Garnet Valley's Sokalsky, Conestoga's Lofland, Lee share Central League crown with 74s at Turtle Creek

   LIMERICK – If you follow the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, and this blog certainly does, you are familiar with the name of Garnet Valley senior Jake Sokalsky.

   And all that hard work paid off with a share of the Central League’s individual title Wednesday as Sokalsky made a birdie on his final hole, the 552-yard, risk-reward par-5 finishing hole at Turtle Creek Golf Club, to join the Conestoga pair of Morgan Lofland and Ben Lee at 2-over-par 74.

   It’s the second straight year that Lofland, a junior, has earned a piece of the Central crown as he shared it a year ago with Radnor’s David Colleran, a freshman on the Drexel golf team these days.

   “I probably play 20 events a summer,” Sokalsky said after a solid day in blast-furnace heat and windy conditions at the Turtle. “I enjoy getting to play all the different golf courses.”

   When he’s not out touring, Sokalsky works on his game at Penn Oaks Golf Club on the Delaware County-Chester County border. He will join the Penn Oaks director of golf, Harry Hammond, at West Chester next year. Hammond’s retired, sort of, so he coaches at West Chester when he’s not at Penn Oaks, you know, just to keep busy.

   “I’m at Penn Oaks most days, working on my game,” Sokalsky said. “The goal this year is make states.”

   Sokalsky will be back at Turtle Creek next week for the District One Class AAA Championship. He was unable to make the cut following the first round last year. That, of course, will be step one toward the ultimate goal.

   He’s played the 6,375-yard, par-72 Turtle Creek layout enough that he knows his way around the course.

   “This was really good for my confidence, so I can feel more comfortable at districts next week,” Sokalsky said.

   He was feeling pretty comfortable on the final hole at the Turtle Wednesday when he unleashed “the best drive I’ve ever hit on this golf course,” a wind-aided bomb that left him just 195 yards to the green. Laying up short of the water hazard in front of the green was never a thought. He needed just a 7-iron to reach the putting surface in two and two-putted for a birdie that enabled him to join Lofland, one of his playing partners, and Lee atop the leaderboard.

   “I made another birdie at the (par-5) 13^th,” Sokalsky said. “I hit 16 greens. The two I missed were bogeys, but I played really well.”

   Lofland’s goal is the same as Sokalsky’s, although he’s been to the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a freshman two years ago. So his goal is to return to states.

   “It was disappointing to not make it last year,” Lofland said. “I really grinded hard all summer to get ready for school golf.”

   Lofland will return to the District One Championship next week with plenty of success at Turtle Creek in the bank. He fired a 1-under 71 to share the Central title with Colleran a year ago and twice has advanced out of districts at the Turtle to the Class AAA East Regional at Golden Oaks Golf Club.

Lofland posted a 36-hole total of 1-under 143 to claim the top spot in a Junior Tour Precision Pro Golf Open event at the Turtle this summer.

   Lofland had three birdies on his scorecard at the par-5 eighth, the short par-4 12^th and the par-3 15^th holes. His approach to the 18^th green ended up in the water and a bogey there cost him the outright title.

   But he’ll be back at the Turtle next week with two Central League titles, two trips to regionals and one trip to states already on his resume.

   I got to the Turtle in time to catch the top group of girls play their last five holes, Nos. 13 through 17.

   It was my first chance to see Lower Merion freshman Sydney Yermish, who plays out of Rolling Green Golf Club, in action. Yermish already has an appearance in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at Poppy Hills Golf Course on California’s Monterey Peninsula as a  12-year-old in the summer of 2018 under her belt and you could have seen her on TV the Sunday before the Masters finishing fifth in the 12-13 Girls division of the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National last spring.

   Yermish walked in a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17^th hole, her last of the day, to join her playing partners, Haverford High junior Riley Quartermain, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier a year ago, and Strath Haven sophomore Grace Smith, winner of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls’ crown this summer, atop the girls leaderboard, each carding a 6-over 78. The course played 5,827 yards for the girls.

   It was the first time Yermish laid eyes on the Turtle and it took her a while to adjust to the speed of the greens – not exactly the slippery surfaces she encounters at Rolling Green – and the wind made for some tough club selection. And, as you no doubt heard from the breathless TV weather people, it’s never been hotter around these parts on Oct. 2.

   “I did not play well on the front nine, but I was 1-over on the back, which wasn’t bad,” Yermish said. “The greens were a lot slower than Rolling Green and didn’t break as much. But I was playing with a couple of my friends, so we were having fun out there and laughing.”

   Even though Yermish lives in Wynnewood, Montgomery County, her Rolling Green roots gives her some Delco cred. Her pals, Quartermain and Smith, are also members of Delco clubs in Llanerch Country Club and The Springhaven Club, respectively.

   Yermish hopes to make a splash in her first season of high school golf, but she knows there is work to do.

   “I want to win states,” Yermish said. “But I know to win it, I have to get there first.”

   The girls will play the first round of the District One Class AAA Championship Monday at Raven’s Claw Golf Club, home of the Symetra Tour’s Valley Forge Invitational. There will be a cut with the leaders after the opening round competing for a spot in the East Regional in the second round of districts back down Ridge Pike at the Turtle.

   Quartermain let a lead get away from her when she hit it out of bounds at the par-4 14^th hole and made triple bogey. But Quartermain, Yermish and Smith all have the talent to reach the state tournament, that much was apparent.

   There was one other story line to pursue at the Turtle Wednesday and that was Strath Haven’s undefeated run through the Central League this summer into fall, although it still felt pretty summery out there.

   It was the first Central League golf title ever for Strath Haven and it was born at Springhaven, the home course for the Panthers’ top six players.

   Their senior leader, Kevin Smith, who also played in the group with Sokalsky and Lofland, carded a solid 4-over 76 to finish in a tie for fourth, two shots behind the three co-medalists. The glow from that unbeaten run through the gauntlet of Radnor, Conestoga and Harriton was still evident.

   “It was a good season,” Smith said as he watched his teammate Jackson Debusschere survive a five-man playoff for the final individual berth from the Central League to next week’s district tournament. “We were six strong and we really fought together as a team, that was the difference.”

   The group included the Debusschere brothers, Jackson and Tyler, Nick Cardow, David Merz and Kevin Smith’s little sister Grace, who was just starting to play competitively at this time a year ago and has come a long way in a short period of time.

   “We could all see this coming four years ago at Springhaven,” Kevin Smith said. “But everybody contributed. I had a 32 against Conestoga, the Debusschere brothers went 34 and 36 against Harriton at Bluestone and everybody played well against Radnor, we had five players break 40.”

   Kevin Smith is hoping to reach the state tournament for the first time in his senior season, but he’s looking forward to helping to carry the Strath Haven banner in Tuesday’s District One team competition. A win there and the Panthers will get to compete for state team honors at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort later this month.

   I had a chance to chat with Strath Haven coach Kevin Kochersperger while I was out on the course and he gave all the credit to his players.

   “We had Radnor and Conestoga at home (Springhaven), which helped, but you still have to beat them,” Kochersperger said. “My kids worked hard all summer to be ready for this. They were a real team.”

   Joining Kevin Smith in the tie for fourth at 4-over 76 was Conestoga’s Drew Ridder. Conestoga’s Graham Blatchford and Ridley’s Ethan Pecko shared sixth place, each posting a 77.

   Harriton senior Andrew Wallace, who played in the final group on the second day in the PIAA Class AAA Championship a year ago, and Garnet Valley’s Nick Woods finished in a tie for eighth place at 78. Radnor’s Jack Hamilton finished alone in 10^th place with a 79.

   Two Radnor players, Luke Kelly and Tyler Tornoe, as well as Garnet Valley’s Matt Pulcinalle and Harriton’s Jay Ramaswamy, finished in a tie for 11^th place, each carding an 80. Ben Chang of Penncrest ended up alone in 15^th place with an 81.

   Penncrest’s Cory Anderson and Conestoga’s Connor Loftus finished in a tie for 16^th place, each posting an 81. Two members of Strath Haven’s Central League championship team, Tyler Debusschere and Merz, were joined in the tie for 18^th at 83 by Harriton’s David Fitzgerald, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier a year ago.

   Jackon Debusschere finally prevailed for the league’s 21^st and final berth in the district individual competition after he and four other players, including Cardow, his Strath Haven teammate, each posted an 84.

   Jackson Debusschere nailed down the final berth with a par on the par-3 ninth hole. Penncrest’s Eli Shah, who might be five-feet tall, was the last player knocked out as he and Jackson Debusschere played the ninth hole three times in the playoff. Two Radnor players, Rishi Khanne and James Quinn, failed to advance out of the playoff.

   On the girls side, Harriton’s Niosha Parvizi finished in fourth place with an 82, four shots behind the top three. Marple Newtown’s Gilyoung Koh finished fifth with an 86.

   Conestoga’s Suzie Ahn and Radnor’s Jax Slinkard finished in a tie for sixth, each carding a 92. Conestoga’s Sophia Brubaker took eighth place with a 93, Strath Haven’s Paige Brown was ninth with a 94, Radnor’s Ryane Oswald was 10^th with a 97, Radnor’s Molly Haas was 11^th with a 98 and Garnet Valley’s Nicole Ng was 12^th with a 99. Pretty sure breaking 100 is the standard for qualifying for districts for the girls.