Shah, Dunigan the respective boys, girls winner in Harry Hammond Invitational at Penn Oaks

    The Harry Hammond Invitational is not just another stop on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour schedule.

   First of all, the event is played at Penn Oaks Golf Club where Chester County meets Delaware County and where Harry Hammond is the director of golf. The former Philadelphia Section’s Junior Golf chairman, Hammond is as ardent a supporter of junior golf in this area as anyone, ever.

   The Harry Hammond is also something of a tournament of champions for the Philly Junior Tour in that invitations are sent out to boys and girls ages 16 to 18 who have finished first or second in their age groups in a Junior Tour event in the last two years.

  There is also a scholarship component to the Harry Hammond Invitational in that every player in the field can submit an essay that makes them eligible to be considered for a scholarship to the college of his or her choice.

   And maybe the Harry Hammond is a little extra special in 2021 just because it may never have been harder to be a high school kid than it has been these last couple of years. Coronavirus, virtual learning, masks, vaccines, adults not always agreeing on any of it. The players who teed it up in the searing heat and humidity at Penn Oaks Tuesday have been put through the wringer and yet there they were, competing on the golf course, looking forward to college, focusing on the future, however uncertain that future might be.

   A couple of past Philly Junior Tour Player of the Year honorees, Penncrest junior Eli Shah and recent Devon Prep graduate Ryan McCabe went to a playoff to determine the winner of the boys 16-to-18 division after each matched par at a tough Penn Oaks layout with a 71.

   It took four extra holes, but Shah made a birdie to give him the victory.

   Shah, the 13-to-15 division Player of the Year in the wrapround 2018-2019 season, got off to a rough start Tuesday and stood at 5-over after five holes. But like I said, this current crop of a high school kids is a resilient bunch and Shah turned it around with birdies at the eighth, 10^th, 12^th, 14^th and 15^th holes to get it back to even-par for the round.

   McCabe, the 16-to-18 division Player of the Year in the wraparound 2019-’20 season, made birdies at the ninth, 10^th, 12^th and 15^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard, including pars on the last seven holes of his round.

   McCabe, a Media resident and a product of the junior program at The Springhaven Club, had an outstanding scholastic career at Devon Prep, including back-to-back top-three finishes in the PIAA Class AA Championship in 2018 and 2019.

   Three more players finished a shot behind Shah and McCabe, each carding a 1-over 72, and that tie was also broken with a playoff.

   La Salle junior Kevin Lafond won the playoff on the first extra hole to take third place. Lafond, the District 12 Class AAA champion last fall, made birdies at the third, 12^th and 18^th holes and had 12 pars on his scorecard, including six straight pars on the final six holes of Penn Oaks’ outgoing nine.

   Conestoga junior Kyle Mauro finished in fourth place after a solid 72 that featured birdies at the fourth, eighth and 12^th holes and 12 pars, including six straight pars to finish up his round.

   Elijah Ruppert, who graduated from Brandywine Heights earlier this year, was the third player in the mix at 1-over and settled for fifth place. Ruppert, who finished in a tie for third place in the PIAA Class AA Championship in 2019 and again last fall, made birdies on the fourth, 10^th, 14^th and 15^th holes and had 10 pars on his card.

   Dylan Gute, a recent Downingtown East graduate, took sixth place with a 2-over 73, Noah Mueller of Doylestown was seventh with a 3-over 74 and Will Huntley of Lansdale was eighth with a 4-over 75.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Owen Weisner of Reading, Brady Manning of Downingtown and Charlie Kerprich of Dresher, each of whom carded a 5-over 76 to land in a tie for ninth place.

   Unionville junior Mary Grace Dunigan easily topped the girls 16-to-18 field with a solid 2-over 73. Dunigan, who helped the Longhorns capture their first PIAA Class AAA team crown last fall, made birdies at the second, 13^th and 18^th holes and had 11 pars on her scorecard.

   Olivia Strigh of Hammonton, N.J. birdied the seventh hole and had 10 pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors with a 79. Strigh was the Philly Junior Tour 16-to-18 Player of the Year for the wraparound 2019-’20 season.

   North Penn junior Hayley Ekert was a shot behind Strigh in third place with an 80 that was highlighted by birdies at the ninth, 12^th and 13^th holes and eight pars. Ekert was coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory Monday at Brookside Country Club in Pottstown.

   Audrey Reese of Richboro was another shot behind Ekert in fourth place with an 81, Josephine Williams of Montchanin, Del. was fifth with an 83, Cierra Griffith of Pottstown was sixth with an 84, Curstan Bunch of Wilmington, Del. was seventh with an 86 and Downingtown East junior Silvana Gonzalez was eighth with an 87.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Methacton senior Sarah Lawrie and Katrina Cabinian of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., both of whom carded a 92 to finish in a tie for ninth place.