There couldn’t have been a whole lot of daylight left Monday when Chris Baloga, who has been the golf coach at Loyola of Maryland since 2010, put the finishing touches on a 3-under-par 67 at Llanerch Country Club in Havertown that enabled him to take a one-shot lead following the opening round of the 109th Pennsylvania Amateur Championship, presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
Baloga, playing out of York’s Briarwood Golf Club, was in the last group off the 10th tee at 2:10 p.m. and there was an hour, 35-minute rain delay when a downpour drenched the underrated par-70 Llanerch layout, site of the 1958 PGA Championship.
St. Clair Country Club’s Neal Shipley, who is transferring to Ohio State after three solid years at William & Mary, was a shot behind Baloga with a 2-under 68. Shipley led Pittsburgh Central Catholic to the PIAA Class AAA team crown as a senior in 2018.
Shipley is coming off a victory in the West Penn Open at The Club at Nevillewood.
Baloga had a solid start to his round as he made birdies at the 10th, 12th and 16th holes to get it to 3-under for the round before the only blemish on his round occurred at Llanerch’s short, par-4 finishing hole, where he made a bogey.
Not sure when the rain delay interrupted Baloga’s round, but he made a birdie at the second hole to get it 4-under for the round. I’m sure the rain softened up a Llanerch layout that seems to have played pretty tough and Baloga made pars on his last seven holes to grab the lead.
The second round tees off Tuesday morning and the field is cut to the low 40 and ties before Wednesday’s final round in the 54-hole event.
Austin Barbin, a Philadelphia Publinks Golf Association entry, headed a group of five players tied for third place at 1-under 69.
Barbin, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship winner in 2019, is a senior at Liberty.
Karl Frisk, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Spring Grove playing out of the Out Door Country Club, was also in the group at 1-under. Frisk is a sophomore on the South Carolina Aiken golf team.
Rounding out the quintet tied for third place at 2-under were Patrick Kelly of the Kahkwa Club, Kevin O’Brien of Connoquenessing Country Club and Nathan Platt of Oakmont Country Club.
A couple of players who finished in a tie for second place in last week’s Philadelphia Open at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, the Cricket Club’s Marty McGuckin and the Country Club of York’s Rij Patel, headed a group of six players tied for eighth place at even-par 70.
McGuckin was a scholastic standout at Malvern Prep and briefly played college golf at Temple. Patel played his college golf at Harvard.
A current Inter-Ac League standout, Germantown Academy junior Ajeet Bagga, playing out of Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club, was also in the group at even-par. Bagga led the Patriots to their first Inter-Ac crown since 1995 last fall.
Rounding out the group tied for eighth place were Jake Griffin, a Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) individual member, White Manor Country Club’s Tyler Stahle and Hannastown Country Club’s Brady Pevarnik.
Eight more players are tied for 14th place at 1-over 71, led by PAGA individual member Jeff Osberg, winner of six Golf Association of Philadelphia major championships. Osberg was once a member at Llanerch and is very familiar with the golf course.
Behind Platt’s 69, Oakmont Country Club took a two-shot lead in the team competition with a 1-over 141 total. Penn State senior Jimmy Meyers, a teammate of Shipley’s on Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 state championship team, added a 2-over 72 for Oakmont.
Aiden Oehrle’s 76 was a throw-out in the three-score-two format.
Host Llanerch, Philly Cricket, Connoquenessing and Hannastown were tied for second place, each landing on 3-over 143.
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