Gohel stays hot with a second straight Philly Junior Tour victory, this time at Medford Village

 

   Ravi Gohel of Mount Laurel, N.J. got it in red figures for the second time in as many days as his 3-under-par 69 at Medford Village Country Club in Medford, N.J. earned him a second straight Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division Aug. 5^th.

   Gohel was coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory a day earlier in which he carded a sparkling 4-under 67 at Rancocas Golf Club.

   Gohel carried the momentum from that round right to Medford Village as he went back-to-back with birdies at the fourth and fifth holes, added another birdie on the outgoing nine at eight and made his fourth birdie of the day at 17.

   The birdie binge early in the round enabled Gohel to tour the front nine at Medford Village in 2-under 34.

   Gohel had 13 pars on his scorecard, including a string of eight straight pars from the ninth through the 16^th holes.

   David Dempsey of Franklinville, N.J. jump-started his round with an eagle at the par-5 fifth hole, added a birdie at 15 and had 15 pars on his card, including six consecutive pars from nine through 14, on his way to a 1-under 71 that left him two shots behind Gohel in second place.

   Dempsey toured the incoming nine at Medford Village in 1-under 35.

   Vaughn Smartt of Bryn Mawr made birdies at the fifth, seventh and 17^th holes and had 12 pars on his card, including a run of six straight pars from 11 through 16, as he matched par with a 72 to finish a shot behind Dempsey in third place.

   Mason Hedrick of Mickleton, N.J. took fourth place with a 1-over 73, Evan Hahn of Berlin, N.J. was fifth with a 74, Max Petrakis of Marlton, N.J. was sixth with a 77 and Nicholas Fargnoli, another Mickleton, N.J. guy, was seventh with a 78.

   Landen Hedrick, another member of Team Hedrick out of Mickleton, N.J., finished in eighth place with a 79. Mason and Landen Hedrick are both Class of 2028 guys, so twins maybe?

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Parker Kriews of Manahawkin, N.J. and Benjamin Perticari of West Deptford, N.J. as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each signing for an 81.

   Brody Campbell, a Plymouth Meeting resident and a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team, made birdies at the fourth and 15^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard, closing out his round with consecutive pars at 16, 17 and 18, as he captured a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with a 3-over 75.

   Helmut Dang of Newtown Square, a frequent visitor at or near the top of the Philly Junior Tour leaderboards this summer, made birdies at the third, fifth and seventh holes and had nine pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 4-over 76.

   Dang’s three early birdies enabled him to tour the outgoing nine at Medford Village in 2-under 34.

   Carter Bove of Kennett Square and Grayson McCann of Downingtown shared third place, each tallying a 78.

   Bove made a birdie at the fifth hole and had 10 pars on his card, including six consecutive pars from 11 through 16. McCann made birdies at the fifth, seventh and 16^th holes and had eight pars on his card, opening his round with four straight pars on his way to a 1-under 35 on Medford Village’s outgoing nine.

   Chrisian Speitel of Haddonfield, N.J. and Benjamin Lear of West Chester shared fifth place, each recording a 79 and Max Charbonneau of Wayne and Ryan Piccoli of Berlin, N.J. finished in a tie for seventh, each registering an 80.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Jack Venne of Moorestown, N.J. and Fran Kerr of Mullica Hill, N.J. as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each posting an 81.

   Only six shots separated the top-10 finishers in a very competitive group in the 13-to-15 division.

   Morgan Tyhanic of Little Egg Harbor, N.J. had the best score among the girls as she made a birdie at the sixth hole and had six pars on her scorecard, closing out her round with consecutive pars at 16, 17 and 18 on her way to an 84 that gave her a Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 16-to-18 division.

   Emily Renouf of Cinnaminson, N.J. had seven pars on her card, including consecutive pars at the fourth, fifth and sixth holes, as she earned runnerup honors with a 93.

   Olivia Bond of Del Haven, N.J. made a par at the sixth hole as she rounded out a short field in the 16-to-18 division by finishing in third place with a 114.

   Only two shots separated the top three finishers in the 13-to-15 division with Molly Wagner, a Newark, Del. resident and a junior on the St. Mark’s golf team, coming out on top as she had seven pars on her scorecard, including consecutive pars at the third, fourth and fifth holes, to claim the Philly Junior Tour victory with an 85.

   Mallie Heenan of Ocean City, N.J. made a birdie at the sixth hole and had four pars on her card, all on Medford Village’s incoming nine, as she finished a shot behind Wagner in second with an 86.

   Hailey Cousins of Port Republic, N.J. had 10 pars on her card, including a run of five straight pars from the third through the seventh holes, as she finished a shot behind Heenan and just two shots behind Wagner in third place with an 87.

   Emma Cowan of Moorestown, N.J. took fourth place with a 98 and Kyla Fuente of Medford, N.J. rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished fifth with a 120.

   It was a second win in as many days for Samuel Karas of Blue Bell as he made birdies at the second and seventh holes and had six pars on his scorecard, including a string of four straight pars from three through six, to best the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with an even-par 36.

   Karas was coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory a day earlier with a 1-over 36 at Rancocas Golf Club.

   Grayson Wright of Philadelphia made a birdie at the third hole and had three pars on his card as he finished five shots behind Karas in second place with a 5-over 41.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr made a birdie at the third hole and had five pars on his card, including four consecutive pars from four through seven, as he finished in third place with a 43.

   Muego had been the runnerup to Karas a day earlier at Rancocas.

   Michael Antolino of Richboro took fourth place with a 47, Krishen Arora of Harrison Township, N.J. was fifth with a 48 and Kamran Patel of Moorestown, N.J. rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished sixth with a 54.

 

 

 

Rogowicz falls to Ross in opening-round match in U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur at Montclair

 

   Merion Golf Club’s Jackie Rogowicz earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, N.J. over the weekend, but fell to Jessica Ross of Northern Ireland, 3 and 2, in the opening round of match play Monday.

   Rogowicz, who starred scholastically at Pennsbury and collegiately at Penn State, reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am when it was staged at Stonewall’s North Course in the northwest corner of Chester County in 2023, but has been unable to match that kind of run in her three ensuing tries.

   Three of Montclair’s four nines are Donald Ross designs and Nos. 2 and 3 are being utilized for this year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Am and the layout proved challenging.

   Rogowicz got on the bogey train a couple of different times in two rounds of stroke play over the weekend.

   In her opening round Saturday, Rogowicz made bogeys at the second, fourth, fifth and eighth holes, but settled down a little in the middle of the round before making bogeys at 15, 16 and 17. She rescued a 6-over-par 76 with a birdie at the 18^th hole.

   Starting off the 10^th tee in Sunday’s second round, Rogowicz made bogeys at the 10^th, 11^th 13^th, 14^th, 15^th and 18^th holes on the incoming nine. A birdie at the second hole stopped the bleeding and, after a bogey at five, Rogowicz again closed her round with a birdie at nine.

   Rogowicz’s 5-over 75 left her in the group tied for 40^th place at 11-over 151.

   Rogowicz wasn’t the only player in the field to struggle at Montclair.

   There was a playoff among eight players who finished at 14-over 154 for the final four spots in the match-play bracket.

   Included among that group were two former champions, Kimberly Dinh of Midland, Mich., the winner at Stonewall’s North Course three years ago, and 2015 winner Lauren Greenlief of Oakton, Va. Dinh and Greenlief both survived the playoff and advanced into the match-play bracket.

   Ross got the jump on Rogowicz in their opening-round match with wins at the fourth and eighth holes, both with birdies.

   Rogowicz kept fighting back. She cut her deficit to 1-down by taking the 10^th hole with a par. After Ross restored her 2-up advantage by winning the 11^th hole with a birdie, Rogowicz again cut into the lead by taking 12 with a birdie.

   Ross, however, spurted out to a 3-up lead by winning the 13^th hole with a birdie and 14 with a par.

   Rogowicz cut her deficit to 2-down by winning the 15^th hole with a par, but Ross closed out the match when she took 16 with a par.

   Meghan Stasi, a four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion and a 10-time winner of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Match Play Championship, was also an opening-round casualty as she fell to Victoria Jackson of Memphis, Tenn. by a 3 and 2 margin.

   Stasi, a South Jersey native who resides in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had added a 3-over 73 in Sunday’s second round of qualifying for match play to her opening-round 77 as she finished in the group tied for 32^nd place at 10-over 150.

   Stasi, who captained the United States Curtis Cup team to a 13-7 victory over Great Britain & Ireland in June at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif., was playing in her 19^th U.S. Women’s Mid-Am at Montclair and, obviously, is still quite capable of earning a spot in match play.

   Jackson, a college standout at Memphis, was recently named the head coach at Division III Rhodes College.

   Sarah Willis of Eaton, Ohio was a freshman at Penn State when Rogowicz was wrapping up her time in Happy Valley.

   Willis opened with a solid 2-over 72 in qualifying for match play Saturday and added a 76 in Sunday’s second round to earn a spot in the match-play bracket, her 8-over 148 total leaving her in a tie for 21^st place.

   Willis cruised into the second round of match play with a 6 and 4 victory over fellow Ohioan Sathika Peters of Maumee in Monday’s opening round.

   Willis will have a tough assignment in Tuesday morning’s second round as she takes on Krissy Carman, the 2022 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am champion who recently was named the head coach at Division II power Rollins College.

   Carman survived her opening-round match with Ali Schrock of Pontiac, Ill., who starred collegiately at Illinois State, on the 19^th hole.

   Medalist honors in qualifying for match play was shared by Emilia Doran, who you might remember as Emilia Migliaccio when she starred at Wake Forest, Ivy Shepherd of Peachtree City, Ga. and English women Lucy Jamieson, all of them landing on 1-over 141.

   Doran seemed headed for professional golf when she decided to remain an amateur and pursue a career in broadcasting. She has been part of The Golf Channel’s coverage of college golf and amateur golf and just seems to get better at it every time I see her.

   She was buzzing around the East Course at Merion Golf Club, where she played on a winning U.S. Curtis Cup team in 2022, during the U.S. Amateur a couple of weeks ago.

   And Doran can still play. I would think she is a logical favorite this week, but I thought that a year ago and she fell in the quarterfinals, 3 and 1, to Katherine Zhu of San Jose, Calif. at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula.

   Doran, residing in Charlotte, N.C. these days, started slowly with a 4-over 74 in Saturday’s opening round of stroke play and, starting off the 10^th tee in Sunday’s second round, made a bogey at the 10^th.

   But, with her mother Ulrika Migliaccio on the bag, Doran started to look like her old self. She ripped off birdies at the 11^th, 12^th, 17^th, 18^th and sixth holes before a closing bogey at nine left her with a sparkling 3-under 67 and a share of medalist honors.

   Doran rolled to a 7 and 6 victory over Ashley Freeman of Houston, Texas in her opening-round match and will take on Jackson, the conqueror of Stasi Monday, in Tuesday’s second round.

   Shepherd, who was a standout at Clemson and took a fifth year at Kentucky, was one of just two players in the opening round of stroke play to solve the Montclair layout well enough to get it in under par as she carded a 1-under 69.

   Shepherd, an assistant coach for the Indiana women’s team in the Big Ten, added a 2-over 72 in Sunday’s second round to get her share of medalist honors.

   Shepherd’s opening-round opponent was Sarah Spicer-Baldwin of Silver Spring, Md., another survivor of Monday morning’s playoff for the final spots in the match-play bracket.

   Shepherd was in trouble, 2-down after Spicer-Baldwin won the ninth hole. But Shepherd rallied, taking a 1-up decision with a birdie at the 18^th hole.

   Shepherd will take on Gabby Minier of Santa Barbara, Calif. in Tuesday morning’s second round. Minier earned a 2 and 1 victory over Emily Dunlap of Greenville, S.C. in her opening-round match.

   Jamieson, the third co-medalist, was not so fortunate.

   Jamieson got a tough draw in Greenlief, who survived the playoff to get into match play, but who has played in a ton of high-leverage U.S. Women’s Mid-Am matches.

   Jamieson had a 3-up lead with four holes to play, but Greenlief, relying on all that match-play experience, won the last four holes in a row, all with birdies, to stun Jamieson, 1-up.

   Greenlief will face Jensen Jalufka of Austin, Texas in Tuesday morning’s second round.

   Jalufka, a mid-am rookie who turned 25 Friday, advanced with a 3 and 2 victory over a pretty tough customer in Canadian Shelly Stouffer, winner of the 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.

   Dinh, the 2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am champion at Stonewall’s North Course, survived the playoff to get into match play, but got a tough draw in defending champion Ina Kim-Schaad of Jupiter, Fla.

   Kim-Schaad’s victory at Monterey Peninsula was her second U.S. Women’s Mid-Am title as she added it to the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am crown she won in 2019.

   Kim-Schaad claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Dinh in the battle of past champions.

   Kim-Schaad’s second-round opponent will be Brooke Tyree of Scottsdale, Ariz., who rolled to a 6 and 4 victory over Elayna Bowser of Dearborn, Mich. in another opening-round match.

   Weather permitting, only eight quarterfinalists will be left standing when the sun sets on Montclair Tuesday evening as Tuesday morning’s second-round winners will meet in the round of 16 in the afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gohel simply flawless in cruising to a Philly Junior Tour victory at Rancocas

 

   Ravi Gohel of Mount Laurel, N.J. put together a flawless 4-under-par 67 at Rancocas Golf Club in Willingboro, N.J. to earn an impressive Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division Aug. 4^th.

   Gohel, in the midst of a summer hot streak on the Philly Junior Tour, was bogey-free as he made birdies at the third, fifth, 14^th and 18^th holes and had 14 pars on his scorecard, including eight straight pars to finish up his round.

   Logan Hyndman, a Newtown resident and a senior on the golf team at The Pennington School, played a pretty impressive round of his own as he made a birdie at the fifth hole and then really went off on the incoming nine at Rancocas with birdies at 10, 12, 14 and 18 while touring the back nine in 4-under 32 on his way to a 1-under 70 that left him in second place.

   Hyndman had 10 pars on his card.

   Pennridge senior Tim Croyle, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, went back-to-back with birdies at the fourth and fifth holes, added birdies at 14 and 16 and had nine pars on his card as he finished in third place with a solid 2-over 73.

   Avon Grove senior Shane Cornell, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, took fourth place with a 74 and Finn Cooper, a Lafayette Hill resident and a senior on the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy golf team, was fifth with a 77.

   Carter Smith of Wayne and Shea Henefer of Moorestown, N.J. shared sixth place, each tallying a 78, Holden Stephenson, a West Chester resident and a senior on the Malvern Prep golf team, was eighth with a 79 and David Watts of Haddonfield, N.J. was ninth with an 80.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Vyom Shukla of Berwyn and Evan Hall of West Deptford, N.J. as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each signing for an 81.

   Preston Minio of Lansdale, solid all summer long, made birdies at the fifth, 10^th and 14^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard, including four straight pars to close out his round, as he earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with a 2-over 73.

   Helmut Dang of Newtown Square, coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory the previous week at Bluestone Country Club, made a birdie at the seventh hole and had a steady 14 pars on his card, closing out his round with eight consecutive pars, as he finished a shot behind Minio in second place with a 3-over 74.

   Jackson Roy of Medford, N.J. made birdies at the sixth, 10^th and 18^th holes and had nine pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 76.

   Gavin Lane, a sophomore on the Cinnaminson High golf team, took fourth place with a 77, Blake Anderson of Manahawkin, N.J. and Leonard Anthony of Center Valley shared fifth, each recording a 78, and Mark Westfall of Medford, N.J. finished seventh with an 81.

   Jack Burke of Bryn Mawr and Carter Parrish of Woolwich Township, N.J. shared eighth place, each registering an 84 and Charlie Murray of Berwyn rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished 10^th with an 86.

   Mariana Walker, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Council Rock North last fall, had six pars on her scorecard, including consecutive pars at the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th holes, as she captured a Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 16-to-18 division with a 92.

   Madison Gibson of Cinnaminson, N.J. had three pars on her card, including back-to-back pars at the 12^th and 13^th holes, as she finished two shots behind Walker in second place with a 94.

   Emily Catalfano, a Lafeyette Hill resident and a senior on the Mount St. Joseph golf team, had four pars on her card, including back-to-back pars at the 14^th and 15^th holes as she finished in third place with a 99.

   Rounding out the field in the 16-to-18 division was Taylor Hanna of Cinnaminson, N.J. as she finished in fourth place with a 106.

   Emma Cowan of Moorestown, N.J. had three pars on her scorecard, including back-to-back pars at the 11^th and 12^th holes, as she topped a short field in the 13-to-15 division with a 93.

   Annabelle Barr of Gladwyne made a par on the 12^th hole as she rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division, finishing in second place with a 104.

   Samuel Karas of Blue Bell made a birdie at the seventh hole and had six pars on his scorecard, including a string of six consecutive pars from two through six, as he bested a typically competitive field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with a 1-over 36.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr also made a birdie at the seventh hole and made consecutive pars at two, three and four as he earned runnerup honors with a 5-over 40.

   Ryan Kaye of Lansdale and Kelly Selvesen of Cape May Court House, N.J. shared third place, each posting a 41.

   Kaye, coming off a Philly Junior Tour the previous week at Bluestone, made a birdie at the fourth hole and pars at one and seven. Selvesen made a birdie at the fifth hole and had three pars on his card.

   Grayson Wright of Philadelphia took fifth place with a 43, Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. and Chase Venne of Moorestown, N.J. shared sixth, each signing for a 44, and Kamran Patel, another Moorestown, N.J. guy, finished eighth with a 48.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division were Quinn Haberman of Ocean View, N.J. and Christian Bandoy of Marlton, N.J. as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each recording a 51.

   Victoria Leonard of Merion Station was the lone entry in the girls 12-and-under division and she carded a 58.