Conestoga's Burks, Johnson the respective girls, boys medalists in Central League Championship at Turtle Creek

 

   LIMERICK – Conestoga sophomore Jill Burks reached the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at one of the meccas of the game, Augusta National Golf Club, in 2021 and is a veteran of American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Golf Tour events.

   All of which has prepared Burks well for the pressure that comes with the scholastic postseason.

   “I’ve learned to try to stay poised on the course,” Burks said after matching par with a 72 at Turtle Creek Golf Course Monday to claim medalist honors among the girls in the Central League Championship. “Even when you have a bad hole, you have to stay positive.”

   The Central League Championship turned into a sweep for Conestoga and for White Manor Country Club as Burks was joined as the individual league champion by Conestoga freshman and White Manor clubmate Will Johnson on the boys side.

   Johnson played Turtle Creek like a veteran on his way to a sparkling 2-under-par 70 that was four shots clear of a talented field of Central League boys.

   Burks had an outstanding freshman season, earning a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship with a fifth-place finish in the District One Championship. She finished in a tie for 16^th place at the state tournament at Penn State’s Blue Course.

   Burks plans to improve on that finish this fall.

   “I want to do better this year,” said Burks, who also teed it up in the North & South Junior Girls Championship at another of the game’s meccas, the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. “I’m hoping for a top-10 finish.”

   Burks took the first step toward that goal with her first-place finish Monday. The first round of the District One Class AAA Championship will be held at Raven’s Claw Golf Club, just up the road on Ridge Pike from Turtle Creek, Oct. 14. There’s a cut following the first round with the top contenders returning to the Turtle for the second round Oct. 15 when a trip to the state tournament will be on the line.

   Burks and the Pioneers will be defending their District One Class AAA team crown at Raven’s Claw. Conestoga went on to finish in third place in the team chase at the state tournament.

   Burks had a nice showing with a 1-over 72 in the Valley Forge Invitational a couple of weeks ago at Raven’s Claw. And her performance at Turtle Creek Monday shows she knows how to navigate her way around the quirky par-72 layout, which played to 5,131 yards for the girls.

   “I left some strokes out there, but I made some good putts,” said Burks, whose swing coach is John Dunigan, the Golf Digest Top 50 instructor who is based at Applebrook Golf club. “My putter was on fire.”

   Burks executed one of the secrets to mastering the Turtle: “No three-putts,” she said proudly.

   Starting at the 15^th hole, Burks got off to a great start with a birdie at the tough par-3. She added a birdie at the fourth hole to get it to 2-under for the round.

   She made a bogey at the sixth hole before running into a little more trouble at the par-5 eighth hole, where she made a double bogey.

   “I pulled my approach a little and the ball bounced left into the water,” Burks said.

   Another bogey at the tough par-3 ninth hole dropped Burks back to 2-over for the round. But she regrouped, making birdies at the par-3 11^th hole before getting it back to even for the round with a birdie at the par-5 13^th.

   Burks finished six shots clear of teammate Corinne McReynolds, also a sophomore, and Harriton’s Megan Choi, as they finished in a tie for second place, each posting a 6-over 78.

   It was another five shots back to Radnor’s Molly Ott, who took fourth place with an 83.

   Radnor junior Elayna Fanelli edged Burks by two shots at the Turtle a year ago to claim medalist honors in the Central League Championship. Elayna Fanelli finished in fifth place Monday with an 84. She’ll be looking to bounce back in the District One Championship in a couple of weeks as she tries to earn a repeat trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship.

   It was an Overbrook Golf Club day at Centrals a year ago as Elayna Fanelli was the girls medalist and Radnor’s Lannon Boyd the co-medalist among the boys. Both are products of the junior program at Overbrook.

   Kat Shrum of Conestoga took sixth place with an 86 and her fellow Pioneers, Mimi Kambayashi and Suri Ahn, ended up in a tie for seventh, each finishing with an 87, a shot behind Shrum.

   Conestoga’s Nicolette Bottos took ninth place with an 88 and Radnor’s Sara Fanelli – pretty sure she’s Elayna’s younger sister – rounded out the top 10, finishing 10^th with a 91.

   Two more Conestoga entries, Alex Myers and Lanta Chanthakad, also punched their tickets to the district tournament, Myers taking 11^th place with a 95 and Chanthakad finishing 12^th with a 99.

   Johnson showed remarkable patience in a three-birdie, one-bogey performance at the Turtle, which played 6,375 yards for the guys on a relatively tranquil and blessedly dry day in northwest Montgomery County, to capture medalist honors among the boys.

   “I played boring golf, hit a lot of greens,” said Johnson, who consults with Shane Mcgraw at the GolfTEC in Malvern for swing advice. “I’ve played here twice before. I didn’t want to force it and try to do too much. This is a good course for this. It’s pretty open and it’s usually in good shape.”

   Starting off the second hole, Johnson recorded seven straight pars before the lone blemish on his scorecard, a bogey at the tough par-3 ninth hole.

   But Johnson suddenly got hot on Turtle Creek’s incoming nine with birdies at the 13^th, 14^th and 17^th holes that got him into red figures.

   Johnson finished four shots clear of Lower Merion junior Seiji Sako and Boyd, the Radnor senior who was a co-medalist in the Central League Championship a year ago, as both landed on 2-over 74.

   Arrived at the Turtle just in time to see Sako nearly make a hole-in-one at the 191-yard, par-3 ninth hole. Shooting at a favorable front pin, Sako’s tee shot landed two feet past the hole, spun back and struck the pin before settling a foot away for a tap-in birdie. Pretty sure if the pin hadn’t been in, the ball would have found the bottom of the cup.

   Followed the foursome of Sako, Boyd, Conestoga’s Chris Sung and Strath Haven’s Luca Kleinschmidt on the back nine at the Turtle and was certainly entertained.

   Boyd had gotten it to 3-under, but was hurt by a couple of loose swings, most notably a skulled tee shot at the par-3 11^th hole that sailed over the green and out of bounds, resulting in a triple bogey 6.

   But the left-hander drove it to the fringe, 15 feet from the hole at the 325-yard par-4 12^th hole, and just missed his eagle putt. Boyd then hit a brilliant second shot to 15 feet from the left bunker at the 478-yard, par-5 13^th hole and, again, just missed dropping the eagle putt, settling for a two-putt birdie.

   All four players in the group made birdie at the 13^th, Sako also reaching the putting surface in two, Sung getting it up and down from just in front of the green, and Kleinschmidt sticking his approach to three-and-a-half feet.

   Sako earned a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State’s Blue Course a year ago and his tie for fourth place was the highest finish out of a strong District One contingent. He figured he three-putted four or five times Monday on the subtle putting surfaces at the Turtle.

   Radnor’s Will Walsh finished in fourth place, a shot behind Boyd and Sako, and the Raptors’ Brad McDermott and Michael Slinkard were part of a foursome of players tied for fifth place at 4-over 76.

   Boyd, Walsh, McDermott and Slinkard are the nucleus of a Radnor team that made an undefeated run through the Central League this season. That kind of performance should make Radnor a contender when the District One Class AAA team crown is decided on the second day of the district tournament Oct. 15.

   McDermott is seeking a second straight trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship as an individual.

   Joining McDermott and Slinkard in the quartet tied for fifth place were Conestoga’s Sung and Strath Haven’s Davis Fairbanks.

   Sung played some solid golf on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour this summer, highlighted by a share of medalist honors in the Junior Tour Championship at Chester Valley Golf Club.

   Fairbanks was playing in the group ahead of the Boyd-Sako-Sung-Kleinschmidt foursome and went eagle-birdie at the 13^th and 14^th holes, respectively, to climb up the leaderboard.

   Springfield’s Braydon Dolan and Haverford’s Bryce Ciochetto rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each registering a 5-over 77.

   Strath Haven’s Eddie Gephardt and Garnet Valley’s Frank Kunze were another shot behind Dolan and Ciochetto in a tie for 11^th place, each landing on 6-over 78.

   Strath Haven’s Matthew Caputo and Haverford’s Chris Moffett finished in a tie for 13^th place, each tallying a 7-over 79.

   The Central League gets 21 spots in the District One Class AAA Championship and with eight players tied for 16^th place at 80, a playoff for the final six berths to districts ensued.

   I watched it all, all four trips back to the tee at the par-3 ninth hole, but I’m not totally positive about the outcome.

   I do know that Ridley’s Cade Showalter grabbed the final spot by sinking a pressure-packed four-foot putt for par. Pretty sure that eliminated Haverford’s Pierce Murphy.

   Pretty sure Conestoga’s Ham Chanthakad was the other player who failed to advance, although he was clearly the fan favorite when he survived the first hole of the playoff, despite nearly sending his tee shot into the water right of the hole.

   Pretty sure Strath Haven’s Kleinschmidt advanced to districts. The kid hit some great shots as part of that first group off the first tee and his 80 was the highest possible score he could have had. Kleinschmidt fell victim to a couple of the Turtle Creek holes than can really jump and bite you, if you hit a loose shot.

   The other players who were in the group tied for 16^th place at 80 were Conestoga’s Joon Wee, Harriton’s Carson Deringer, Haverford’s Billy Williams and Garnet Valley’s Aiden Delfin and I’m pretty sure they all survived the playoff and will tee it up in Round 1 of the District One Class AAA Championship right back at the Turtle Oct. 14.