Gu jumps out to two-shot lead in Pennsylvania Junior Girls' Championship with a 70 at Lebanon

    Recent Pennsbury graduate Jade Gu, riding the momentum from qualifying for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship last week, rode a fast start to a solid 2-under-par 70 at sweltering Lebanon Country Club Monday that gave her a two-shot lead after the opening round of the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship.

   Gu, playing out of Yardley Country Club, capped an outstanding scholastic career by finishing in a tie for ninth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort. She birdied the second, fifth and eighth holes to make the turn at the par-72 Lebanon layout at 3-under with a 33.

   Gu survived a playoff to grab one of just two tickets up for grabs in a U.S. Girls’ Junior local qualifier at the Steel Club and is making plans to tee it up in the biggest tournament in junior golf next month at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md.

   Gu, who finished in fourth place in the state Junior Girls at Lebanon last summer, cooled off a little on the incoming nine Monday as she made a bogey at the 13^th hole to fall back to 2-under, but was steady down the stretch, making pars on the last seven holes to finish at that figure.

   Gu has a quartet of talented players chasing her, including The Springhaven Club’s Grace Smith, a senior at Strath Haven, Merion Golf Club’s Lauren Jones, the Inter-Ac League champion as a senior at Episcopal Academy this spring, Jericho National Golf Club’s Natasha Kiel, and the Country Club of Harrisburg’s Paige Richter, a senior at Camp Hill, each matching par with a 72.

   Smith had finished ninth in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a sophomore in 2019, but missed the PIAA postseason last fall when the Central League, trying to work through coronavirus pandemic protocols, was unable to put together a District One qualifier in time to get its players eligible to play.

   Jones shared the top spot in the U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifier with Gu last week at the Steel Club, but lost out in the playoff and is the second alternate. Jones did earn a trip to the U.S. Girls’ Junior in 2019 at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis. Jones finished in a tie for 11^th place in last summer’s Pennsylvania Junior Girls at Lebanon.

   Jones will continue her academic and athletic pursuits at Richmond later this summer.

   Kiel, who finished in third place in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls at Lebanon a year ago, was also in that foursome that finished tied atop the leaderboard in last week’s U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifier at the Steel Club. She was the final player eliminated in the playoff and is the first alternate.

   Kiel was a standout at the George School in Newtown before finishing out her scholastic career at the Monteverde Academy in Monteverde, Fla. Kiel will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Vanderbilt at the end of the summer.

   Richter, who finished in fifth place in the PIAA Class AA Championship as a sophomore in 2019, joined Jones in the group tied for 11^th place at Lebanon last summer.

   It was another shot back to a couple of strong contenders in Hartefeld National Golf Club’s Rylie Heflin, the 2017 Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship winner, and Lehigh Country Club’s Michelle Cox, who lost in a playoff for the PIAA Class AAA crown at Heritage Hills to close out an outstanding scholastic career at Emmaus. Heflin and Cox are tied for sixth place as each landed on 1-over 73.

   Heflin, a scholastic standout at Tower Hill in Delaware who will join Atlantic Coast Conference power Duke later this summer, finished in a tie for fifth place in the state Junior Girls at Lebanon a year ago. Cox finished in eighth place at Lebanon a year ago and has been a perennial contender in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship.

   Defending champion Megan Meng, playing out of Jericho National, headed a group of four players tied for eighth place at 2-over 74. Meng is a sophomore at Hopewell Valley in New Jersey, where she plays on the boys team.

   Whitford Country Club’s Ava O’Sullivan, the District One Class AAA champion as a junior at Downingtown East last fall, was also in the group at 2-over.

   Rounding out the foursome at 2-over were Brooke Oberparleiter, representing the Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association, and recent McDowell graduate Natalie Brosig, a Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) individual member.

   Kiel and Meng led Jericho National to the top of the team leaderboard as they combined to give the club a 2-over 146 total in the three-score-two format. Jericho National was able to throw out a 78 carded by Elison Lundquist.

   The Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association, behind Oberparleiter, was three shots behind Jericho National in second place with a 5-over 149 total.

   The Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ Championship was being contested simultaneously Monday at Hershey Country Club’s East Course and Karl Frisk, who finished in a tie for fourth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a junior at Spring Grove last fall, heated up on the back nine to grab a one-shot lead with a 4-under 67.

   Recent Conestoga graduate Morgan Lofland, who will join head coach Greg Nye’s Penn State program later this summer, rode a streak of four straight birdies on the East Course’s front nine to a 4-under 68 that left him a shot behind Frisk.

   Frisk made birdies at the first and fifth holes to make the turn at the par-71 East Course at 2-under before really heating up on the way back to the clubhouse. Frisk ripped off three straight birdies at the 10^th, 11^th and 12^th holes, stumbled briefly with a bogey at the 13, and then made birdies at the 14 and 17, registering a 4-under 31 on the back nine.

   Lofland, coming off a runnerup finish to Josh Ryan in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 107^th Junior  Boys’ Championship last week at Overbrook Golf Club, quickly got it to 4-under with birdies at the third, fourth, fifth and sixth holes. After a birdie at the 11^th hole got Lofland to 5-under, he made bogeys at the 12 and 14 to fall back to 3-under.

   Lofland has some experience on Hershey’s East Course as he finished in fourth place in the state Junior Boys a year ago.

   Luke Thompson of Huntingdon Country Club was a shot behind Lofland in third place with a 2-under 69. Loch Nairn Golf Club’s Evan Barbin was the only other player to better par at the East Course as he was alone in fourth place with a 1-under 70.

   Holy Ghost Prep senior Calen Sanderson, who captured the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Heritage Hills last fall, and Liberty junior Matt Vital, playing out of Northampton Country Club, each matched par with a 71 and were tied for fifth place. Sanderson, playing out of Jericho National, plans to join the Notre Dame program at the end of next summer.

   Cedarbrook Country Club’s Christian Matt, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Wissahickon last fall, headed a group of seven players tied for seventh place at 1-over 72.

   Waynesboro Country Club’s Devin Smith, who shared fourth place with Frisk in the PIAA Class AAA Championship, as a senior at Waynesboro last fall, was also part of the group at 1-over.

   Rounding out the group tied for seventh place were The Country Club of Scranton’s Thomas Lynch, Scott Jordan, a PAGA individual member, Willowbrook Country Club’s Michael Wareham, Bent Creek Country Club’s Connor Strine, and Huntsville Golf Club’s Cael Ropietski.

   Ropietski is coming off an impressive victory in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour Precision Pro Golf event at Turtle Creek Golf Course last week.

   Matt’s 72 helped Cedarbrook grab a share of the Junior Team lead with Indian Valley Country Club, each landing on 10-over 223 in the four-score-three format. La Salle sophomore Scott Hughes added a 2-over 73 and Jackson Tappen rounded out the Cedarbrook scoring with a 78.

   Cedarbrook tossed the 79 posted by Hughes’ La Salle teammate, Darren Nolan.

   Indian Valley was led by a pair of 73s registered by Derek Guttierrez and Nick Joyce. Stephen Butler rounded out the scoring for Indian Valley with a 77.

   Aronimink Golf Club and its perennially strong junior program was four shots behind Cedarbrook and Indian Valley in third place at 227. Devon Prep sophomore Nick Ciocca led the way with a 74, Hunter Stetson added a 75 and recent Haverford School graduate Jake Maddaloni rounded out the scoring for Aronimink with a 76. Aronimink was able to toss the 79 posted by Jack Davis.

   The Junior-Junior Boys’ Championship was being contested along with the girls at Lebanon and Honeybrook Golf Club’s Ian Larsen grabbed the lead with a solid 5-over 77. Larsen is a regular on Philly Junior Tour coed 12-and-under division leaderboards.

   Seiji Sako of McCall Golf Club was two shots behind Larsen in second place with a 79.