Ryan gets share of lead with Keba following opening round of Philadelphia Open at Lancaster

 

   The big stage has never intimidated Josh Ryan.

   When the Norristown native nearly captured the title in the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship last week, falling to David Mecca in 20 holes in the final on Mecca’s home course, the Country Club of Scranton, I couldn’t help but think back six years.

   That’s when Ryan, a couple of weeks removed from winning the first of his three straight Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys’ Championship crowns, beat western Pennsylvania veteran Rick Stimmel to capture the title in the Sigel Match Play at age 16 at the Country Club of York.

   That’s why it wasn’t a huge surprise to open up the leaderboard for GAP’s 122^nd Open Championship at the William Flynn gem that is Lancaster Country Club and find Ryan, playing out of The 1912 Club, sharing the lead following Monday’s opening round after he carded a sparkling 2-under-par 68.

   Couldn’t help remembering the Pennsylvania Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s East Course, site of this summer’s U.S. Amateur, in 2021 when Ryan, still only 17, finishing in a tie for fourth place, just two shots behind the winner, Carlisle’s John Peters, who holed out from 193 yards on Merion’s iconic 18^th hole for eagle to win the thing.

   Ryan nearly finished his college career at Liberty in the spring by making a trip to the NCAA Championship at the Omni LaCosta Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. as the Conference USA champion Flames, seeded 11^th in the Corvallis Regional, lost in a playoff to San Diego for the fifth and final team berth to nationals.

   Ryan finished in a tie for 49^th place with a 3-over 216 total at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore.

   For my money, there is no bigger stage in this region than the Philadelphia Open. The best Philadelphia Section PGA pros are there, the best college kids, the best recent college grads, the best mid-amateurs, even some high school kids get in there.

   And the 6,827-yad, par-70 Lancaster layout, hosting the Philly Open for the first time, is certainly a worthy canvas. The U.S. Women’s Open has been contested twice at the Manheim Township facility, most recently in 2024 when Yuka Saso captured the title for the second time in her career.

   A yeoman effort by Josh Saunders, the director golf course and grounds at Lancaster, was needed to get the Meadowcreek nine, the front nine in Lancaster’s normal championship course configuration, ready to play after some wild weather over the Fourth of July weekend.

   But LCC was ready and so was Ryan as he earned a share of the lead with John Keba, a USGA/GAP entry who is a senior on the Drexel golf team, each getting it to the clubhouse in perfect summer weather in 2-under.

   After making a birdie at the first hole, Ryan recorded his lone bogey of the day at the fourth. Ryan made a birdie at the sixth hole to get back into red figures and drained a 45-footer to save par at seven. He then rattled off eight more pars in a row before making another birdie at 16. Pars at the final two holes left him at 2-under.

   Ryan is hoping to get another shot at Merion if he can qualify for the U.S. Amateur, but he plans to turn pro soon after that.

   Keba, a scholastic standout at Allentown Central Catholic, also started off the first tee and was up and down on the outgoing nine. After making a bogey at the second hole, Keba made birdies at four and six, bogeyed seven and added a birdie at eight to get back to 1-under for the round.

   After opening the back nine with a birdie at the 10^th hole, Keba settled down and rattled off eight straight pars to join Ryan at 2-under.

   Lurking a shot behind Ryan and Keba was the defending champion, Drue Nicholas, Keba’s former teammate at Drexel who posted a solid 1-under 69.

   Nicholas’ victory in the Philly Open a year ago at Biderman Golf Course came on the heels of his win in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Aronimink Golf Club and made him the first player to pull off the Philly Am-Philly Open double since the late, great Jay Sigel did it in 1987.

   Nicholas was representing Galloway National Golf Club last summer, but he’s joined the deep stable of talent at Merion this year.

   Heading the list of six players tied for fourth place at even-par 70 was the co-low professional following Monday’s opening round, Zac Oakley, an instructor at Biderman.

   Oakley would no doubt love to add his name to the John J. McDermott Trophy alongside that of his dad, Pete Oakley, a back-to-back Philadelphia Open champion in 1989 and 1990.

   Aronimink’s Hunter Stetson, a junior on the North Carolina State golf team, is also in the group tied for fourth place at even-par.

   It was Stetson, a scholastic standout in the Inter-Ac League at Episcopal Academy, who denied Nicholas a chance to win a third GAP major championship in a single season when Stetson defeated Nicholas in a playoff in the Patterson Cup last summer at Waynesborough Country Club.

   Also at even-par was another of the Philly Section’s top players, Brian Bergstol, the head of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort.

   Rounding out the sixsome tied for fourth place following Monday’s opening round were three amateurs: Corey Wenger, a stalwart on the Lancaster County amateur scene, Wilmington Country Club’s Jack Homer, who wrapped up his junior career last summer with a victory in the Christman Cup, and Philadelphia Cricket Club veteran Mark Miller, who reached the second round of match play in the Philly Am last month at Sunnybrook Golf Club.

   A couple of recent winners on the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit and two of the Section’s rising young talents, Anthony Sebastianelli, who is working out of the pro shop at Whitford Country Club, and Llanerch Country Club’s Andrew Cornish headed a group of four players tied for 10^th place at 1-over 71.

   Sebastianelli captured the title in the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship at Laurel Creek Country Club last month. Cornish was the winner in the Conestoga Classic at Conestoga Country Club in Lancaster County in May.

   Cornish was involved in a four-man aggregate playoff for the Philadelphia Open title two years ago at Applebrook Golf Club with Jon Rusk, the general manager at LuLu Country Club emerging with the victory. Cornish, however, did earn the top prize of $8,000 as the low pro.

   One of the Philly Section’s top senior players, Dave Quinn of Laurel Creek, was also in the group tied at 1-over as he tries to reprise his Philly Open victory from 20 years ago.

   Rounding out the foursome tied at 1-over was John Lalley, a veteran mid-am at Llanerch.

   The cut to the low 60 players and ties fell at 6-over as swirling winds and those tricky Flynn green complexes made things tough on the best players in the Philadelphia region. 

 

 

 

 

 

Gray claims a Philly Junior Tour Nine-Hole Series win at DuPont's Montchanin nine

 

   Kash Gray of Eagleville carded a solid 6-over-par 35 over DuPont Country Club’s Montchanin nine to best the field of boys as the 12-and-under nine-holers had the stage to themselves in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour Nine-Hole Series event July 6^th.

   The Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship, a 36-hole test, was being played simultaneously at DuPont’s Nemours Course. It rained a lot of places that Monday, but the golf gods smiled on suburban Wilmington, Del. and the girls and the nine-holers got their appointed rounds in.

   The Montchanin nine is an executive course, short with a par of 29, but longer than the par-3 layouts that seem to be all the rage these days.

   Gray, who has been popping up on the boys 12-and-under leaderboards all summer, had six pars on his scorecard, including five straight pars from the second through the sixth holes, to capture a Philly Junior Tour victory.

   Ryan Scully of Chesterbrook and Jackson Larrabee, playing not far from his Wilmington, Del. home, shared runnerup honors, each ending up a shot behind Gray with a 9-over 36.

   Scully had four pars on his card, three of them consecutively at the second, third and fourth holes. Larrabee had three pars on his card.

   Ryan Stefanski of Newtown Square took fourth place with a 37 and the trio of Kamran Patel of Moorestown, N.J. and Hudson Avery and Maxwell Avery, both of Wayne and both Class of 2032 competitors, so maybe twins, finished in a tie for fifth, each posting a 38.

   Landon Post, the son of Delaware’s Patty Post, who oversees both the men’s and women’s programs, and Brandon Post, the head of the men’s team for the Blue Hens, and Benjamin He of Chadds Ford finished in a tie for eighth place, each signing for a 40.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division was Luca Saienni, another Wilmington, Del. guy playing a home game at DuPont who finished in 10^th place with a 41.

   Aashi Chakraborty of Kennett Square opened her round with a par at the first hole as she bested the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 10-over 39.

   Vivian Anderson, another Wilmington, Del. entry playing not far from home, and Addison Sabatini of West Chester shared runnerup honors, each ending up a shot behind Chakraborty with a 40.

   Anderson made back-to-back pars at the fourth and fifth holes. Sabatini made pars on the first and fifth holes.

   Rounding out the field in the girls 12-and-under division was Katelyn Cunningham of Havertown, who finished in fourth place with a 52.

 

 

 

Henry sizzles in the heat at Skippack to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Declan Henry, a junior on the Souderton golf team, was nearly as hot as the weather as he carded a sizzling 3-under-par 67 at Skippack Golf Club in Evansburg State Park in northwestern Montgomery County to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division July 1^st.

   It didn’t quite reach an actual temperature of 100 that day, but the junior golfers were certainly dealing with triple-digit real-feels. It was hot.

   None of which seemed to bother Henry, who ripped off birdies at the second, fourth and eighth holes while touring the outgoing nine at Skippack in 2-under 33. Henry added birdies at 12 and 17 on the incoming nine and had 11 pars on his scorecard.

   Joey Bilotta, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Boyertown last fall, made birdies on the fourth and 10^th holes and had 13 pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from 11 through 14 as he earned runnerup honors with a 1-over 71.

   Chase Andrews, Henry’s teammate at Souderton, and Harry Traynor, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Great Valley last fall, finished in a tie for third place, each signing for a 3-over 73.

   Andrews, a District One Class AAA qualifier for the Big Red as a junior last fall, made a birdie at the second hole and had 13 pars on his card, including a run of seven straight pars from eight through 14.

   Traynor made birdies at the second, seventh and 11^th holes and had nine pars on his card.

   Onyu Park, a Blue Bell resident and a junior on the Germantown Academy golf team, and Braydon Dolan, a junior on the Springfield golf team, shared fifth place, each tallying a 74, and William Thorkleson, a Bryn Mawr resident and a sophomore on the golf team at The Haverford School, and Trey Barkman of West Chester finished in a tie seventh place, each recording a 75.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Frank Kunze, a junior on the Garnet Valley golf team, and Nicholas Milone of Bryn Mawr as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each posting a 77.

   Kunze had a nice showing in one of the bigger events on the Philly Junior Tour schedule in June as he lost in a playoff for the overall title in a two-day, Junior Golf Scoreboard tournament at Turtle Creek Golf Course.

   Helmut Dang, a talented 13-year-old from Newtown Square, made birdies at the fourth and 10^th holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard, including six straight pars to finish out his round, as he claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with a solid 1-over 71.

   James Park, a sophomore on the Central Bucks West golf team, Preston Minio of Lansdale and Kaycen Subbio of Blue Bell shared runnerup honors as each finished a shot behind Dang with a 2-over 72.

   Park started each nine with a birdie as he made birdies at the first and 10^th holes and had 12 pars on his card, including six straight pars on his way to the clubhouse.

   Minio had a closing birdie barrage with birdies at the 14^th, 16^th and 17^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from seven to 10.

   Subbio made birdies at the fourth, eighth and 14^th holes and had 11 pars on his card.

   Sam Nelligan, an incoming freshman at Boyertown, finished alone in fifth place with a 3-over 73. Nelligan had claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory a week earlier at Berkleigh Golf Club.

   Declan Mayo of Chadds Ford and Jonathan Thomas of Landenberg finished in a tie for sixth place, each recording a 79. Thomas had earned a Philly Junior Tour victory eight days earlier at Inniscrone Golf Club.

   Bryce Moyer of Bryn Mawr took eighth place with an 80 and Charlie Murray of Berwyn and another Souderton standout in Daniel Ross, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier for the Big Red as a freshman last fall, rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division, each registering an 81.

   Corinne McReynolds, who helped Conestoga capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown as a junior last fall, had the best score among the girls as she carded a solid 7-over 77 to finish in first place in the 16-to-18 division.

   McReynolds made back-to-back birdies at the 11^th and 12^th holes and had eight pars on her scorecard, including three straight pars to close out her round.

   McReynolds, playing out of Whitford Country Club, was coming off a tie for 26^th place in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship, a 54-hole test that wrapped up at Lebanon Country Club a day before the Philly Junior Tour stop at Skippack.

   Kallista Spence of Phoenixville finished up her round with a birdie at Skippack’s par-3 18^th hole and made a par at five as she earned runnerup honors with a 99.

   Faridah Ismaila, a junior on the Great Valley golf team, made pars on the fourth and 18^th holes as she took third place with a 108 and Erin Urbanski, a West Chester resident and a junior on the Villa Maria Academy golf team, rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as she finished fourth with a 114.

   Stella Varano of Schwenksville had four pars on her scorecard as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 90.

   Molly Wagner, a Newark, Del. resident and a junior on the St. Mark’s golf team, and Lila Collingwood, a Collegeville resident and a sophomore on the Villa Maria Academy golf team, shared runnerup honors as each tallied a 93.

   Wagner had five pars on her card, putting together three straight pars at the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th holes.

   Kate Benson, a sophomore on the Great Valley golf team, took fourth place with a 97, Hridya Shah of Downingtown was fifth with a 101, Natalie Soporowski of Nazareth was sixth with a 102 and Gian Patel of Malvern, Texas was seventh with a 108.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Benson’s Great Valley teammate Olivia Rosen, a junior, as she finished in eighth place with a 128.

   It was still three days before the Fourth of July, but there were some serious fireworks among the boys 12-and-under nine-holers.

   Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. bested the field with a 1-under 34 on the strength of a spectacular double eagle, an albatross, on the 432-yard, par-5 fourth hole. He also had six pars on his scorecard, finishing out his round with five straight pars.

   Samuel Karas of Blue Bell and Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr finished in a tie for second place, two shots behind Wang at 1-over 36.

   Karas made an eagle on the 484-yard, par-5 second hole, added a birdie at the par-5 fourth and had three pars on his card.

   Muego was 3-under through five holes as he made birdies at the first, second and fourth holes and pars at three and five before cooling off to get a share of second place with Karas.

   Ryan Kaye of Lansdale, coming off a victory in a Nine-Hole Series event two days earlier at Phoenixville Country Club, took fourth place with a 40.

   Nolan English of Villanova and Jack Kolmer of Wayne shared fifth place, each recording a 41 and Andrew Herman of Telford and Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville finished in a tie for seventh, each signing for a 42.

   Kash Gray of Eagleville took ninth place with a 43, Bennett Cho of Chesterbrook was 10^th with a 46 and Aidan Herbert of New Hope rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished 11^th with a 50.

   Skylar Crutchfield, a 9-year-old from Elkins Park, edged Arianna Testaiuti, an 11-year-old from Newtown Square, by a shot with a 48 in the girls 12-and-under division.

   Crutchfield made a par on the seventh hole and Testaiuti made a par on four to round out a short field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 49.

   A 9-year-old and an 11-year-old breaking 50 on a day when the real-feels were heading for 100 degrees? Pretty strong.