Drama on the 18th at Heritage Hills

   There was some pretty high drama around the 18^th green at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort as the four individual titles were decided at the PIAA Tournament Tuesday.

   But the finish of the Class AAA girls tournament was really something special. Radnor sophomore Brynn Walker had just finished her round and she played in the next-to-last group.

   Three of the girls in the last foursome were District One players who have dominated the state the last few years.

   Council Rock North senior Erica Herr burst on the scene as a freshman in 2010 when she denied Chichester’s Aurora Kan a fourth straight District One title by capturing the crown at Turtle Creek. Kan turned the tables on Herr by winning the PIAA crown in her senior season, but Herr was just getting started.

   As a sophomore Herr won the district and state titles.

   Last fall, Herr had a couple of new shooters to contend with. Mount St. Joseph sophomore Isabella DiLisio and Pennsbury sophomore Jackie Rogowicz fired opening-round 66s at Gilbertsville Golf Club and DiLisio held on to win the district tournament, just ahead of Rogowicz.

   But Herr knew the big prize was still there to be taken and she repeated as the state champion with Rogowicz finishing second.

   This fall, Rogowicz grabbed the district title, firing a pair of 69s at Gilbertsville and the Turtle to breeze to a seven-shot victory. Radnor’s Walker actually snuck into the picture with a runnerup finish.

Tuesday at Heritage Hills, Herr, DiLisio and Rogowicz were all in the final group, along with Lauren Waller of Canon McMillan, who had finished tied for third with DiLisio behind Herr and Rogowicz a year ago. Waller had actually taken the lead after Monday’s first round by a shot over Rogowicz and by two over Herr and DiLisio.

   As the day progressed, those of us following Walker’s group had heard that it was close.

   When those following the final group arrived at the 18^th green, we started to figure out where everybody stood. Herr brought a one-shot lead to the final hole in a bid for a third straight state title. From what I can tell that would have been an unprecedented feat. Katie Miller of Hempfield Area won three state titles, but her run was interrupted in her junior year.

   So Herr looked like she was in pretty good shape for the three-peat. Headed for Wake Forest, Herr played in the U.S. Women’s Open last summer. She’s a big-time player.

   The 18^th at Heritage Hills is a par-5 for the girls, a par-4 for the boys. Long hitters among the girls can easily hit it in two, as Radnor’s Walker did in the first round, using a 9-iron for her second shot.

Herr was safely on in three, about 20 feet away. It looked like a sure par, meaning it would take a birdie to force a playoff. DiLisio was a shot back.

   But DiLisio had reached the green – well just off it, in the fringe – in two shots. She later estimated it to be a 25-foot putt. I was directly behind her along with Team Walker. There was a large gathering around the 18^th green as there often is during the state tournament. It looked a little less to me, maybe 20 feet.

   It was an uphill putt and DiLisio drilled it. It was good right off the face of the putter. It was going fast, but it was always right in the middle of the hole. Bang. Eagle.

   Suddenly, Herr’s putt was for a tie. And she was in no shape mentally to make it. It slid off to the right and three or four feet by. DiLisio, not Herr, was the champion. Herr was so shaken she missed the comebacker and then missed again for a four-putt seven. Not that it mattered to her. She was there to win it.

   Brynn Walker’s dad, Rocky Walker, has pitched for years in the Delco League. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen. It was that dramatic a moment. It had been so sudden and so final.

   When DiLisio tells the story years from now, she can say she beat the best high school player in Pennsylvania history.

   Taking nothing away from Miller, but her three state titles were in 1999, 2000 and 2002. The talent level among the girls has improved exponentially since then. You could make a pretty good argument for Chichester’s Kan, who won those three District One titles and finished fifth, second, second and first at the state tournament.

   But Herr’s final three years were first, first and third (with the lead standing on the 18^th tee in that last one). That is going to be tough to top. Not impossible, by any means, but tough.

   Kan set the bar high in District One. Herr met the challenge. And she kept the bar high and DiLisio and Rogowicz have raised their games to her level.

   Radnor’s Walker seems to have unlimited potential. It will be interesting to see how she does next year as DiLisio and Rogowicz exit the stage as seniors. It would be difficult to imagine them matching the theater we witnessed on the 18^th green at Heritage Hills Tuesday.

   By the way, DiLisio and her Mount St. Joe teammates came back Wednesday and cruised to the PIAA Class AAA team title. DiLisio carded a 2-over 74 to lead the Mount to a 326 total, 44 shots clear of runnerup Penn Trafford.

   It was one shot higher than Radnor’s winning total of 325 in 2012.

   The outcome certainly validated the feeling that the state championship was actually decided two weeks earlier when the Mount defeated Radnor by five shots to win the District One title. The next chapter of that rivalry promises to be interesting as well in 2014.

   Upper St. Clair from the Pittsburgh area captured the Class AAA boys crown with an impressive 302 total. Grant Engel, who won the individual title a day earlier, actually had Upper St. Clair’s second-best score of the day with a 75. Teammate Thomas Steve, who also claimed an individual medal, led the way with a 71.

   Methacton, so dominant in winning the District One title, finally ran out of gas at states, but the Warriors out of the Pioneer Athletic Conference did finish second at 320. The brothers Vance led the way with District One champion Kyle firing a 73 and Brandon posting a 77. 

Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour

   The Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour picks right up where the scholastic season ends with a few more events before the weather turns. And Radnor’s Gabby Kim, a key player on the Raiders’ District One runnerup team, picked up a first-place finish in the 13-to-15 age group with an 81 at Honeybrook Golf Club.

   Katie Lee of Ringoes, N.J. matched Kim’s 81, but Kim, the Junior Tour’s Player of the Year in her age group, took the title on a tiebreaker.

   Maggie Cass of Wayne finished third with a 93.

   In the boys 13-to-15 age group, John Updike of Wayne finished in a tie for fifth with an 83. Connor Hale of Garnet Valley finished in a tie for 11^th with an 89. D.J. Colleran of Radnor and Penncrest’s Michael Chang were among the players tied for 15^th at 90. Strath Haven freshman D.J. Shelton was 21^st with a 93. And Lucas Zhu was 29^th with a 110.

   Among the nine-holers, June Kim of Wayne finished seventh with a 50 and James Quinn of Radnor finished eighth with a 52.