A lot of good players can put together a good round or two.
But the true test of a really good golfer is consistency over the long haul. The
stats that the professional tours put out bear that out, even some of the more
abstract sabermetric stuff that they keep track of.
When the Philadelphia Section PGA got together for its
end-of-the-year Junior Tour Awards Dinner Dec. 2 at Talamore Country Club, the
players who captured Graham Company Player of the Year honors and Sam Penecale
Scoring Average titles were the ones who played at a high level nearly every
time he or she teed it up.
The Graham Company is the title sponsor of the Junior Tour,
which is doing a tremendous job developing junior golfers in this region. The
Scoring Average titles are named in memory of Sam Penecale, the former head pro
at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club who, like so many of his fellow Philly
Section club pros over the years, made junior golf a priority.
In the two girls divisions, the identity of the Graham
Company Player of the Year and the Sam Penecale Scoring Average Leader was the
same person.
In the 16-to-18 division, that was Grace Hickey of
Downingtown. Hickey played 17 rounds in 15 events and had a scoring average of
88.5. She won six times, had 11 birdies and had a low round of 84.
That 84 gave her a tie for first in the Junior Tour stop at
Wilmington Country Club. Other highlights of Hickey’s season included a win at
Chesapeake Bay Golf Club with an 88, a victory at Wyncote Golf Club with an 86
and a win at Bluestone Country Club with an 85. Hickey saved her best stuff for
some of the toughest courses the Junior Tour played.
For the second straight year, the 13-to-15 Graham Company
Player of the Year award belonged to Elizabeth Beek of Blue Bell, who added the Sam
Penecale Scoring Average Leader title this season.
Beek, a seventh-grader at Wissahickon Middle School, played
in 12 events and averaged 79.55 in 12 rounds. Averaging less than 80 is pretty
impressive at her age. She won 11 of the 12 events she played and had 12
birdies and an eagle.
Beek came out of the gate last March with back-to-back
victories, firing a 76 at Sea Oaks Golf Club and a 77 at Frog Hollow Golf Club.
She won at Pine Meadows Golf Club with a 73 and captured the Junior Tour
Championship with a 73 at Commonwealth National Golf Club.
I couldn’t hang around to see the actual story, but a recent
episode of “Inside Golf” on NBC Sports Philadelphia teased its teaching segment
from Talamore head pro Lou Guzzi and mentioned that Beek is one of his star
students.
The boys 16-to-18 Graham Company Player of the Year award
went to Alec Ryden of Moorestown, N.J. Ryden had seven wins in 27 starts that
included 31 rounds. He had a low round of 68, one of two Junior Tour rounds he
had in the 60s, and piled up 61 birdies.
Ryden carded the 68 in a victory at Chisel Creek Golf Club.
He won at Morgan Hill Golf Course with a 75, triumphed at Scotland Run Golf
Course with a 71, and took top honors in a Precision Pro Golf Open event at
Philmont Country Club with rounds of 69 and 76 for a 145 total.
The Sam Penecale Scoring Average Leader among the older guys
was Caleb Ryan of Norristown. Ryan, who is home-schooled through Commonwealth
Connections Academy and plays high school golf for Norristown High, played 24
rounds in 18 Junior Tour events with a scoring average of 74.16.
It is quite an accomplishment among a very deep and talented
group of older guys who tee it up in the Junior Tour events. Ryan won six
times, had 71 birdies and played the par-5s in 13-under par.
Ryan fired a 69 for a victory at Bellamor Golf Club, a 73 in
a win at Chesapeake Bay, a 71 to take top honors at Bluestone, and was the
runnerup in the Junior Tour Championship at Commonwealth National with a 69.
Ryan’s solid play on the Junior Tour set the stage for another
strong fall of scholastic golf as he reached the PIAA Class AAA Championship as
a junior for the second straight year, finishing in a tie for 19th at the Heritage Hills Golf
Resort. He finished fourth against many of his Junior Tour rivals in the District
One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Club.
The boys 13-to-15 Graham Company Player of the Year was
Dylan Gooneratne, a District One qualifier as a freshman for
Plymouth-Whitemarsh.
Gooneratne teed it up in 28 Junior Tour events, completing
32 rounds, and won six times. He had a low round of 70 and had 36 birdies,
averaging 1.12 birdies per round.
The 70 came in a win at Pennsauken Country Club. He claimed
a victory at Chesapeake Bay with a 74, topped the field with a 72 at Paxon
Hollow Country Club and was a winner in the Junior Tour Championship at
Commonwealth National with a 73.
The Sam Penecale Scoring Average Leader among the 13-to-15
boys was Stephen Lorenzo of Lower Gwynedd, who, I’m pretty sure, is a La Salle
High guy.
Lorenzo played in 14 events, completing 19 rounds, with an
outstanding scoring average of 76.0. He had two wins and made 30 birdies with a
low round of 71.
Lorenzo was particularly tough in a couple of the two-day
Precision Pro Golf Open events, finishing second at Hickory Valley Golf Club
with rounds of 75 and 73 for a 148 total and also claiming runnerup honors at
Makefield Highlands Golf Club with a pair of 73s for a 146 total. His 71 came
in a victory at Wyncote Golf Club and he had a 75 in a runnerup finish at Bluestone.
The Graham Company Player of the Year among the nine-holers
was Benjamin Saggers, a seventh-grader at the Saints Philip and James School
from West Chester. Saggers was the winner in half of the 30 events he teed it
up in, claiming 15 victories. He completed 33 rounds, with a low round of 35.
Saggers had 13 birdies and an eagle.
Among his victories were one at Morgan Hill with a 38, one
at Bear Trap Dunes with a 35, one at Downingtown Country Club with a 39 and one
at Skippack Golf Course with a 38.
Saggers, representing Applecross Country Club, was also the
runnerup to Joshua Ryan, younger brother of Caleb, in the Golf Association of
Philadelphia’s Junior-Junior Championship at Phoenixville Country Club.
The Sam Penecale Scoring Average Leader among the
nine-holers was Matthew Normand of Lamberton, N.J. Normand had an average of
40.64 while teeing it up in 11 events and completing 12 rounds. He won five
times, recorded six birdies and had a low round of 39.
Normand had a 39 in a victory at Ballamor, he won at Frog
Hollow with a 40, finished first with a 40 at Bala Golf Club and was the
runnerup in the Junior PGA Championship at Penn Oaks Golf Club with nines of 39
and 41 for an 80.
The Junior Tour also handed out college scholarships, which
were earned in conjunction with last summer’s Harry Hammond Invitational, held
at Penn Oaks, where Hammond is the Director of Golf. Hammond, a PGA Master
Professional, has been a force in promoting junior golf in the Philadelphia
Section, including a 29-year stint as the Section’s Junior Golf Chairman.
Players who teed it up at Penn Oaks submitted essays and the
scholarship winners were announced at the Junior Tour Awards Dinner.
Topping the list among the boys was Connor Bennink, a junior
at Unionville who received a $750 scholarship. Bennink had himself quite a week
in the PIAA Championships at Heritage Hills this fall. After finishing tied for
fourth in the individual Class AAA competition, Bennink helped Ches-Mont League
and District One champion Unionville capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown.
Drew Steinmetz of Gilbertsville, a junior at The Hill
School, and Simon Asadoorian of Richboro, a District One qualifier as a senior
at Council Rock South this fall, were each awarded a $375 scholarship.
Among the girls, Savanna Haas of Pottstown received a $750
scholarship, Georgia Naples of West Chester received a $500 scholarship and
Jessica McClellan of Freeland and Amanda Jones of Newtown Square, a sophomore
on the Episcopal Academy golf team, each received a $125 scholarship.
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