Gallagher leads Haverford School to sweep of Episcopal Academy Invitational at Merion's West Course

 

   The Haverford School, behind senior Quinn Gallagher, swept the field in the Episcopal Academy Invitational at Merion Golf Club’s West Course Tuesday to move into second place in the Inter-Ac League standings.

   Gallagher carded a solid 1-under-par 34 in windy, soggy weather at the West to help the Fords edge reigning Inter-Ac champion Episcopal Academy by three shots with a 1-over 176 team total.

   Haverford School’s 5-0 day enabled the Fords to move into second place in the Inter-Ac race with an 8-2 record following the second of the league’s six mini-tournaments.

   Gallagher’s fellow senior, Harry Neilly, and sophomore Jesse Shurman backed up their teammate as each matched par at the West with a 35.

   Rounding out the counters for the Fords were a couple of critical 1-over 36s from a couple of their youngsters, sophomore William Thorkelson and freshman Christos Bottos.

   Episcopal Academy, which had opened the Inter-Ac schedule by sweeping the field last week in the William Penn Charter School Invitational at Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Centennial nine, maintained its hold on first place as the Churchmen tallied a solid 4-over 179 to go 4-1 for the day.

   Episcopal Academy was left with a 9-1 mark through two rounds of invitationals with Haverford School in second place with an 8-2 mark.

   Episcopal Academy was led by junior Max Leung, who matched par with a 35. Leung might have benefited from a round over the tough Old Course at Stonewall Saturday.

   Four of the host Churchmen came in at 1-over 36, including senior co-captain Freddy Hartmann, seniors Connor Smolenski and Carson Jakuc and junior Tucker Dempsey.

   Hartmann, bidding to repeat as the Inter-Ac’s leading points-getter in the individual standings during the regular season, leads the race after two rounds of invitationals with an 81-7-7 record and 69 points.

   Hartmann’s closest pursuer in the individual standings is Malvern Prep senior standout Colby Komancheck, who was the individual medalist at Merion’s West Course with a sizzling 3-under 32.

   Komancheck’s round included two birdies and a chip-in for eagle at the short par-4 eighth hole at the West.

   By taking medalist honors for the day Komancheck improved his individual record to 78-11-5 with his 61 points trailing Hartmann by eight.

   Komancheck led the way for the Friars as they finished three shots behind Episcopal Academy in third place with a 182 total that left them very much in the Inter-Ac race in third place with a 7-3 record.

   Malvern Prep had shared second place with Haverford School at Huntingdon Valley, but took second in a tiebreaker. It looks like it’s going to be another fall when every point counts in the perennial three-way battle for the title among the Friars, the Fords and the defending champion Churchmen.

   Backing up Komancheck for Malvern Prep was senior Timmy Burns, who had four birdies on his way to a 1-under 34.

   Senior Ayden Gallen and sophomore Charlie Blok each signed for a 3-over 38 and junior Mason Matlack rounded out the counters for the Friars with a 40.

   Penn Charter finished in fourth place at Merion’s West Course with a 200 total. The Quakers were led by senior Jack Sheward, who recorded a solid 1-over 36.

   Germantown Academy finished three shots behind Penn Charter in fifth place with a 203 total. The Patriots were led by junior Onyu Park and sophomore Oliver Hubbert, both of whom registered a 4-over 39.

   Penn Charter and Germantown Academy were left in a tie for fourth place in the team standings following the Episcopal Academy Invitational, each with a 3-7 mark.

   Springside Chestnut Hill Academy finished in sixth place at Merion West with a 208 total. The Blue Devils were led by senior Brady Grieve, who posted a 4-over 39.

   Springside Chestnut Hill remained winless and in sixth place in the team standings following the first two rounds of invitationals with an 0-10 mark.

 

 

 

Cully captures title in Philly Section Women's Championship; Austin Barbin the Philadelphia Players Championship winner

 

   Catching up on some Philadelphia Section PGA events, starting with a couple of the most recent …

   Jennifer Cully, the 57-year-old who is an instructor who works out of the Honeybrook Golf Club pro shop, got hot on the incoming nine at Green Valley Country Club Sept. 16^th as she matched par with a 71 to capture the title in the Philadelphia Section PGA Women’s Championship.

   Cully made bogeys at the first, sixth and 11^th holes and was 3-over when she started to get the putter working.

   Cully went back-to-back with birdies at the 12^th and 13^th holes and a birdie at 15 got her back to even for the round.

   Cully stumbled briefly with a bogey at the 16^th hole, but a birdie at 17 got her back to even-par for the day.

   “It was awesome, the best I have played in years,” Cully told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “I had a few three-putts (on the front nine), but I came alive on the back nine.”

   Solid effort by Megan Leineweber, the head pro at Stonewall, as she finished a shot behind Cully in second place with a 72.

   Brittany Weddell, playing on her home course at Green Valley, and Lauren Hickam, who works out of the pro shop at Gulph Mills Golf Club, shared third place, each ending up two shots behind Leineweber with a 3-over 74.

   Joanna Coe, the director of instruction at Merion Golf Club and the four-time reigning Philadelphia Section Rolex/Haverford Trust Company Women’s Player of the Year, finished alone in fifth place with a 4-over 75.

   Coe represented the Philly Section in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a major championship on the LPGA Tour, in June at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.

   Defending Philadelphia Section PGA Women’s champion Tessa Teachman, an instructor at Aronimink Golf Club, headed a trio of players tied for sixth place at 6-over 77.

   Teachman was joined at that figure by Alex Carr, Teachman’s colleague in the Aronimink pro shop, and Tori MacKinnon, who works out of the pro shot at Bidermann Golf Club.

   Rounding out the field was Wilmington Country Club’s Meghan Spero as she finished in ninth place with an 84.

   The Philadelphia Section PGA Women’s Championship was supported by the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board, KM Golf Sales/Kevin McClellan, 1^st and 10^th Tee Bars and the PGA Tour.

   Austin Barbin, playing out of the pro shop at the Barbin family-owned Chesapeake Bay Golf Club, finished with a rush, making three straight birdies at Lookaway Golf Club Monday to capture the title in the Philadelphia Players Championship with a 5-under-par 67.

   Presenting partners Scott and Karen Hutchinson, long-time supporters of the Philadelphia Section PGA circuit, have helped make the Philadelphia Players Championship one of the most lucrative events on the schedule. Austin Barbin earned $6,000 out of a total purse of $40,000.

   Coming off a solid college career at Liberty University, Austin Barbin capped his amateur career by winning the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club two summers ago.

   Austin Barbin and older brother Zach, the 2020 Philadelphia Amateur champion at Lancaster Country Club, have quickly established themselves as two of the Philadelphia Section’s rising young stars.

   After an early bogey at the second hole at Lookaway, Austin Barbin made birdies at the fourth, seventh and 12^th holes to get it to 2-under for his round.

   Austin Barbin then turned it on down the stretch with birdies at the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th holes to finish at 5-under, one shot better than Riley Wheeldon, the talented instructor in the Aronimink pro shop.

   “The last three holes, I looked at the leaderboard and I saw (Brian) Bergstol and Riley (Wheeldon) up at 5 (-under par) and I knew I had to get to five, so I just locked in,” Austin Barbin told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “Honestly, it was a blacking-out and zoning-in kind of deal.”

   Bergstol, the head of instruction at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, fell back to 3-under and headed a group of five players tied for third place with 69s, a shot behind Wheeldon’s 5-under 68.

   Bergstol was joined at 3-under by Waynesborough Country Club’s Kyle Early, Llanerch Country Club assistant pro Andrew Cornish, Whitford Country Club assistant pro Anthony Sebastianelli and DuPont Country Club’s Mike Caldwell.

   Terry Hatch, playing out of the Royal Oaks Golf Club pro shop, topped the Senior division with a 1-under 71.

   Mark Sheftic, the head of instruction at Sunnybrook Golf Club, and Jason Wilson of Bethlehem Golf Club finished in a tie for second place, each ending up a shot behind Hatch by matching par with a 72.

   In addition to presenting sponsors, the Hutchinsons, the Philadelphia Players Championship was also supported by golf apparel maker AndersonOrd.

   The summer-long Philadelphia PGA Match Play Championship concluded Sept. 1^st at Aronimink, where Brett Walker, playing out of the pro shop at Chester Valley Golf Club, defeated one of the Philadelphia Section’s top senior players in Laurel Creek Country Club’s Dave Quinn, 3 and 2.

   It was a return to the scene of one of Walker’s biggest victories as he captured the 100^th playing of the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship in 2021 at Aronimink, the Donald Ross masterpiece in Newtown Square that played host to the PGA Championship in May.

   Walker got a win at the first hole of the final and never looked back, eventually building a 5-up lead through 11 holes.

   Earlier in the day, Walker advanced to the final with a 4 and 3 victory over Michael Little of Clubhouse 54 in a semifinal match.

   Quinn earned his spot in the final with a 4 and 3 victory over Whitford’s Sebastianelli in the other semifinal.

   Walker’s road to the semifinals at Aronimink included a 4 and 3 victory over Anthony Hoffman of the John F. Byrne Golf Course, a 2 and 1 decision over John Colbert of Newark Country Club, and a pair of 5 and 4 wins over Tom Michaels of Berkshire Country Club and Colton Yenser of LedgeRock Golf Club.

   The Philadelphia PGA Match Play Championship was supported by Rolex and the PGA Tour.

   The brothers Barbin, Zach and Austin, found themselves in five-way playoff for the title in the Jack Jolly & Son Championship, which was shortened to 17 holes of regulation play by some stormy weather Aug. 31^st at Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club, the William Flynn gem in Fort Washington.

   It was Zach Barbin who prevailed in the playoff to claim the victory after he and four other players, including younger brother Austin Barbin, each posted a 5-under 61 total.

   Rounding out the quintet tied at 5-under were Andy Hewitt of Cripple Creek Golf & Country Club, Trevor Bensel, the talented assistant pro at LuLu Country Club and Whitford’s Sebastianelli.

   Braden Shattuck, the director of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club and only a couple of weeks removed from his second straight victory in the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship, shared sixth place with the Shawnee Inn’s Bergstol, each ending up a shot out of the playoff at 4-under 62.

   Dave McNabb, the veteran head pro at Applebrook Golf Club, and Laurel Creek’s Quinn shared the top spot in the Senior division, each landing on 2-under 64.

   Manufacturers proved to be a nice tuneup for the Philadelphia Section PGA Women’s Championship a couple of weeks later at Green Valley as Merion’s Coe and Green Valley’s Weddell shared first place in the Women’s division, each tallying a 1-over 67.

   Stonewall’s Leineweber finished two shots behind Coe and Weddell in third place with a 3-over 69.

   Zach Barbin’s playoff victory for the overall Jack Jolly & Son Championship title also earned him a win in the concurrent Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization (PAO) event over his younger brother Austin Barbin, Bensel and Sebastianelli.

   The Philadelphia Section’s talented group of seniors had the stage to themselves for the Skee Riegel Senior Open Sept. 10^th at Radnor Valley Country Club and Sheftic, the highly-regarded instructor at Sunnybrook, made a birdie at the 17^th hole to capture the title with a 4-under 66.

   Sheftic made a birdie at the first hole and a bogey at four before going off in the middle of his round with birdies at sixth, seven, 10 and 13 to get it to 4-under for the round. Sheftic dropped a shot with a bogey at the 15^th hole, but got it right back with his birdie at 17 that gave him a one-shot victory over Brendon Post, the head coach of the men’s golf team at Delaware.

   Hugo Mazzalupi of the Radnor Golf Foundation, Rich Steinmetz, the head pro at Spring Ford Country Club, Mark Chlebek, the head pro at the Steel Club, and Brian Kelly, a PGA Life Member who was the long-time head pro at Bucknell Golf Club, finished in a tie for third place, each matching par with a 70 to end up three shots behind Post.

   Mazzalupi will be part of the Philadelphia Section contingent headed for the Senior PGA Professional Championship, which tees off Oct. 22 at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Grand Canyon, Ariz.

   Mazzalupi punched his ticket to Superstition Mountain by finishing in a tie for third place in the Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship in June at Bellewood Country Club.

   Greg Farrow, the long-time head pro at Deerwood Country Club, claimed top honors in the Super-Senior division with a 1-under 69.

   Wayne Phillips, a PGA Life Member who was the long-time head pro at Lehigh Country Club, was the runnerup among the super seniors as he matched par with a 70.

                                                                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gioffre sizzles with a 32 at Huntingdon Valley to help Episcopal open defense of title with an Inter-Ac sweep

 

   Junior Jack Gioffre tamed the Centennial nine at Huntingdon Valley Country Club with a sizzling 3-under-par 32 as Episcopal Academy opened defense of its Inter-Ac League crown Thursday with an impressive sweep of the Penn Charter Invitational field.

   Gioffre claimed medalist honors for the day as the Churchmen put together a 2-over 177 team total that was 11 shots better than their perennial rivals for Inter-Ac supremacy, Malvern Prep and The Haverford School.

   Gioffre also put together a solid 37 at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club that helped Episcopal Academy edge perennial Catholic League power La Salle, 231-235, in a nonleague meeting of two of the region’s heavyweight programs a day earlier.

   Malvern Prep shared second place in the Penn Charter Invitational with the Fords with a 188 total, but was awarded runnerup honors in a tiebreaker involving each team’s sixth scorer.

   Gioffre was backed up by senior Freddy Hartmann, who also finished in red figures for the day with a sparkling 1-under 34. Hartmann finished atop the Inter-Ac’s regular-season points race a year ago in leading the Churchmen to their first league title since 2016.

   Senior Liam Crowley, winner of the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac’s individual title last fall at The 1912 Club, backed up Episcopal Academy’s top two with a solid 1-over 36. Hartmann and Crowley are two of the Churchmen’s three tri-captains.

   Two more seniors on this veteran Episcopal Academy team, Connor Smolenski, and Carson Jakuc, rounded out the scoring for the Churchmen with Smolenski tallying a 2-over 37 and Jakuc adding a 3-over 38.

   Sophomore Charlie Blok led the way for Malvern Prep, the runnerup to Episcopal Academy in a tight battle for the Inter-Ac title a year ago, as he matched par with a 35.

   Senior co-captain Ayden Gallen added a 2-over 37 for the Friars and Colby Komancheck, Malvern Prep’s other senior co-captain, and classmate Timmy Burns each chipped in with a 3-over 38.

   Komancheck captured the individual title in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Championship at Radley Run Country Club last fall, helping the Friars earn a share of the team title with Episcopal Academy.

   Komancheck finished in a tie for third place in the Bert Linton at The 1912 Club, his third straight finish inside the top five in the battle for the Inter-Ac’s individual crown.

   Senior Michael DiDomenico and junior Mason Matlack each added a 3-over 39, both important counters for the Friars. A final counter of 39 gave Malvern Prep a 188 total that left it tied with Haverford School for second place and the other 39 gave the Friars the tiebreaker edge that gave them second place and a 4-1 mark for the day.

   Haverford School, which had a streak of three straight Inter-Ac titles halted by Episcopal Academy a year ago, was led by freshman Eric Cunningham, who matched par with a 34 at Huntingdon Valley’s Centennial nine.

   Sophomore William Thorkelson added a 2-over 37 and senior Quinn Gallahger, coming off a solid summer, chipped in with a 3-over 38.

   Rounding out the Haverford School lineup were seniors Harry Neilly and Jack Luterman, both of whom recorded a 4-over 39.

   Germantown Academy finished three shots behind Malvern Prep and Haverford School in fourth place with a 191 total.

   The Patriots were led by talented junior Onyu Park and sophomore Dominic Kelly, both of whom registered a 1-over 36.

   The William Penn Charter School, the host, took fifth place with a 199 total. Sophomore Henry Kessler led the way for the Quakers with a solid 1-over 36.

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy rounded out the field in the Penn Charter Invitational by finishing in sixth place with a 211 total.