Sheehan's runnerup finish leads host Penn State to team title in Rutherford Intercollegiate

    I’ve been a Patrick Sheehan fan for a while.

   Maybe it’s because I watched him come up just short in his bid to capture the District One Class AAA crown as a junior at Central Bucks East in 2017 at Turtle Creek Golf Club and come back the following year and win a district title in a playoff as a senior. He went on to finish in a tie for third place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship in 2018 at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort.

   It just so happened that Sheehan was playing not far from home for me in the summer of 2019, so I got a chance to watch a lot of the second-round match that he lost to Jack Wall, who’s on the South Carolina roster these days, in the 2019 BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Stonewall.

   A week later, I saw Sheehan run into a buzzsaw in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship at Coatesville Country Club when he fell in the final to a red-hot Austin Barbin, who’s a fixture in Maryland’s starting lineup these days.

   Sheehan’s fun to watch. He’s a big kid who just kills it off the tee. But you’ll notice I haven’t always seen him win. He had to learn to harness his power and become a more complete player. He’s dealt with adversity, but always seemed to keep pushing forward.

   The adversity kept coming in his freshman season at Penn State. Just when he had worked his way into the starting lineup last spring, the coronavirus pandemic stopped the wraparound 2019-2020 season in its tracks. His name didn’t come up a whole lot last summer and the pandemic kept the Nittany Lions from competing in the fall of the wraparound 2020-’21 season as well.

   But it looks like Sheehan may have turned a corner in his college career over the weekend as he fired a final round of 5-under-par 66 on his home Penn State Blue Course to lead the Nittany Lions to their sixth straight team title in the 44^th Rutherford Intercollegiate, which wrapped up Saturday.

   Sheehan had opened with a 1-over 72 over the 7,202-yard, par-71 Blue Course layout in a chilly first round of a Friday double round. He added a 1-under 70 in Friday afternoon’s second round before closing with that 5-under 66 Saturday that featured six birdies against a lone bogey. It left him with a 5-under 208 total and a runnerup finish in the individual standings.

   Nobody was going to catch the individual champion, Loyola of Maryland senior Evan Brown, one of the Ches-Mont League’s top players during his scholastic career at Kennett. After matching par with an opening-round 71, Brown took control of the individual race with the best round of the weekend, a sparkling 6-under 65 in Friday afternoon’s second round.

   Brown matched Sheehan’s final-round 66 for an 11-under 202 total that was a tournament record for the Rutherford and left him six shots clear of Sheehan for his second career collegiate victory.

   More importantly for Penn State head coach Greg Nye, Sheehan’s performance gave the Nittany Lions, No. 116 in the latest Golfstat rankings, a seven-shot victory over Brown’s Greyhounds, ranked 133^rd, and No. 38 Kent State in the team standings.

   Penn State had solid rounds of 4-over 288 and 3-over 287 in Friday’s double round, but trailed Kent State by six shots and Loyola of Maryland by two in third place. But fueled by Sheehan’s 66 and a solid 3-under 68 from Ryan Davis, a graduate student from Berkeley Heights, N.J., the Nittany Lions closed with a 7-under 277 to finish at even-par 852.

   Kent State matched par in Friday afternoon’s second round with a 284 after opening with a 1-over 285, but the Golden Flashes fell back with a final round of 6-over 290 to end up in a tie for second place with Loyola of Maryland at 7-over 859.

   Behind Brown, Loyola of Maryland rebounded from an opening-round 292 with a 3-under 281 before closing with a 2-over 286 to get its share of runnerup honors.

   A couple of Penn State’s Big Ten rivals, No. 92 Rutgers and No. 107 Maryland, accounted for the next two spots in the team standings, the Scarlet Knights taking fourth place at 10-over 862 and the Terrapins a shot behind them in fifth place with an 11-over 863 total.

   After opening with a 292, Rutgers added a pair of 1-over 285s. Maryland opened with a 289 before recording a pair of 3-over 287s.

   No. 159 Connecticut finished in sixth place in the 14-team field at 13-over 865, two shots behind Maryland. The Huskies, back in the Big East after playing in the tough American Athletic Conference, added a 290 to their opening round of 4-over 288 in Friday’s double round before finishing up with a 3-over 287.

   Sheehan’s performance led a really strong overall showing by Penn State.

   Davis and Alec Bard of New Hartford, N.Y. came back for a fifth year to reclaim the spring of their senior seasons stolen by the pandemic. The last connections to Penn State’s memorable run to the NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. in 2017, this was one last chance for Davis and Bard to play in the Rutherford on their home course and they made the most of that opportunity.

   Davis opened with a 1-under 70 and added a 73 in Friday afternoon’s second round before contributing his 68 to the Nittany Lions’ strong finish as he ended up alone in eighth place in the individual standings at 2-under 211. Bard also opened with a 70 and added a 73 in Friday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 74 that left him among the group tied for 16^th place with a 4-over 217 total.

   Sophomore Jimmy Meyers, the runnerup in the 2018 PIAA Class AAA Championship and part of a strong recruiting class that included Sheehan, bounced back from an opening-round 76 with a 1-over 72 in Friday afternoon’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71 to end up in the group tied for 25^th place at 6-over 219.

   Rounding out the starting lineup for Penn State was senior Lou Olsakovsky, an Upper St. Clair product who, after opening with a 76, posted a pair of 1-over 72s to finish in the group tied for 30^th place at 7-over 220.

   There was more good news for Nye among the group of five players who competed as individuals, led, most impressively, by James Allen, a freshman from Scarsdale, N.Y. who finished in a tie for fourth place at 3-under 210 in his first college tournament.

   Allen was one of Brown’s closest pursuers after he added a 70 to his opening round of 2-under 69. He matched par in the final round with a 71 to join a group of four players who landed at 210.

   Yet another Penn State sophomore who was part of that 2018 PIAA Class AAA Championship field, West Perry’s Ben Smith, and James McHugh, a senior from Rye, N.Y., both finished among the group tied for 12^th place at 3-over 216. Smith matched par in both rounds of Friday’s double round with a pair of 71s before finishing up with a 74. McHugh opened with a sparkling 2-under 69 before adding a 74 in Friday afternoon’s second round and closed with a 73.

   Senior Lukas Clark, who starred scholastically at Council Rock South, signed for a 1-under 70 in Friday afternoon’s second round after opening with a 74 before closing with a 75 to finish in the group tied for 25^th place at 6-over 219.

   Rounding out the Penn State contingent was Ryan Lee, a junior from Norwood, N.J. who finished in a tie for 38^th place at 9-over 222. Lee struggled a little in Friday afternoon’s second round with a 77, but was solid otherwise, opening with a 1-over 72 and closing with a 2-over 73.

   Nye will have some interesting choices as to the makeup of Penn State’s first five in this weekend’s Kepler Intercollegiate at one of the toughest tests in college golf, The Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio. A week after that it’s the Big Ten Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind.

   Penn State would seem to be too high in the Golfstat rankings to earn a berth in the NCAA regionals, but a couple more strong showings in the next two weeks might change that equation a little.

   Rutgers was led by Christopher Gotterup, a senior from Little Silver, N.J. who finished a shot behind Sheehan in third place with a 5-under 209 total. Gotterup matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added a 1-under 70 in Friday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 3-under 68.

   Joining Penn State’s Allen in the tie for fourth place at 3-under 210 were Brown’s Loyola of Maryland teammate Brandon Berry, a senior from Mclean, Va., Kent State’s Cade Breitenstine, a sophomore from Akron, Ohio, and UConn’s Caleb Manuel, a freshman from Topsham, Maine.

   Berry led the field with his opening round of 4-under 67 before adding a 2-over 73 in Friday’s second round and finishing up with a 1-under 70. Breitenstine rattled off three straight 1-under 70s. Manuel shared second place with Penn State’s Allen after two rounds as he added a 70 to an opening round of 2-under 69. Manuel then matched par in the final round with a 71.

   Two Maryland players, Will Koras, a junior from Lutherville, Md., and Dillon Brown, a junior from Halifax, Mass., rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each landing on even-par 213. Koras opened with a 2-under 69 before adding a 74 in Friday afternoon’s second round. His final-round 70 included a hole-in-one on the Blue Course’s par-3 17^th hole. Dillon Brown matched par in the second round with a 71 after opening with a 1-under 70 and closed with a 72.

   James Madison’s George Heath, a redshirt sophomore from England, was also in the group tied for second place after two rounds as he added a 70 to his opening round of 2-under 69 before closing with a 75 to finish alone in 11^th place at 1-over 214.

   Barbin of the golfing Barbins of Elkton, Md. had a spectacular summer of junior golf in 2019 that included his victory over Sheehan in the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship. The Maryland sophomore got it going in Friday afternoon’s second round with a 2-under 69, which he bookended with 74s in the opening round and the final round as he finished among the group tied for 16^th place at 4-over 217.

   James Madison redshirt freshman Neal Shipley, a teammate of Penn State’s Meyers on Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 PIAA Class AAA championship team, finished among the group tied for 56^th place at 227. Shipley struggled with rounds of 76 and 79 in Friday’s double round before closing with a solid 1-over 72.