are headed for the Columbus Regional.

   A day before its victory over Florida, Ole Miss booked its spot in the final with an epic 3-2 triumph over top-ranked Auburn, Tankersley finishing it off with a 1-up decision over Josiah Gilbert, a junior from Millbrook, Ala. and No. 14 in the WAGR.

   But probably the turning point in the Rebels’ run to the SEC Championship was Collins Trolio taking down Jackson Koivun, a junior from Chapel Hill, N.C. and the No. 1 player in the WAGR, by making seven birdies on his way to a 2 and 1 victory.

   A day earlier, Koivun had added a final round of 7-under 63 to the back-to-back 64s he had posted in the first two rounds as he captured his third straight SEC crown by seven shots with a remarkable 19-under 191 total.

   Koivun became just the second player in the storied history of the SEC to earn a third straight individual crown, joining LSU’s B.R. McLendon, who accomplished the feat from 1965 to 1967. Yeah kids, that was long before the Internet.

   Koivun’s 191 total broke the SEC record of 192 established by Alabama’s Bobby Wyatt in 2014. It was Koivun’s sixth victory in the wraparound 2025-2026 season.

   Fischer added the other full point for Ole Miss with a 3 and 1 victory over Cayden Pope, a junior from Lexington, Ky. and No. 48 in the WAGR.

   Not that Auburn went without a fight.

   Logan Reilly, a freshman from Lovettsville, Va., earned a 2 and 1 decision over Tolf, and Jake Albert, a freshman from Blacksburg, Va., claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Cohen Trolio.

   Koivun and Gilbert are holdovers from Auburn’s run to its first national title two springs ago at La Costa. Koivun, Gilbert and Pope were in the lineup for the Tigers’ gut-wrenching loss to Virginia in the quarterfinals a year ago at La Costa.

   Auburn, the top seed in the Athens Regional, is going to a tough out if it can earn a spot in the match-play bracket as May Madness in NCAA golf plays out this month.

   Florida earned its spot in the SEC title match for a second straight spring with a 3.5-1.5 victory over Texas, which began the week at No. 3 in the Scoreboard rankings and dropped a spot to No. 4 following its semifinal setback at the hands of the Gators.

   It was a rematch of a quarterfinal match last spring at La Costa when Florida edged Texas to reach the NCAA Championship semifinals.

   Turner clinched the spot in the SEC final for Florida with a 2 and 1 victory over senior Tommy Morrison, the tall Texan from Dallas who is No. 14 in the WAGR.

   Swanwick put a point on the board for the Gators with a 3 and 2 victory over Daniel Bennett, a sophomore from South Africa and No. 15 in the WAGR.

   Sands earned another full point for Florida with a 4 and 3 verdict over Luke Potter, a senior from Encinitas, Calif. and No. 30 in the WAGR.

   Kress’ match with Matt Comegys, a graduate student from Van Alstine, Texas and No. 88 in the WAGR, went into the books as a tie, although Kress took a 1-up lead to the 18^th hole when Turner assured the outcome in Florida’s favor.

   The lone point for Texas came from Christian Maas, a senior from South Africa and No. 4 in the WAGR, as he captured a 4 and 3 win over Florida’s Poulter.

   Texas also earned No. 1 seed as it will get to stay home in Texas at the Bryan Regional.

   Ole Miss began its march to the SEC title with a 4.5-.5 victory over Texas A&M, which moved up from No. 30 to No. 26 in the Scoreboard rankings after a solid showing at Sea Island.’

   Fischer earned a 3 and 2 decision over Jaime Montojo, a senior from Spain, Tankersley claimed a 4 and 3 victory over the Aggies’ Aaron Pounds, a junior from The Woodlands, Texas, Collins Trolio pulled out a 2 and 1 verdict over Shiv Parmar, a freshman from Selma, Texas, and Cohen Trolio edged Wheaton Ennis, a senior from Eagle, Idaho and No. 81 in the WAGR, 2-up.

   Tolf battled Kris Kuvaas, a junior from Houston, Texas, to a draw.

   Texas A&M will be seeded fifth as it plays host in the Bryan Regional.

   The results of qualifying for match play gave us a pretty juicy quarterfinal matchup between Florida and Oklahoma, like Texas, in just its second season in the SEC.

   But Florida was never really threatened by the Sooners in a 3-2 victory that sent the Gators into the semifinals.

   Turner rolled to a 5 and 4 victory over Coltrane Mittag, a freshman freshman from Ashland, Neb., Sands cruised to a 5 and 3 decision over Clark Van Gaalen, a sophomore from Turlock, Calif. and No. 57 in the WAGR, and Kress nailed down the clinching point with a 3 and 2 win over P.J. Maybank III, a junior from Cheboygan, Mich.

   Jase Summy, a senior from Keller, Texas and No. 5 in the WAGR, earned a point for Oklahoma as he edged Swanwick, 1-up. Summy was the runnerup in the individual standings in stroke play as he finished seven shots behind Koivun with a 12-under 198 total.

   Ryder Cowan, a junior home boy from Edmond, Okla., and No. 25 in the WAGR, earned the other point for the Sooners as he pulled out a 1-up decision over Poulter.

   Oklahoma, which dropped a spot in the Scoreboard rankings from No. 16 to No. 17 in the aftermath of the SEC Championship, was seeded third in the Corvallis Regional.

   Auburn, after earning the top seed in the match-play bracket with a 39-under 801 total that was six shots clear of Florida, stormed into the semifinals with a 3.5-1.5 victory over South Carolina.

   Reilly earned the clinching point with a birdie on the 19^th hole of his match against Marek Fleming, a sophomore from Tomball, Texas. Pope and Gilbert were also winners for Auburn.

   A day earlier, South Carolina had earned the final spot in the match-play bracket in a three-way playoff with Arkansas and Georgia.

   The Gamecocks, who moved up a spot in the Scoreboard rankings from No. 39 to No. 38 following the SEC Championship, are headed for the Columbus Regional, where they will be the seven seed.

   Texas earned its spot in the semifinals with a 3.5-1.5 victory over Mississippi State in the last of the quarterfinal matches.

   Bennett got the clincher for the Longhorns with a 2 and 1 decision over Jackson Skinner, a freshman from Birmingham, Ala. Potter and Comegys also earned full points for Texas.

   Mississippi State, which moved up a spot from No. 41 to No. 40 in the Scoreboard rankings following its strong showing at Sea Island, is headed for the Bermuda Run Regional, where it will be seeded seventh.

   Auburn, behind Koivun’s dominant individual performance, captured the top seed in the match-play bracket as the Tigers opened with an 11-under 269 and added a 16-under 264 in the second round that gave them a five-shot lead over Texas entering the final round.

   Auburn closed with a 12-under 268 for a 39-under 801 total.

   Gilbert gave Auburn a second finisher inside the top 10 as he ended up among a group of five players tied for seventh place at 8-under 202.

   After opening with a 2-under 68, Gilbert contributed a sparkling 5-under 65 to Auburn’s strong second-round showing before closing with a 69.

   Florida was right with Auburn the whole way as the Gators matched the Tigers’ opening round of 11-under 269 and added a 9-under 271 in the second round before closing with a solid 13-under 267 to earn runnerup honors with a 33-under 807 total.

   Turner led the way for the Gators as he opened with a sizzling 6-under 64, added a 68 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 70 that enabled him to join the quintet tied for seventh place at 8-under.

   Texas put together back-to-back 11-under 269s in the first two rounds before closing with an 8-under 272 to finish three shots behind Florida with a 30-under 210 total.

   Maas led the way for the Longhorns as he opened with a 4-under 66 and added back-to-back 67s in the last two rounds to join Ole Miss’ Cohen Trolio and Alabama’s William Jennings, a sophomore from Greenville, S.C. and No. 38 in the WAGR, in the trio tied for third place at 10-under 200.

   Ole Miss began its journey toward an SEC Championship by grabbing the lead with a spectacular opening round of 15-under 265, the low team round of the tournament.

   The Rebels added a 6-under 274 in the second round before closing with a 1-over 281 to finish 10 shots behind Texas in fourth place with a 20-under 820 total. The first order of business at Sea Island was making match play and Ole Miss easily cleared that hurdle.

   It was Cohen Trolio, the veteran senior, who led the way for the Rebels. After opening with that sizzling 6-under 64, Cohen Trolio matched par in the second round with a 70 before closing with a 66 that left him among the trio tied for third place in the individual standings at 10-under.

   Texas A&M finished four shots behind Ole Miss in fifth place with a 16-under 824 total as the Aggies added a 10-under 270 in the second round to their opening-round 274 before matching par in the final round with a 280.

   Parmar led the way for Texas A&M as he opened with a sparkling 6-under 64 and added a 67 in the second round before closing with a 1-over 71 that left him in the group tied for seventh place at 8-under.

   Mississippi State finished two shots behind Texas A&M in sixth place in qualifying for match play with a 14-under 826 total. The MSU Bulldogs opened with a 9-over 271 and added a 7-under 273 in the second round before closing with a 2-over 282.

   Mississippi State was led by Dain Richie, a graduate student from New Berlin, Ill. who finished among the gang of five that shared seventh place at 8-under. After opening with a 5-under 65, Richie added a 69 in the second round before closing with a 68.

   Oklahoma flashed its talent with an opening round of 14-under 266 that left it just a shot behind Ole Miss. The Sooners struggled a little after that, adding a 3-under 277 in the second round before closing with a 4-over 284 to finish a shot behind Mississippi State in seventh place with a 13-under 827 total.

   Oklahoma's Summy only trailed Koivun, his teammate on last summer’s winning U.S. Walker Cup side at the iconic Cypress Point Club on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula, by a shot going into the final round after Summy rattled off back-to-back 5-under 65s in the first two rounds.

   Summy closed with a 2-under 68 to finish alone in second place, six shots behind Koivun’s blistering pace, with a 12-under 198 total.

   South Carolina snuck into the match-play bracket by surviving a playoff with Arkansas and Georgia as each landed on 12-under 828 after 54 holes of stroke play.

   The Gamecocks opened with an 8-under 272 and added a 276 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 280.

   Frankie Harris, a redshirt senior from Boca Raton, Fla., led the way for South Carolina as he was the final member of the fivesome tied for seventh place at 8-under. Harris ripped off back-to-back 4-under 66s in the first two rounds before matching par in the final round with a 70.

   South Carolina got a birdie from Brock Blais, a junior from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., at the 14^th hole, and another birdie from Talan Harrison, a freshman from Kannapolis, N.C., at 16 that enabled the Gamecocks to finish 1-under in the five-hole playoff (holes 14 through 18) and grab the final spot in the match-play bracket.

   It was a disappointing week for Arkansas as the Razorbacks came into the SEC Championship at No. 5 in the Scoreboard rankings and fell a spot to No. 6 after failing to earn a spot in the match-play bracket.

   Still, Arkansas has been so good throughout the 2025-’26 season that it was still rewarded with the SEC’s fourth top seed, this one in the Corvallis Regional.

   Georgia, which maintained its No. 25 spot in the Scoreboard rankings in the aftermath of the SEC Championship, will be the five seed as the UGA Bulldogs will play the host at the Athens Regional at their UGA Golf Course.

   Backing up Koivun and Gilbert for Auburn was Pope, who finished among the group tied for 13^th place with a 6-under 204 total. After matching par with a 70 in the opening round, Pope tallied a sparkling 5-under 65 in the second round before closing with a solid 69.

   Reilly contributed a 3-under 67 to Auburn’s quick start in the opening round and matched par in the second round with a 70 before closing with a 69 to finish in the group tied for 24^th place with a 4-under 206 total.

   Rounding out the Auburn lineup was Albert as he contributed a 3-under 67 to the Tigers’ strong final-round effort to finish among the group tied for 45^th place with a 1-over 211 total. Albert had matched par in the opening round with a 70 before adding a 4-over 74 in the second round.

   Jennings led the way for Alabama as he opened with a sizzling 6-under 64 and only trailed Koivun by two shots going into the final round after he added a 66 in the second round. Jennings matched par in the final round with a 70 to join Texas’ Maas and Ole Miss’ Cohen Trolio in the trio tied for third place at 10-under.

   The Crimson Tide, who dropped back from No. 17 to No. 20 in the Scoreboard rankings in the aftermath of the SEC Championship, finished in 11^th place in the team standings, six shots behind the trio tied for eighth, with a 6-under 834 total.

   Sophomore Nick Gross, the PIAA Class AAA champion in 2021 as a sophomore at Downingtown West, was in the Alabama lineup at Sea Island and finished among the group tied for 41^st place with an even-par 210 total.

   Gross, one of the best players ever produced by District One, opened with a 3-under 67 and added a 3-over 73 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 70.

   Alabama is headed for the Marana Regional at The Gallery Golf Club near Tucson, Ariz., where the Crimson Tide will be the four seed.

   Should be considerably warmer than it was for Alabama at the Reno Regional a year ago, where the Crimson Tide failed to advance to NCAA Championship in weather that included 50 mph winds that halted play in the opening round and a delay to the start of resumption of play to allow overnight snow to melt. Just your basic weather nightmare.

   Georgia was led at Sea Island by James Earle, a sophomore from Jupiter, Fla. who was the picture of consistency with three straight 3-under 67s over the Seaside Course that left him alone in sixth place in the individual standings with a 9-under 201 total.