New Jersey earns a 10-8 decision over Philadelphia in 12th Jon M. Pritsch Cup

   The Jon M. Pritsch Cup, presented by Under Amour, has become an end-of-summer tradition, a Ryder Cup-style competition between the top 12 players from the respective Junior Tours of the Philadelphia Section and the New Jersey Section PGA.

   The New Jersey Section played the host this year at Essex Fells Country Club in Essex Fells, N.J. Friday and the home-course advantage might have helped a little bit as the Jersey kids emerged with a narrow 10-8 victory, giving the Garden State a 9-3 series lead following the 12^th playing of the Pritsch Cup.

   The six foursomes competed in simultaneous four-ball and singles matches. New Jersey got the edge, 4-2, in the four-ball matches and the teams split the 12 singles matches, 6-6.

   The stars of the day for the Philadelphia Section were its two four-ball teams that won their matches and also swept all four of their singles matches.

   Alex Pillar of Hawley and Haverford School sophomore Jake Maddaloni teamed up to claim a 6 and 5 victory over Brandon Valvano of Franklin Lakes, N.J. ad Paul Ulanich of Freehold, N.J. Pillar added a 4 and 3 singles win over Valvano while Maddaloni claimed a 2-up victory (the results said 3-up, which means it was either 3 and 1, 3 and 2, or 2-up) over Ulanich.

   Garnet Valley junior Jacob Soklasky and Devon Prep sophomore Ryan McCabe, the reigning District One Class AA champion from Media, earned a 5 and 4 decision over Hunter Po of Bridgewater, N.J. and Isaiah Williams of Flemington, N.J. Sokalsky added a 4 and 3 singles win over Po while McCabe rolled to a 6 and 5 victory over Williams.

   Sokalsky and McCabe haven’t missed many opportunities to tee it up on the Philadelphia Junior Tour and it showed.

   New Jersey also earned a pair of four-ball and singles sweeps from two of its teams.

   Austin Liao of Warren, N.J. and Derek Weaver of Hackettstown, N.J. earned a 5 and 3 decision over a youthful Philadelphia pair of Win Thomas of Unionville and Strath Haven sophomore Jackson Debusschere. Liao added a 4 and 2 decision over Thomas in their singles showdown and Weaver knocked off Debusschere by a 5 and 3 margin.

   Jersey’s female pair of Anjoli Dhayagude of Plainsboro, N.J. and Kaia Wu of Princeton, N.J. earned a 4 and 3 victory over Christina Carroll of Bear, Del. and Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel., N.J. Dhayagude won her singles match with Carroll by a 4 and 3 margin and Wu cruised to a 7 and 6 decision over Tolentino.

   As a Class of 2024 entry, Tolentino might have been the youngest player in the field.

   The ultimate outcome might have hung on the narrow 1-up victory for New Jersey’s James Bagdonas of Scotch Plains, N.J. and Jason Lee of Westfield, N.J. over West Chester East senior Cole Shew and Nikita Romanov of Wilmington, Del. in their four-ball match. Romanov salvaged a point for Philadelphia with a 4 and 3 win over Lee while Bagdonas cruised to a 7 and 6 victory over Shew.

   New Jersey’s final four-ball point came from the duo of Tyler Galantini of West Orange, N.J. and Antoine Chouragui of Summit, N.J., who claimed a 4 and 3 decision over Plymouth-Whitemarsh sophomore Dylan Gooneratne and Central Bucks East senior Patrick Sheehan, the District One Class AAA runnerup last fall Turtle Creek Golf Club.

   Not sure what was up with Sheehan, who conceded his singles point to Chouragui. It was a busy week for both Sheehan and Romanov, both of whom participated in the Williamson Cup Tuesday at St. Clair Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh (a Saturday T Mac Tees Off post has all the details, of course). Sheehan represented a Pennsylvania team that finished fourth in the 11-team field and Romanov was a member of Team Delaware, which finished tied for seventh.

   It's entirely plausible that Sheehan just ran out of gas (it’s been a hot summer, in case you hadn’t noticed) or had a nagging injury flare up on him.

   Gooneratne earned a point for Team Philadelphia with a 2 and 1 singles decision over Galantini.

The Jon M. Pritsch Cup is played in memory of an aspiring professional golfer who died tragically of heart disease at age 17. Pritsch’s parents wanted to see other youngsters get the opportunity to pursue the dream that Pritsch never got the chance to chase.

   Proceeds from the Pritsch Cup have resulted in $180,000 in scholarships for youngsters who play in the event that plan to pursue a career in the golf industry. All the Pritsch Cup participants are eligible to apply for a scholarship.