Gross claims first AJGA victory, winning by five in Junior Golf Hub Junior All-Star presented by Explore York

    Nicholas Gross, an incoming freshman at Downingtown West, has been playing some solid golf in the last month, a stretch he capped with an impressive five-shot victory in the Junior Golf Hub Junior All-Star presented by Explore York, which wrapped up Thursday at Regents’ Glen Country Club in York.

   It was the first career American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) victory for Gross, who will turn 14 this week. It was his fourth top-10 finish in an AJGA event.

   Gross took control of the tournament with a sparkling 7-under-par 65 over the 6,269-yard, par-72 Regents’ Glen layout in Wednesday’s second round that gave him a commanding four-shot advantage heading into Thursday’s final round. Gross had opened with a 5-under 67 in Tuesday’s opening round.

   Gross’ second round featured eight birdies against a single bogey.

   Playing with a big lead, Gross made eight straight pars to open his final round before making a birdie on the par-5 ninth hole. He did some damage on the ninth for the week with an eagle in the opening round and birdies in the second and final rounds as he went 4-under for the tournament on that hole alone.

   Gross’ final-round momentum stalled momentarily with a bogey at the 10^th hole, but he then his putter heated up as he made four straight birdies from 13 to 16. It added up to a final round of 4-under 68, his worst round of the tournament, and a 16-under 200 total. It tied for the 13^th-best total in a 54-hole AJGA event.

   “Winning means so much because the AJGA is such a huge part of junior golf and if I can establish myself out there, then I’m proving to myself that I am a top-level player,” Gross told the AJGA website.

  Gross’ closest pursuer was Chance Rinkol of Leawood, Kan., who fired a final round of 6-under 66 to claim runnerup honors with an 11-under 205 total.

   Kristoffer Kuvass, a Norwegian based in Houston, was a shot behind Ronkol in third place at 10-under 206 after a final round of 2-under 70. Kuvass matched Gross’ opening-round 67 and stood in second place, four shots behind Gross, after a 3-under 69 in Wednesday’s second round.

   Gross has been on quite a roll since I last caught up with him after he had finished in a tie for 51^st place in the Junior Boys’ North & South Championship at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst Village, N.C. The first and third round were played on Pinehurst’s No. 8 Course with the middle round giving the youngsters a shot at No. 2, the Donald Ross classic.

   Using the Pinehurst Resort as a base of operation during the crazy coronavirus summer of 2020, Gross put together a solid tie for 10^th in the High School Freshman/Sophomore boys division in the Tarheel Golf Foundation Tour Championship July 12 and 13 at a couple of Southern Pines classics, the Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club and the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club layouts.

   Gross rallied from an opening-round 77 with an even-par 71 for a 6-over 148 total.

   Gross then recorded a 10-under 206 total at Mid Pines July 23 to 25 to capture the Boys 13 division of U.S. Kids Golf’s World Championship by a shot. Gross, who won the Boys 12 division in last year’s U.S. Kids Golf’s World Championship, has been competing in the event since he teed it up in the 6-and-under division in 2013.

   Gross sandwiched a 6-under 66 in the second round with a pair of 2-under 70s in getting it to 10-under.

   In the first week of August, Gross claimed another win with a 3-under 207 total in the Hope Valley Junior Invitational at the Hope Valley Country Club, another Donald Ross design, in Durham, N.C. Gross followed up an opening round of 69 with a 3-under 67 before closing with a 1-over 71.

   Team Gross headed west the following week for the 50^th Southern Junior Championship held at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., site of the 2019 NCAA Championship for the men and the women.

   After struggling to an opening-round 81, Gross bounced back with a 2-under 70 in the second round to make the cut on the number as the only Class of 2024 competitor in the field. A final round of 79 left Gross in 48^th place with a 14-over 230 total.

   Gross then grabbed the only available spot in the boys 13-and-under division in the Memphis Regional Qualifier Aug. 15 and 16 for the new Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship.

   Gross followed up an opening round of 6-under 66 at Orgill Park Golf Course in Millington, Tenn. with a 67 for an 11-under 133 total.

   That earned Gross a trip to the inaugural Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship, which will be held in November at Kosati Pines at Coushatta Resort in Kinder, La.

   Heading the rest of the local contingent at Regents’ Glen among the boys was Win Thomas of Unionville, who landed in a tie for ninth place at 5-under 211 for his first top-10 finish in an AJGA event. After matching par in the opening round, Thomas carded a solid 3-under 69 in the second round before closing with a 2-under 70.

   Malvern Prep junior Keller Mulhern got off to a strong start, firing an opening-round 68 and adding a 2-under 70 that had him tied for third going into Thursday’s final round. Mulhern struggled in the final round with an 80 to finish among the group tied for 26^th place at 2-over 218.

   Tower Hill sophomore Henry Stone finished alone in 35^th place at 5-over 221. Stone, a Kennett Square resident, matched par in the opening round and added a 1-over 73 before closing with a 76.

   Bethlehem Liberty sophomore Matt Vital, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, saved his best for last, a final round of 2-under 70 enabling him to finish in the group tied for 37^th place at 223. Vital was the winner of the Boys 12-13 division in the 2019 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club.

   Bishop Shanahan sophomore Benjamin Saggers closed with a 77 to end up alone in 43^rd place at 230. Saggers’ best effort came in Wednesday’s second round when he signed for a 2-over 74.

   Mason Tucker of York had his best score in the final round, a 3-over 75, as he finished in 46^th place at 232. Another York guy, Reed Krosse, opened with a solid 1-over 73, but couldn’t maintain the momentum from that strong start as he added a 79 in the second round before a final-round 85 left him in 48^th place at 237.

   Another member of York’s Team Krosse, Lane Krosse, added a final-round 85 to the pair of 79s he put up in the first two rounds as he ended up in a tie for 51^st place at 243.

   On the girls side, Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel, N.J. birdied the last three holes to overtake second-round leader Maye Huang of Katy, Texas and claim her second AJGA victory with an 8-under 208 total.

   Huang fired a spectacular 6-under 66 in Wednesday’s second round over a Regents’ Glen layout that measured 5,494 yards for the girls to take a two-shot lead over Tolentino going into the final round. Tolentino had opened with a 1-under 71 and added a 2-under 70 to get it to 3-under 141 through two rounds.

   But Tolentino really got it going in the final round. She birdied the sixth, seventh and ninth holes before slowing her roll a little with a bogey at the 10^th. Tolentino made a birdie at the 12^th hole before a bogey at the 14^th left her at 5-under for the tournament.

   Tolentino then ripped off those three late birdies to surge to the victory, her second AJGA win and fifth top-10 finish, with a final round of 5-under 67. Huang closed with a solid 2-under 70 to earn runnerup honors at 7-under 209.

   “I’ve been working really hard to prepare myself for tournaments like this and I’m really happy to get the job done,” Tolentino told the AJGA website.

   Tolentino and Huang had separated themselves from the field as it was five shots back from Huang to a tie for third place between Claire Lu of Edison, N.J. and AnPhi Le of Frederick, Md., both of whom landed on 2-under 214.

   Lu was steady throughout, posting a pair of 1-under 71s after matching par with a 72 in the opening round. Le fired a sparkling 4-under 68 in Wednesday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Megan Meng of Pennington, N.J., so impressive in capturing the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship in June at Lebanon Country Club, finished alone in fifth place at even-par 216. Meng bounced back from an opening-round 76 with a 3-under 69 in Wednesday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Anna Swan of North East and Rita Liu of China ended up in a tie for sixth place, each posting a 2-over 218 total.

   I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Anna Swan is the younger sister of Lydia Swan, the PIAA Class AA champion as a sophomore at North East last fall. Anna Swan kept getting better at Regents’ Glen, adding a 1-over 73 to her opening-round 75 before closing with a 2-under 70. Liu sandwiched an even-par 72 in Wednesday’s second round with a pair of 1-over 73s.

   Sawyer Brockstedt, one of Delaware’s rising stars out of Rehoboth Beach, got a top-10 finish as she added a pair of 74s to her opening round of 1-over 73 for a 5-over 221 total.

   Like Gross, Brockstedt came home from the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship with a one-shot victory in the Girls 13 division with a 5-under 211 total at the Longleaf Golf & Family Club. Brockstedt closed out the win with a spectacular 5-under 67 in the final round.

   Another Delaware junior standout, Sarah Lydic of Ocean View was two shots behind Brockstedt in a tie for 12^th place at 7-over 223. Lydic opened with a 1-over 73 and added a 74 before finishing up with a 76.

   Ellison Lundquist of Furlong was a shot behind Lydic in a tie for 14^th place at 224 after she sandwiched a 2-over 74 with a pair of 75s.

   Avery McCrery of Wilmington, Del., who claimed the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls’ Championship at Sandy Run Country Club, finished alone in 17^th place with a 227 total. McCrery matched par with a 72 in Wednesday’s second round after opening with a 78. She finished up with a 5-over 77.

   Sisters Meghan Zambruno and Ella Zambruno, members of Greensburg Central Catholic’s PIAA Class AA championship team as sophomores last fall, had strong showings at Regents’ Glen.

   Meghan Zambruno, who finished fourth in the individual Class AA chase at states, finished alone in 18^th place at 229. After opening with a 76, Meghan Zambruno added a 78 before closing with a 3-over 75. Ella Zambruno finished up with a 79 in Thursday’s final round to take 23^rd place with a 249 total. Ella Zambruno struggled in the first two rounds with scores of 84 and 86.

   Another entry from Furlong, Abigail Lynn, finished in 21^st place at 233 as she closed with a 79 after carding a pair of 77s in the first two rounds.