LIMERICK – Plymouth-Whitemarsh senior Rhianna Gooneratne knew she was in for a battle in Tuesday’s final round of the District One Class AAA Championship, particularly since she trailed Phoenixville junior Kayley Roberts, playing on her home away from home at Turtle Creek Golf Course, by a shot following Monday’s opening round at nearby Raven’s Claw Golf Club.
Gooneratne displayed the grit and talent that earned her a PIAA Class AAA crown a year ago with a 1-over-par 73 over a Turtle Creek layout that measured 5,827 yards for the girls on a chilly, windy day in northwest Montgomery County to finish three shots clear of Roberts and add a District One title to her impressive scholastic resume.
“It was kind of a boring round, I kept it out of trouble,” Gooneratne said after her solid round, combined with a 5-over 76 in Monday’s wicked winds at Raven’s Claw, gave her a 6-over 149 total. “I just wanted to make sure I hit fairways and greens.”
On the boys side, Hatboro-Horsham senior Brent Glah came roaring from seven shots behind with a sparkling 3-under 69 to claim a one-shot victory over Conestoga freshman Will Johnson and Downingtown West sophomore Ian Larsen with a 4-over 148 total.
Gooneratne opened her round with eight straight pars.
“Had a pretty good birdie look at seven and missed it, that was a little disappointing,” she said.
Roberts struggled a little on the outgoing nine, opening with a bogey at the first hole, making a double bogey at three and a three-putt bogey at seven and found herself trailing Gooneratne by three shots not long after I caught up with them at six.
But Roberts, the runnerup to her older sister Kate in the district tournament a year ago, wasn’t quite finished. She holed a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-5 eighth hole and then stuck her approach to the fairly impossible hole location at the par-3 ninth hole to two feet and converted a second straight birdie while Gooneratne was making bogey and suddenly they were tied at 6-over.
“She gave away a couple of shots early, but I knew Kayley was going to come back and she did,” Gooneratne said.
The pendulum, however, turned back Gooneratne’s way with a two-shot swing on the short, par-4 10th hole going in her favor.
Roberts found two bunkers on the hole on her way to a bogey while Gooneratne hit her approach to 10 feet and just snuck her birdie putt in the hole.
“I had 78 yards and hit a half 56-degree wedge in there,” said Gooneratne, who committed to join Patty Post’s program at Delaware not long after capturing the state title last fall.
After making a bogey at the par-3 11th hole, Gooneratne sealed the deal with birdies at the par-4 14th and at the par-4 16th that got her to 4-over for the tournament.
“That was a good shot on 14,” Gooneratne said. “I was in the bunker, but I was on the side of it and had a funny stance. I hit pitching wedge to 12 feet. I hit hybrid off the tee at 16 and had 106 yards in and hit the A wedge to 10 feet.”
Gooneratne made a bogey at the 17th hole, but still had a four-shot cushion going to the par-5 finisher at Turtle Creek, where she also made bogey.
Roberts made a birdie at the 12th hole to again pull even with Gooneratne at 6-over, but she made bogeys at 13, 15 and 16 on her way to 5-over 77 in the second round. Roberts had taken a one-shot lead following an opening round of 4-over 75 in Monday’s blustery conditions at Raven’s Claw and her up-and-down final round left her three shots behind Gooneratne in second place with a 9-over 152 total.
Gooneratne will take a lot of momentum to Penn State as she tries to repeat as the state champion next week, but she knows Roberts will likely be there battling.
Conestoga sophomore Jill Burks had shared second place with Gooneratne going into Tuesday’s final round. Burks, who had matched par at the Turtle in the Central League Championship two weeks ago, struggled at times, but righted the ship with back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th holes on her way to a 5-over 77 that left her a shot behind Roberts in a tie for third place with Souderton senior Alli Engart at 10-over 153 total.
Engart had the best round of the day Tuesday as she matched par with a 72 to get a piece of third place along with Burks. Engart and Burks will be making return trips to the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State.
Radnor junior Elayna Fanelli will also be making a return trip to the state tournament as she added a 6-over 78 at the Turtle to the 7-over 78 she posted in Monday’s opening round at Raven’s Claw to finish alone in fifth place with a 156 total.
Council Rock North’s Naaz Mehta had opened with a 6-over 77 in the wind Monday at Raven’s Claw, but fell back a little with an 81 Tuesday at Turtle Creek. She punched her ticket to Penn State with a 158 total that left her in sixth place.
Malaina Druffner and Emma Lewis capped a couple of monumental days for the Downingtown West program by finishing in a tie for seventh place at 166 with Harriton’s Megan Choi as that trio nailed down the final three berths to states out of the District One Class AAA Championship.
Druffner and Lewis, who played in the final grouping along with Gooneratne, Roberts and Burks, struggled in Tuesday’s second round with Druffner registering an 87 and Lewis an 88, but a day earlier they led the Whippets to the District One Class AAA team crown and both will represent Downingtown West as individuals at Penn State in addition to teeing it up in the team competition.
Choi added an 84 in Tuesday’s second round to her opening-round 82 at Raven’s Claw as she joined Burks and Fanelli to give the Central League a trio of players in the field at Penn State.
Merion Mercy’s Sarah Doherty was the lone entry in the Class AA girls division and she added a 113 in the second round to her opening-round 101 for a 214 total.
Hatboro-Horsham’s Glah had survived Monday’s opening around at the Turtle, which measured 6,375 yards for the boys, with a 7-over 79. He trailed Conestoga’s Johnson, the leader following the opening round, by seven shots.
“Craziest conditions I’ve ever played in,” said Glah, who consults with Dom DiJulia of the Dom DiJulia School of Golf to fine-tune his swing. “My goal coming here was to win it, but after (Monday), I was just trying to get to states.”
But Glah accomplished both those goals by taming the Turtle with his 3-under 69 for a 4-over 148 total.
Johnson, the medalist in the Central League Championship two weeks earlier with a 2-under 70 at the Turtle, had somehow fashioned a 1-over 73 in Monday’s brutal winds.
But the kid struggled a little on the outgoing nine at Turtle Creek with three bogeys and a double bogey. Johnson fought hard on the back nine, making four birdies, including one at the last, the risk-reward par-5 finishing hole at the Turtle, but it wasn’t enough to catch Glah.
Johnson ended up with a 4-over 76 that left him a shot behind Glah with a 5-over 149 total. Still, Johnson is in the middle of a pretty strong postseason run as a freshman.
Up ahead of Johnson, Glah had made birdies at the second, seventh, 14th and 15th holes with just one blemish on his scorecard, a bogey at the tough par-3 ninth. He needed only pars on his last three holes to complete his remarkable rally and he got them.
“I knew I had the lead when I got to 18,” said Glah, who finished in a tie for fifth place at Turtle Creek a year ago.
He will take the shot of confidence he got with his District One title up to Penn State with him.
“I think we’re at the White Course this year,” said Glah, who plays out of Commonwealth National Golf Club. “I’ve been up there before. I like both the courses there.”
Larsen, who had opened with a 4-over 76, closed with a solid 1-over 73 to get a share of second place with Johnson.
Unionville’s Charlie Barrickman matched par in Tuesday’s second round with a 72, bouncing back from an opening-round 79 as he finished alone in fourth place with a 7-over 151 total that left him two shots behind Johnson and Larsen and bound for Penn State for the second straight fall.
Lower Merion’s talented junior Seiji Sako booked a return trip to Penn State as he struggled a little in a second-round 79 after managing a solid 2-over 74 in Monday’s difficult conditions to end up alone in fifth place with a 9-over 153 total.
A year ago, Sako finished just a shot out of the playoff that decided the individual state crown and was the highest finisher among the District One contingent at states.
Perkiomen Valley junior Alex Hall, the grandson of World Golf Hall of Famer Gary Player, was another shot behind Sako in sixth place with a 10-over 154 total. Hall added a 4-over 76 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 78.
Don’t think anybody has teed it up in more Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour events this year than Boyertown senior Chase Dillman has. All of that hard work paid off Tuesday when Dillman bounced back from an opening-round 82 with a solid 1-over 73 that left him in a tie for seventh place with Methacton senior Matt Rieger at 155 and earned Dillman a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship.
Dillman’s Pioneer Athletic Conference rival Rieger added a 5-over 77 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 78 to join Dillman at 155.
Rounding out the top 10 in the Class AAA standings was a trio tied for ninth place 157 that included Souderton’s Cole Henning, Sun Valley sophomore Ryan Messick and Wissahickon’s Ian Yoo.
Henning bounced from an opening-round 81 with a 4-over 76 in Tuesday’s second round, Messick added a 5-over 77 in the second round to his opening-round 80 and Yoo closed with a 6-over 78 after opening with a 79.
Springfield Montco’s Ryan Brnich was another shot behind that group in 12th place as he added a 78 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 80 for a 158 total.
A couple of Spring-Ford entries, Michael Gravinese and Lucas Kozak, earned trips to the state tournament as they were part of a four-way tie for 13th place at 159. Gravinese added a 79 to his opening-round 80 while Kozak had the opposite splits, opening with a 79 and adding an 80 in Tuesday’s second round.
Two Ches-Mont League standouts, Coatesville junior Carson Holmes and Unionville junior Nicolas Gaughan, booked return trips to the state championship as they joined Gravinese and Kozak in the quartet tied at 159.
Holmes shaved three shots off an opening-round 81 with a 6-over 78 in Tuesday’s second round. Gaughan thrived in Monday’s wind, opening with a 3-over 75, but struggled to an 84 Tuesday.
Six players vied for the final berth to the state tournament out of District One after finishing in a tie for 17th place at 160 and Central Bucks West’s Ryan Quinn was the last man standing. Quinn added a 6-over 78 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 82.
Somehow, the talented roster at West Chester Rustin was shut out of any individual spots in the state tournament, but the Knights will be heading to Penn State to compete for team honors after rolling to a nine-shot victory over Unionville and Spring-Ford for the District One Class AAA team crown with a 14-over 302 total.
Senior Sam Feeney was the defending District One individual champion and he led the way in Rustin’s winning team effort as he made a hole-in-one at Turtle Creek’s 154-yard 15th hole on his way to a sparkling 2-under 70.
Cole Berry added a 3-over 75, Nick Linkchorst chipped in with a 78 and Anesti Kalderemtzis was the final counter with a 79.
The win avenged a loss to Unionville for the Ches-Mont’s American Division title as the Knights unseated the defending District One team champion Longhorns.
Unionville and Pioneer Athletic Conference power Spring-Ford finished in a tie for second place, each registering a 313 total. The Longhorns had defeated Spring-Ford in a playoff to claim the district team title a year ago at Turtle Creek.
Central Bucks West finished in fourth place with a 316 total and Central League champion Radnor, Downingtown West and Wissahickon were another shot behind the Bucks in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 317.
New Hope-Solebury’s Max Wright claimed the District One Class AA individual crown as he rallied from seven shots back with an 87 for a 178 total.
Wright had opened with a 91 and trailed Collegium Charter’s Justin Carpio, who had posted an 84 in Monday’s opening round. But Carpio struggled to a 95 in Tuesday’s second round and finished a shot behind Wright in second place with a 179 total.
Wright helped New Hope-Solebury claim the Class AA team crown with a 358 total.
Charlie Plebani, who finished in third place in the individual standings, led the way Tuesday for New Hope-Solebury with an 86, Wright chipped in with his 87, Ethan Broekema registered a 92 and Mitchell Lontchar had the final counter with a 93.
Faith Christian was the runnerup with a 395 total.
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