Holy Ghost Prep's Sanderson, West Chester East's Kim crowned PIAA Class AAA champions

    SPRINGETTSBURY TOWNSHIP – A year ago Holy Ghost Prep’s Calen Sanderson abandoned the PIAA postseason trail after finishing in a tie for second in the District One Class AAA Championship.

   He was going to play in an American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) event that conflicted with the Class AAA East Regional. It would have been the same scenario this year, but this year, 2020, is a very different year, as you may have noticed.

   The PIAA, faced with trying to put on a postseason of golf in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, decided to abandon the regional tournaments and reduce the state championships from two rounds over two days to a one-day shootout.

   For Sanderson, the runnerup to Downingtown West freshman Nick Gross in the District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Club two weeks ago, with the regionals out of the picture, he could tee it up in the PIAA Class AAA Championship. And Sanderson, a junior, made the most of the opportunity.

   Sanderson flashed his considerable talent with eight birdies, including three straight to finish his round with a flourish, as he carded a 4-under-par 67 on a glorious October Tuesday at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort to give Holy Ghost Prep its third state champion in six years.

   He finished a shot ahead of Franklin Regional senior Chuck Tragresser, who posted a 3-under 68 over the 6,700-yard, par-71 Heritage Hills layout. Sanderson’s rival at the district tournament, Gross, battled valiantly, but couldn’t catch Sanderson, settling for a third-place finish with a 2-under 69.

   Gross, too, had a similar conflict to the one Sanderson faced with a spot in an AJGA event opposite the East Regional. So, in this most unusual of years, the pandemic afforded both of them a chance to vie for a state championship.

   “It was great that (the PIAA) did that,” Sanderson said referring to the decision to bag the East Regional. “I feel really fortunate that I was able to play in this.”

   When you get a chance to get on a list of champions that includes Arnold Palmer, Jay Sigel and Jim Furyk, you take it and that’s what Sanderson did Tuesday.

   Sanderson needed only a 5-iron to reach the greenside bunker at the par-5 second hole and got it up and down for a birdie. A 35-foot bomb at the third hole found the bottom of the cup – “that was a nice putt,” Sanderson said – and he was 2-under.

   But Sanderson, who had only played Heritage Hills once before Tuesday, was aware that there was danger lurking ahead. He made a bogey at the fourth, but reached the par-5 seventh hole in two with a 7-iron and got a two-putt birdie that got him back to 2-under.

   Sanderson, however, found the water on the right side of the tight par-4 ninth hole off the tee and resulting double bogey dropped him to even-par for the day.

   “I knew I could make birdies, but it’s easy to get into trouble on some of the holes,” said Sanderson, who joined former Ghost standouts Steve Cerbara (2015) and Liam Hart (2017) – both are on the Drexel roster – as a PIAA champion. “The greens can be tricky and you have to be careful with your irons to get the ball in the right place on the green.”

   Sanderson’s power game got him back into red figures as a 3-wood left him with a chip shot into the par-4 10^th hole, his chip lipping out and leaving him a tap-in birdie. He bombed his drive within 50 yards at the par-4 13^th hole, chipped it to three feet and made another birdie.

   A bogey at the tough par-3 15^th hole dropped Sanderson back to 1-under for the day. But then came that winning burst to finish the round.

   Sanderson wedged it to 10 feet at the tricky par-4 16^th and converted the birdie try, knocked a pitching wedge to 12 feet at the par-4 17^th and dropped a tough slider on his birdie try and then, after a 3-wood off the tee at the par-4 closing hole, he drilled  a wedge to two feet for a birdie that accounted for his one-shot margin of victory.

   Sanderson teed it up two weekends ago in The PING Invitational, held at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., Oklahoma State’s home course and site of the Cowboys’ 2018 NCAA Championship victory. Sanderson finished in a tie for 23^rd place with a 14-over 230 total in the loaded field.

   Sanderson has committed to join the program at Notre Dame, where 2018 PIAA Class AAA champion Palmer Jackson of Franklin Regional is a sophomore standout. For now, Sanderson is proud to join the club of state champions at Holy Ghost Prep.

   “You want to represent the school and the golf team,” Sanderson said. “It’s been a great school for me and it’s a great program for golf.”

   I caught up with Gross’ group at the par-5 seventh hole and his playing partner, Bill Pabst of North Pocono, put a nose in front of the field with a two-putt birdie at seven and a tap-in birdie after stuffing his approach into the tough par-4 ninth that got him to 3-under for the round.

   The same weekend Sanderson was in Stillwater, Gross was teeing it up at Oklahoma’s home course, Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla., in the AJGA Junior All-Star Invitational. He finished in a tie for 16^th place with a 2-over 218 total.

   After making a birdie at the second hole, a poor swing at the fourth hole led to a double bogey for Gross. A birdie at the downhill par-3 fifth hole got Gross back to even-par.

   Gross, though, started to find the range with his silky putting stroke on the back nine. He went back-to-back, draining a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 12^th and a 15-footer after a nice approach at the par-4 13^th.

   He couldn’t convert a good look at the 14^th hole after a wonderful punch out of the trees on the left side and he blocked his tee shot at the par-3 15^th and made a bogey. Gross drained a 25-footer for birdie at the 16^th hole to get it to 2-under again just as word was filtering back that Sanderson had birdied the last three holes.

   Gross needed a birdie-birdie finish to catch Sanderson, but a 17-footer at the 17^th hole just slid by.

   Tragresser, meanwhile, was on the other side of the golf course making his move. Tragresser started on the back nine and he was 2-over after making a bogey at the 15^th hole. But a birdie at the 18^th hole started a late run that saw him birdie five of his last 10 holes.

   He blitzed the outgoing nine at Heritage Hills with birdies at the second, fourth, sixth and seventh holes. He needed one more birdie, but couldn’t get it, his sparkling 3-under 68 leaving him one shot behind Sanderson.

   Spring Grove junior Karl Frisk and Waynesboro senior Devin Smith accounted for the final medalists as they finished in a tie for fourth place at 1-under 70.

   Pabst struggled down the stretch a little and finished in a tie for sixth place with Shade Side Academy senior Adam Lauer at even-par 71. Lauer finished in a tie for fifth place a year ago.

   Rounding out the top 10 was a group of eight players tied for eighth place at 2-over 73, including Central Bucks West senior Milo Jezzeny, West Chester Rustin senior Eric Miller, Cumberland Valley senior Brady Davidson, Pittsburgh Central Catholic sophomore Rocco Salvitti, who finished seventh a year ago as a freshman, Upper St. Clair’s Scott Jordan and Freedom senior Jacob Haberstumpf.

   Among the other members of the District One contingent, Plymouth-Whitemarsh senior Dylan Gooneratne, Unionville senior and West Chester Rustin junior Ryan D’Ariano were among the group tied for 14^th place at 3-over 74, Wissahickon junior Christian Matt was tied for 23^rd place with a 76, Souderton senior Stephen Butler was in the group tied for 26^th at 77, Unionville sophomore Win Thomas was in the group tied for 28^th at 78, Wissahickon senior Jackson Tappen was tied for 33^rd place at 79 and West Chester Henderson senior Dylan Kochis was in the group tied for 43^rd place with an 85.

   Daniel Boone senior Colton Yenser joined the group tied for 14^th place with his 76. We covered the Blazers back in my days at The Mercury in Pottstown and I can’t remember a Daniel Boone player with that high a finish in the state tournament.

   A couple of Philadelphia Catholic League entries, St. Joseph’s Prep senior Luke Snyder and La Salle sophomore Kevin Lafond, landed among the group tied for 28^th place, each signing for an 82.

   On the girls side, West Chester East junior Victoria Kim found herself in a playoff with the PIAA Class AAA Championship on the line for the second year in a row. This time, she won.

   Kim birdied the 18^th hole, a par-5 for the girls, to defeat Emmaus senior Michelle Cox and become, I’m fairly certain, the first state golf champion in school history. Kim is the first Chester County girl to claim a state crown since Cara Basso captured the inaugural PIAA Class AA title in 2012 as a sophomore at Villa Maria Academy.

   It was a typically gritty effort by Kim, one of the many students of Golf Digest Top 50 instructor John Dunigan. She needed a birdie at her final hole, the tough par-4 ninth, to catch Cox at even-par 72 and she got it, driving it within 56 yards of the hole, sticking her approach to five feet and converting the tricky left-to-right putt.

   “I was having trouble with those left-to-right putts all day,” said Kim.

   A year ago, Kim survived the first two holes of the playoff with a cold rain getting heavier by the second. But she knocked it into the water twice on Heritage Hills' 18th hole and Wissahickon’s Elizabeth Beek claimed the title.

   This time, in much more pleasant weather, it was Cox who found the water, at the 18th hole or at least the wall of rocks just above the water. Cox had driven it right and had to clear a tree from 115 yards away. She lofted her approach over the tree, but it caught the bank above the water and dropped into the rocks in the hazard.

   Kim’s drive caromed off the cart path and left her just 110 yards to the pin. She yanked her approach left of the green, but a deft chip got a piece of the hole and left her with, maybe a two-footer for a winning birdie.

   Kim had added a bogey on the 18^th hole to an earlier bogey at the 13^th hole and she headed to the first tee at 2-over. The girl is a par machine and, after a birdie at the third hole, Kim made five straight pars before getting the crucial birdie at the ninth.

   “I didn’t really know where I stood,” Kim said. “My dad just said, ‘Finish strong, maybe birdie.’”

   A season that looked like it might never get off the ground, due to the pandemic, ended with a gold medal for Kim.

   “In September, I doubted they’d be able to get everybody in the state here,” Kim said. “Even though it was only one round, I’m glad we were able to play.”

   Cox capped an outstanding career at Emmaus with her runnerup finish. A three-time PIAA qualifier, Cox got a little better each year, finishing in 11^th place as a sophomore in 2018 and finishing three shots out of the playoff among Beek, Kim and Lower Merion’s Sydney Yermish in fourth place a year ago.

   Cox got off to a fast start Tuesday with birdies at the fourth, five and seventh holes. She gave all three of those shots back with a bogey at the eighth hole and a double bogey at the ninth. Cox birdied the par-5 11^th hole, but fell back to 1-over with bogeys at 15 and 17. Cox, however, got the birdie she needed to get it to even-par at the par-5 finishing hole.

   Kim led a trio of Ches-Mont League players who earned medals with top-five finishes. Downingtown East junior Ava O’Sullivan, who claimed the District One Class AAA crown two weeks ago, took third place with a 74 and Unionville senior Charlotte Scully finished in a tie for fifth with a 4-over 76.

   Cox’s teammate, senior Evelyn Wong, finished alone in fourth place with a 74 and North Pocono freshman Gwen Powell registered a 76 to get a share of fifth place with Scully.

   Mount St. Joseph senior Clare Gimpel capped an outstanding scholastic career as she carded a 5-over 77 to get a share of seventh place with Mt. Lebanon junior Lindsay Powanda, the District Seven champion.

   Pennsbury senior Jade Gu also finished off an outstanding scholastic career as ended up in a tie for ninth place with South Fauyette senior Caroline McConnell and Peters Township senior Ella McRoberts at 6-over 78. It was the second straight top 10 finish for McRoberts, who ended up in eighth place a year ago.

   Rounding out the District One contingent was Owen J. Roberts sophomore Stefania Fedun, who finished among the group tied for 14^th place in her PIAA debut with an 8-over 80.