Downingtown West's Gross leads boys field, Owen J. Roberts' Fedun the girls leader as District One Championship tees off

    Have to admit, it was pretty fun last summer when the burning question in the world of amateur golf was where did this Nick Gross kid come from to know exactly where he came from: The Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, Downingtown West, District One and Pennsylvania.

   Gross was still just 15 when he reached the match-play bracket in the U.S. Junior Amateur at Bandon Dunes on Oregon’s rugged Pacific coast, when he finished in a tie for third place in the Boys Junior PGA Championship at Cog Hill outside of Chicago, when he reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., all in the space of five or six weeks.

   Gross has taken a few of the other steps in his climb up the ladder of junior golf, achieving success in the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship, earning a trip to Augusta National for the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals, and making a splash on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit.

   But the Downingtown West junior, who, I am quite certain, is one of the most coveted players on the college golf recruiting scene, was still out there at Turtle Creek Golf Course on a sunny, breezy Monday in Limerick Township competing for a District One Class AAA crown.

   Gross unleashed a businesslike 6-under-par 66 over the 6,375-yard, par-72 Turtle Creek layout to take a three-shot lead over Ches-Mont League rival Sam Feeney, a West Chester Rustin sophomore, following the opening round of the district tournament.

   The district championship will conclude with 18 more holes Tuesday at the Turtle. After winning a district crown two years ago as a freshman, Gross lost in a playoff to Holy Ghost Prep’s Calen Sanderson a year ago at the Turtle. Sanderson is a freshman on the Notre Dame roster this fall.

   Sanderson turned the tables on Gross two years ago and won the PIAA Class AAA crown at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort, but Gross returned the favor a year ago by beating Sanderson, among others, to claim the state championship.

   Berths in this year’s state championship, which returns to Penn State for the first time in more than two decades next week, will be up for grabs during Tuesday’s second round at the Turtle.

   Pretty sure Gross is going to make it. He was brutally efficient Monday at Turtle Creek, making birdies at the second, fourth, ninth, 10^th, 13^th and 14^th holes with nary a bogey on his scorecard.

   Feeney actually knocked off Gross to claim medalist honors in the Ches-Mont League Championship two weeks ago at Applecross Country Club. But it’s not like he came out of nowhere. After making the cut on the number to advance to the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a freshman a year ago, Feeney finished in a tie for fourth place at Heritage Hills.

   Feeney made birdies at the seventh, eighth and 10^th holes, had the only blemish on his card with a bogey at the par-3 11^th and picked up another birdie at 17 to post a solid 3-under 69.

   A couple of Central League entries, Strath Haven senior Tyler Debusschere and Harriton senior Cyrus Parvizi, are tied for third place, each finishing a shot behind Feeney with a 2-under 70.

   Central Bucks West’s Charles Feraco, who helped the Bucks capture the District One Class AAA team crown a year ago, was alone in fifth place with a 1-under 71. District One will crown a Class AAA team champion Tuesday.

   West Chester Henderson sophomore Sam Houchen and Central Bucks South’s Noah Moelter were tied for sixth place, each matching par with a 72.

   Penncrest senior Eli Shah, who finished in a tie for eighth place at states a year ago, and Wissahickon’s Joe Carr each recorded a 2-over 74 and were tied for eighth place.

   Radnor junior Shaun Mazzalupi, another returning PIAA Class AAA qualifier, headed a fivesome tied for 10^th place at 3-over 75. Mazzalupi’s Central League rival, Harriton’s Jack Gallagher, was also part of the group at 3-over.

   Rounding out the quintet at 3-over were a couple of Ches-Mont League juniors, West Chester Henderson’s Josh Baker and Kennett’s Kasim Narinesingh-Smith, and Council Rock North’s Andrew Zazoff.

   The cut to return for the second day of district competition fell at 5-over 77.

   The Class AA individual chase looks like a battle between New Hope-Solebury teammates Malcolm Raupp and Nate Wiseman, both seniors.

   Raupp grabbed the lead after carding a 3-over 75 in Monday’s opening round with Wiseman five shots behind Raupp in second place with an 8-over 80.

   On the girls side, Owen J. Roberts senior Stefania Fedun grabbed the lead with a sparkling 4-under 67 at Raven’s Claw Golf Club, a few miles up Ridge Pike from Turtle Creek. After earning a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a sophomore two years ago, Fedun struggled in the postseason a year ago and was unable to return to states.

   Fedun opened her bid for a return to the PIAA Championship Monday with birdies at the first, seventh, eighth, 15th and 18^th holes around a lone bogey at 11 at Raven’s Claw. The girls will move down Ridge Pike to Turtle Creek Tuesday for Round 2 of the district tournament.

   Plymouth-Whitemarsh sophomore Rhianna Gooneratne, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman a year ago, was a shot behind Fedun in second place with a solid 3-under 68. Pretty sure it was a shotgun start for Monday’s opening round, so not sure the order of the holes Gooneratne played, but her roller-coaster round included six birdies and three bogeys.

   Gooneratne had birdies at the second, third, fifth, seventh, eighth and 17^th holes to go along with bogeys at one, four and 12.

   Lurking in third place, a shot behind Gooneratne and two behind Fedun, was Lower Merion senior Sydney Yermish, the reigning PIAA and District One champion in Class AAA. Yermish, who will join the Michigan program next summer, is bidding to win the District One Class AAA title for the third time.

   Yermish captured the title as a freshman in 2019, didn’t get the opportunity to defend that title in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and captured the crown again a year ago.

   Yermish made birdies at the first, sixth, 13^th, 15^th and 18^th holes around bogeys at two, 11 and 17. Yermish knows her way around the Turtle. She carded a solid 4-under 68 in claiming medalist honors among the girls in the Central League Championship at Turtle Creek nearly three weeks ago.

   North Penn senior Hayley Ekert was a shot behind Yermish in fourth place with a 1-under 70.

   Phoenixville junior Kate Roberts, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore a year ago, and Downingtown East senior Silvana Gonzalez were tied for fifth place, each signing for a 2-over 73.

   Roberts and younger sister Kayley, a freshman who finished in the group tied for seventh place with a 5-over 76, led the Phantoms to the District One Class AAA team crown with a one-shot victory over Pioneer Athletic Conference rival Spring-Ford. More on the team battle a little later.

   Joining Kayley Roberts in the group tied for seventh place at 5-over were Unionville senior Mary Grace Dunigan, who claimed the Pennsylvania Junior Girls Championship at Lebanon Country Club in the summer, and Souderton’s Alli Engart.

   Rounding out the top 10 for the girls in Class AAA were Mount St. Joseph senior Gabi Courtney and Central Bucks West’s Abigail Lynn, both of whom recorded a 6-over 77.

   The cut to make it to Tuesday’s Round 2 at Turtle Creek fell at 82.

   The Ches-Mont League had dominated the team race in the state the last couple of years with Unionville capturing the District One Class AAA crown in 2020 on its way to the PIAA Class AAA team title at Heritage Hills and Downingtown East earning the district crown a year ago on its way to the state title at Heritage Hills.

   But this year’s race boiled down to a couple of ascending Pioneer powers. Pretty sure Spring-Ford had gotten the better of the Phantoms in a couple of dual matches this season.

   But with the Roberts sisters going low, Phoenixville only needed Mackenzie Thompson to grind out a 97 to give the Phantoms a 33-over 246 total.

   Had a chance to chat with Phoenixville girls coach Sandy Waltz for a story I was working on about Turtle Creek for the Tri-State Golfer magazine last spring. The Waltz family has owned the land that Turtle Creek was built on for 85 years and Sandy Waltz’s husband, John Welsh, is the hard-working superintendent at the Turtle.

   Sandy Waltz was psyched about the opportunity to coach the Roberts sisters and knew they gave the Phantoms a chance to do some big things this fall. Pretty sure Phoenixville gave its coach a big thrill Monday at Raven’s Claw.

   Spring-Ford got a pair of 82s from Alie Adams and Morgan Kunze and an 83 from Nicole Yun to finish one frustrating shot behind the Phantoms with a 34-over 247 total.

   Mount St. Joseph, which had its string of seven straight district team titles snapped by Unionville in 2020, finished five shots behind Spring-Ford in third place with a 252 total.

   Unionville was four shots behind Mount St. Joe’s in fourth place with a 256 total. Reigning PIAA Class AAA champion Downingtown East was another four shots behind its Ches-Mont League rival in fifth place with a 260 total.

   Rounding out the girls Class AAA team field were Central League rivals Conestoga (265) and Radnor (267) in sixth and seventh places, respectively, and Central Bucks East in eighth with a 278 total.