Sheehan played some solid golf during the fall of his final season at Penn State

 

   It was five falls ago when Patrick Sheehan wrapped up his senior season at Central Bucks East by capturing the District One Class AAA individual crown in a playoff at Turtle Creek Golf Course and finishing in a tie for third place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort.

   A lot has happened in Sheehan’s golf career since then. I ran into him a couple of times in the summer of 2019 when he earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Stonewall and again a couple of weeks later when he lost in the final of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship at Coatesville Country Club.

   Sheehan’s college career at Penn State was just getting off the ground when the coronavirus pandemic shut down college golf in the spring of 2020. But Sheehan has been a fixture in the Nittany Lions’ lineup since the spring of 2021, representing Penn State in the NCAA’s Columbus Regional as an individual in the spring of 2022.

   I ran into Sheehan again when I headed down to Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course for the final round of the Pennsylvania Amateur Championship in the summer of 2021. Sheehan had held the lead at the end of the first two rounds in his first look at the East, which has hosted five U.S. Opens.

   He was still tied for the lead on the 18^th hole at Merion when Carlisle’s John Peters found the bottom of the cup for eagle with an 8-iron from 193 yards away. Peters’ epic stroke overshadowed two of the best iron shots I’ve ever seen at Merion by Sheehan, a 4-iron to six feet at the difficult par-3 17^th hole and Sheehan’s own approach to 18 that left him with eight feet for birdie, a putt he would miss with a chance to force a playoff with Peters.

   Sheehan earned a spot in the U.S. Amateur for a third straight time in August at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado, failing to reach the match-play bracket for a third straight time, a source of frustration for Sheehan, I’m quite certain.

   Sheehan took a fifth year at Penn State, an opportunity the NCAA offered to the players who lost the spring of 2020 to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

   It’s been more than month since the fall of Sheehan’s fifth year at Penn State wrapped up and I never got to any of the five tournaments the Nittany Lions teed it up in the inaugural season of new head coach Mark Leon. So, now that things have calmed down a little, I thought it was worth taking a look at the fall season for Penn State and Sheehan, who was as solid as I’m sure Leon was told he would be.

   I’ll also mention some of the familiar names that popped up while I was going through Penn State’s fall campaign.

   Penn State’s windup to the fall portion of its wraparound 2023-2024 schedule was the Quail Valley Collegiate Oct. 15 and 16 at the Quail Valley Golf Club in Vero Beach, Fla. It was Sheehan’s worst showing of the fall and it wasn’t all that bad.

   Sheehan opened with a pair of 1-under-par 71s over the 7,350-yard, par-72 Quail Valley layout in the opening-day double round before closing with a 2-over 74 that left him in the group tied for 42^nd place with an even-par 216 total.

   It was a bit of a birdie-fest as South Florida out of the American Athletic Conference edged Toledo out of the Mid-American Conference by a shot with a sizzling 38-under 826 total.

   The Bulls were led by Brock Healy, a graduate student from Suwanee, Ga. who won individual medalist honors in a tiebreaker after he finished in a tie with a pair of Rockets, Palmer Yenrick, a graduate student from Oregon, Ohio, and Barend Botha, a senior from South Africa, at 13-under 203.

   Healy, who transferred to South Florida from Kennesaw State, carded a final round of 3-under 69 to claim his first individual title as a Bull.

   Healy caught Yenrick, who had recorded a pair of 7-under 65s in the opening-day double round before closing with a 1-over 73. Yenrick’s fellow Rocket, Botha, finished up with a 6-under 66 to join Healy and Yenrick at 13-under. That 13-under total was a program record at Toledo, now shared by the pair.

   Penn State, coming off a tie for seventh place in the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate less than a week earlier, finished in 14^th place in the 16-team field at Quail Valley with a 4-over 868 total. The Nittany Lions had started strong with a 6-under 282 and added a 1-over 289 in the second round before backing off in the final round with a 9-over 297.

   Penn State was led by another fifth-year player in Jimmy Meyers, who had finished in second place, just ahead of Sheehan, in that 2018 PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Meyers opened with a sparkling 5-under 67 at Quail Valley before adding a pair of 2-under 70s in the final two rounds to end up in the group tied for seventh place with a 9-under 207 total.

   Also in the Penn State lineup at Quail Valley was sophomore Billy Pabst Jr., who lost in a playoff to Downingtown West’s Nick Gross for the title in the PIAA Class AAA Championship in 2021 at Heritage Hills as a senior at North Pocono.

   Pabst, who finished in a tie for second place in the Pennsylvania Amateur in August at the Pittsburgh Field Club, was solid in the opening-day double round, matching par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 2-under 70, but he struggled to a 78 in the final round to finish in the group tied for 62^nd place with a 4-over 220 total.

   Liberty sophomore Josh Ryan, a Norristown native home-schooled by Commonwealth Charter Academy, was at Merion for that epic Pennsylvania Amateur won by Peters in 2021, Ryan finishing in a tie for fourth place, just two shots behind the champion.

   Ryan followed Sheehan as the District One Class AAA champion in 2019 and finished in a tie for third place with Carlisle’s Peters in the PIAA Class AAA Championship that fall.

   Ryan finished alone in fifth place at Quail Valley, just two shots behind the trio that shared the top spot on the leaderboard with an 11-under 205 total. After opening with a 1-under 71, Ryan ripped off a sparkling 7-under 65 in the second round before closing with a 3-under 69.

   Ryan helped the Flames, the reigning ASUN champions, finish in sixth place in the team standings with an 18-under 846 total.

   Sheehan had posted his fourth straight top-12 finish for the fall campaign of his fifth season at Penn State in the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate, ending up in the group tied for 12^th place with a 2-under 214 total over the Blackthorn Club at the Ridges in Jonesborough, Tenn. The tournament was held Oct. 8 to 10.

   Sheehan matched par in the first two rounds with a pair of 72s over the 7,118-yard, par-72 Blackthorn Club layout before closing with a 2-under 70.

   It was a solid showing for the Nittany Lions against a pretty decent field in the Bank of Tennessee as they finished in a tie for seventh place with Florida Gulf Coast with a 7-over 870 total. Penn State sandwiched an even-par 288 in the second round with a pair of 3-over 291s.

   The team crown went to three-time reigning Southern Conference champion East Tennessee State, which finished with a 27-under 837 total. After adding an 8-under 280 in the second round to their opening round of 5-under 283, the Bucs went off in the final round with a sizzling 14-under 274.

   East Tennessee State just missed making it to the NCAA Championship last spring as the Bucs lost in a playoff to Northwestern for the final ticket out of the Las Vegas Regional to Grayhawk Golf Club. East Tennessee State was seeded sixth in Vegas.

   East Tennessee State was led by the top two finishers in the individual chase as Mats Ege, a redshirt senior from Norway, captured the title by five shots with a scintillating 16-under 200 total, and fellow Buc Algot Kleen, a junior from Sweden, finished in second place with an 11-under 205 total.

   Ege opened the tournament with a spectacular 10-under 62 on the host Bucs’ home course and never looked back. He added a 2-under 70 in the second round before closing with a 4-under 68.

   Kleen added a 70 in the second round to his opening round of 3-under 69 before contributing a 6-under 66 to East Tennessee State’s final-round surge.

   Penn State’s leading man at Blackthorn was Jake Griffin, a junior from Kensington, Md. who finished in a tie for seventh place with a 3-under 213 total. Griffin added a 70 in the second round to his opening round of 3-under 69 before closing with a 2-over 74.

   Junior Morgan Lofland, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier during an outstanding scholastic career at Conestoga, was in the lineup for Penn State in the Bank of Tennessee and matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish in the group tied for 72^nd place at 9-over 225.

   Lofland struggled a little in the first two rounds, adding a 4-over 76 in the second round to his opening-round 77.

   Liberty was also in the field for the Bank of Tennessee, but the Flames struggled at Blackthorn finishing in 14^th place in the 15-team field with an 18-over 882 total.

   Ryan finished in the group tied for 36^th place with a 3-over 219 total as he matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 2-over 74 in the second round before closing with a 73.

   The golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md. was represented at the Bank of Tennessee by Liberty’s Austin Barbin, a graduate student, and Evan Barbin, a sophomore.

   Austin Barbin, who defeated Sheehan in the Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys’ final at Coatesville in 2019, matched par in the second round at Blackthorn with a 72 after opening with a 3-over 75, but struggled to a 77 in the final round to finish among the group tied for 69^th place with an 8-over 224 total.

   Evan Barbin was three shots behind his older brother in a tie for 78^th place with a 227 total after closing with a solid 2-under 70. Evan Barbin had struggled in the first two rounds, adding an 80 to his opening round of 5-over 77.

   Graduate student Connor Bennink, who helped Unionville capture the PIAA Class AAA team title in 2017, competed as an individual for Coastal Carolina and finished in the group tied for 80^th place with a 228 total. Bennink opened with a solid 1-under 71, but struggled after that, registering a 4-over 76 in the second round before closing with an 81.

   Sophomore Logan Paczewski, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Dallas, was in the Rutgers lineup and finished in 83^rd place with a 229 total. After opening with a 1-over 73, Paczewski struggled, adding a 4-over 76 in the second round before finishing up with an 80.

   Coastal Carolina, which plays out of the Sun Belt Conference, and Rutgers, a Big Ten rival of Penn State, finished in a tie for ninth place in the team standings, each landing on 7-over 871.

   Sheehan closed with a 4-under 68 at the Duke University Golf Club in Durham, N.C. to finish in the group tied for eighth place at 2-under 214 in the Rod Myers Invitational hosted by the Blue Devils Sept. 24 and 25.

   Sheehan had matched par with a 72 in the morning of an opening-day double round over the 7,154-yard, par-72 Duke University layout and added a 2-over 74 in the afternoon.

   A couple of ACC entries, host Duke and Louisville, finished 1-2, respectively, in the team standings, the Blue Devils closing with a 1-under 287 for an 8-under 856 total that left them five shots clear of the Cardinals.

   Duke started fast with a 10-under 278 before struggling a little in the second round with a 3-over 291. Louisville trailed Duke by 15 shots after opening with a 5-over 293, but surged into contention with a sparkling 12-under 276 in the second round. The Cardinals closed with a 2-over 290 and couldn’t quite catch up to the Dookies.

   Sheehan helped Penn State finish in eighth place in a solid 12-team field with a 13-over 877 total as the Nittany Lions opened with a 10-over 298 and kept improving, adding a 3-over 291 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 288.

   Louisville’s Sebastian Moss, a junior from Pearland, Texas, captured the individual title on the strength of a scintillating 8-under 64 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round. Moss had opened with a 1-over 73 and, after going off in the second round, closed with a 4-under 68 for an 11-under 205 total.

   North Carolina Greensboro’s Randall Hudson, a senior from New Bern, N.C., was Moss’ closest pursuer as he earned runnerup honors with an 8-under 205 total. After opening with a 2-under 70, Moss posted back-to-back 3-under 69s.

   Griffin backed up Sheehan for Penn State with a solid showing as he finished in the group tied for 14^th place with a 1-over 215 total. After opening with a 3-over 75, Griffin tallied a 2-under 70 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Senior Michael Crowley, who defeated Patrick Isztwan in the final to capture the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship in June at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, teed it up for Loyola of Maryland and finished in the group tied for 51^st place with a 12-over 228 total.

   Crowley of Hunt Valley, Md. added a 1-over 73 in the second round to his opening-round 76, but struggled a little in the final round with a 79.

   Crowley and the Greyhounds, who play out of the Patriot League, finished in 11^th place in the Rod Myers Invitational team standings with a 900 total.

   Peters, author of that epic stroke at Merion that won him the Pennsylvania Amateur crown in 2021, competed as an individual for Duke and was not at his best.

   Peters recorded a pair of 82s in the opening-day double round and closed with a 4-over 76 to finish in 69^th place with a 240 total. Peters, a junior, knows he’ll have to step it up in the competitive Duke program to earn a spot in the starting five for the Blue Devils.         

   Sheehan led the way for Penn State when he finished in a tie for 12^th place with a 5-under 211 total in the Chicago Highlands Invitational, which was played Sept. 18 and 19 at the Chicago Highlands Club in Westchester, Ill.

   Sheehan was steady throughout over a 7,490-yard, par-72 Chicago Highlands Club layout that probably suited Sheehan’s power game. Sheehan registered a pair of 2-under 70s in the opening-day double round before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Another ACC power, Wake Forest, the tournament host, shared the team title with Missouri, which plays in the tough Southeastern Conference, as each finished with 31-under 833 totals.

   The Demon Deacons got off to a fast start with a 16-under 272 in the opening round and added a 5-under 283 in the second round that left them a shot behind Missouri going into the final round. The Tigers had opened with a 10-under 278 and moved in front on the strength of a 12-under 276 in the second round.

   Wake Forest caught Missouri with a final round of 10-under 278 while the Tigers closed with a 9-under 279.

   Another ACC entry, Virginia, finished a shot behind the top two with a 30-under 834 total as the Cavaliers had the lead following the opening-day double round, adding a 14-under 274 in the afternoon round to their opening round of 13-under 275. Virginia closed with a 3-under 285 as Wake Forest and Missouri surged past the Cavaliers.

   Penn State finished in a tie for 10^th place in the 15-team field with the Wake Forest B team, each landing on 9-over 873. After opening with a 3-under 285, the Nittany Lions added an 8-over 296 in the second round before finishing up with a 4-over 292.

   Wake Forest also came away with an individual title as Michael Brennan, a senior from Leesburg, Va. sandwiched a 2-under 70 in the second round with a pair of 6-under 66s. Brennan is one of the top players in the country and is No. 21 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) as I put this post together after the conclusion of the fall portion of the wraparound 2023-’24 season.

   Sheehan had opened the fall campaign by finishing in a tie for sixth place with an even-par 216 total in the Marquette Intercollegiate, held Sept. 3 to 5 – finishing up the day after Labor Day – at Erin Hills, home of the 2017 U.S. Open, in Erin, Wis.

   Sheehan closed with a 3-under 69 over the 7,731-yard, par-72 Erin Hills layout – still, I’m pretty sure, the longest course in U.S. Open history. He had opened with a 2-over 74 and added a 1-over 73 in the second round.

   After struggling in the first two rounds of its first tournament under Leon with rounds of 306 and 302, Penn State turned it around in the final round with a 4-under 284, the best team round of the day, that left the Nittany Lions in eighth place in the 12-team field with a 28-over 892 total.

   Chattanooga, the Southern Conference runnerup last spring, claimed the team title with an 11-over 875 total. The Moccasins added a 6-over 294 in the second round to their opening-round 296 before closing with a solid 3-under 285.

   Chattanooga reached the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club last spring after the Mocs finished in third place in the Auburn Regional as an eight seed.

   Chattanooga also had an individual co-medalist as Sam Espinosa, a senior from Spain, shared the top spot on the leaderboard with California’s Eric Lee, a freshman from Fullerton, Calif., each landing on 3-under 213 over the challenging Erin Hills layout.

   After opening with a 1-under 71, Espinosa carded a 74 in the second round before closing strong with a 4-under 68.

   It was a much anticipated college debut for Lee, the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Rolex Player of the Year in 2022 and a semifinalist in the U.S. Junior Amateur at the Bandon Dunes Resort that same year, and he did not disappoint. Lee added a 2-under 70 in the second round to his opening round of 1-under 71 before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Meyers and Griffin backed up Sheehan for Penn State with solid showings at Erin Hills.

   Meyers struggled in the opening round with an 80, but bounced back with a 2-over 74 in the second round before closing with a 75 that left him in the group tied for 50^th place with a 13-over 229 total.

   Griffin also rebounded from a tough start as he closed with a sparkling 3-under 69 to finish in a tie for 55^th place with a 230 total. Griffin had opened with an 85 before adding a 4-over 76 in the second round.

   Junior Garrett Engle, who never played in the PIAA postseason during his years at Central Dauphin, was in the lineup for Chattanooga and finished in the group tied for 57^th place with a 231 total.

   Engle started his college career at Oklahoma and was in the lineup for the Mocs last spring at Grayhawk. Engle struggled with an 82 in the opening round at Erin Hills before adding a 2-over 74 in the second round and finishing up with a 75.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deng stamps herself as a star on the rise as she cruises to five-shot victory in Rolex Tournament of Champions

 

   If you didn’t know who the next rising star was on the junior girls golf scene, you do now.

   Aphrodite Deng, a Canadian who has made Short Hills, N.J. her home base in the United States, dominated the best girls in the world, cruising to a five-shot victory in becoming the second-youngest winner of the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the marquee event on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit.

   Deng is a Class of 2028 competitor, making her the equivalent of an eighth-grader. But the kid looked like a grizzled veteran in grinding out an even-par 72 at TPC San Antonio’s Canyons Course on the eve of Thanksgiving that gave her an 8-under 280 total and a really impressive victory in the 46^th playing of the Rolex T of C.

   A 72-hole event is a real marathon for junior golfers, who are rarely asked to go more than 54 holes. But as the week played on, Deng only seemed to get tougher. She probably won the tournament with a brilliant 6-under 66 in Tuesday’s third round, but Deng’s handling of the pressure of holding on to a big lead while trying to win the biggest championship of her young life might have been even more impressive.

   Deng followed up each of her three birdies in Wednesday’s final round with a bogey, but she was never seriously threatened. After a birdie at the second hole, Deng made a bogey at three, she followed up a birdie at eight with a bogey at 10 and a birdie at 12 with a bogey at 14.

   But always, the game plan remained the same: Fairways and greens.

   “I played pretty good this week,” Deng understated to Emma Verela of the AJGA website. “I wasn’t expecting to play this good or let alone win, but I made fairways and greens as much as I could. Going into the final round, I was trying to remain steady and play the game that I had been the past few days.”

   Not the kind of perspective you expect to hear from a 13-year-old, but hey, they grow up fast these days.

   Deng first appeared on the T Mac Tees Off radar when she showed up at the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls’ Championship in July and blitzed the Moorestown Field Club layout with a 14-under 130 total that gave her a 12-shot victory.

   A few weeks later, there was Deng going toe-to-toe with Anna Davis, winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship in 2022, in the second round of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course in Colorado Springs, Colo. Deng evened the match at the 10^th hole before Davis turned it on on her way to a 4 and 3 victory.

   Deng made a statement this week at TPC San Antonio that big things might be ahead for her in 2024.

   Jasmine Koo of Cerritos, Calif. closed with a solid 2-under 70 to earn runnerup honors with a 3-under 285 total. Koos will be joining the powerhouse Southern California program at the end of next summer.

   Alice Ziyi Zhao of Irvine, Calif. via China was only 13-years old two summers ago when she was the co-medalist for qualifying in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.

   Zhao posted a second straight 2-under 70 at the Canyons Course to finish two shots behind Koo in third place with a 1-under 287 total.

   Megan Meng, a senior at Hopewell Valley Central in Pennington, N.J., closed with a 5-over 77 to finish in the group tied for 27^th place with a 307 total.

   Meng, the winner of the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship in 2020 at Lebanon Country Club while playing out of Jericho National Golf Club, will join the program at Big Ten power Northwestern at the end of next summer.

   On the boys side, Downingtown West senior Nick Gross righted the ship a little in the final round as he matched par with a 72 over a Canyons Course that measured 7,106 for the guys to finish alone in 13^th place with a 5-over 293 total.

   After grabbing the lead with an opening round of 4-under 68, Gross faltered in the middle two rounds, both of which included an uncharacteristic triple bogey.

   Wednesday’s final round was a little more Nick Gross-like. He made a bogey at the fourth hole and a birdie at 17 and had 16 pars. I suspect there were some birdie opportunities among those 16 pars, but Gross, who will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Alabama at the end of next summer, didn’t force the issue.

   It felt like the boys title was there for the taking all week and Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island, Fla. seized the moment, closing with the best round of the week, a sizzling 7-under 65, to zoom right by the rest of the field and take the Rolex Tournament of Champions crown with a 5-under 283 total.

   Mawhinney entered Wednesday’s final round in eighth place at 2-over par, six shots behind 54-hole leader Kihei Akina of Kahuku, Hawaii.

   Mawhinney came out of the gate with birdies at the first and second holes to immediately get it to even-par. Turned out, he was just getting started.

   Mawhinney, a Class of 2026 entry, added birdies at the sixth and ninth holes to complete a 4-under 32 tour of the outgoing nine at the Canyons Course. Mawhinney’s only miscue of the round came at the 12^th hole, where he made a bogey, but he then ripped off birdies at 13, 15, 16 and 17 to surge to his first AJGA invitational win.

   Gerardo Gomez of Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. via Mexico closed with a 2-under 70 to earn runnerup honors, a shot behind Mawhinney with a 4-under 284 total. By the time Gomez joins the program at powerful Texas at the end of next summer, the Longhorns will be in the SEC, the most competitive conference, top to bottom, in the country for golf.

   Akina closed with a 2-over 74 and finished in third place, two shots behind Gomez with a 2-under 286 total.

   Lake Lehman senior Michael Lugiano, who finished in a tie for second place in last month’s PIAA Class AA Championship at Penn State, tallied a 4-over 76 in the final round and landed in the group tied for 32^nd place with a 17-over 305 total.

   Lugiano will join the program at ASUN power Liberty at the end of next summer.

   Episcopal Academy senior Hunter Stetson finished a shot behind Lugiano in the group tied for 35^th place with a 306 total as he also recorded a 4-over 76 in Wednesday’s final round.

   Stetson was the best player in the Inter-Ac League this fall, running away with the league’s Champion Golfer of the Year trophy that goes to the player with the most points compiled during the six invitationals that comprise the regular season.

   Stetson, the winner of the Bert Linton Invitational, the Inter-Ac’s individual championship, as a sophomore at Bluestone Country Club in 2021, finished in a tie for third place in this year’s Bert Linton at Aronimink Golf Club, Stetson’s home course, last month.

   Stetson, who reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Junior Amateur at the Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C. in July, will join the program at Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina State at the end of next summer.