Sheftic, McReynolds the respective boys, girls winners in Harry Hammond Invitational at Penn Oaks

 

   Wissahickon senior Ty Sheftic scorched the incoming nine at Penn Oaks Golf Club with a spectacular 6-under-30 on his way to a 2-under 69 that gave him a victory in the Harry Hammond Invitational, a major championship on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, Aug. 11.

   The Harry Hammond is a tournament of champions of sorts with invitations going out to players who finished in first or second place in a Philly Junior Tour event over the last two years.

   The tournament is named for Harry Hammond, a Master PGA professional who was the co-owner of Penn Oaks until selling the course a couple of years ago. When it comes to advocating for junior golf in the Philadelphia area, there is Harry Hammond and then there is everybody else.

   There is a scholarship aspect to the Harry Hammond as players are encouraged to write an essay with results of the scholarship announced later. There are only boys 16-to-18 and girls 16-to-18 divisions, so the tournament is geared toward players who are planning for higher education.

   Conestoga senior Corinne McReynolds, who helped the Pioneers capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown last fall, matched par with a 71 to run away with the victory in the girls 16-to-18 division by seven shots.

   Sheftic, the son of Mark Sheftic, the director of instruction at Sunnybrook Golf Club, was a District One Class AAA qualifier for the Trojans last fall.

   Sheftic was coming off a tie for fifth place with a solid 1-over 72 a day earlier in the Junior Tour Championship at Chester Valley Golf Club.

   It turned out to be perfect preparation for the challenging layout at Penn Oaks, located where Thornbury Township, Delaware County meets Thornbury Township, Chester County along Route 202.

   Sheftic opened the back nine at Penn Oaks with a birdie at the 10^th hole, then ripped off consecutive birdies at 12, 13 and 14 before adding birdies at 16 and 18 to finish out a masterful 2-under 69 that gave him a three-shot victory over Fleetwood senior Cameron Peffel.

   Sheftic also had nine pars on his scorecard.

   Peffel, who finished in a tie for second place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State’s White Course as a sophomore in the fall of 2024, made birdies at the seventh, 15^th and 18^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, including a stretch of five straight pars from 10 through 14, as he earned runnerup honors with a 1-over 72.

   A couple of Wilmington, Del. guys, Quinn Marshall, a senior at the Wilmington Friends School, and Josh Mohn, a senior at St. Mark’s, shared third place as each finished a shot behind Peffel with a 2-over 73.

   Marshall, a top-20 finisher in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship at Baywood Greens in May, made back-to-back birdies at the 11^th and 12^th holes and had 12 pars on his card. Marshall had a pair of streaks of five pars in a row from five through nine and again in the final five holes of his round.

   Mohn, who capped his junior season by finishing in third place in the DIAA Championship at Baywood Greens in the spring, made birdies at the 10^th and 17^th holes and had 12 pars on his card, including a string of five straight pars from 11 through 15.

   Malvern Prep senior Colby Komancheck, one of the Inter-Ac League’s top returning players, headed a group of five players who finished in a tie for fifth place, each posting a 3-over 74.

   Komancheck, a top-five finisher in the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac’s individual championship in each of his first three seasons with the Friars, capped his junior season by claiming the individual title in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Championship at Radley Run Country Club.

   Rounding out the group at 3-over were Souderton senior Chase Andrews, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, Cumberland Valley senior Carson Will, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier a year ago, Brayden Hughes of Hockessin, Del., and Lenape High senior Ravi Gohel, who had been one of the hottest players on the Philly Junior Tour heading into the Harry Hammond.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 16-to-18 division was the trio of Logan Hyndman, a Newtown resident and a senior on the golf team at The Pennington School, David Dempsey of Franklinville, N.J. and Chris Cipollone, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Haverford High last fall, as each recorded a 4-over 75.

   Conestoga’s McReynolds made birdies at the seventh, 10^th, 16^th and 18^th holes and had 10 pars on her scorecard in finishing at the top of the leaderboard in the girls 16-to-18 division with her even-par 71.

   McReynolds had a solid summer and was coming off a tie for eighth place a day earlier in the Junior Tour Championship, which was shortened to nine holes for the girls by stormy weather.

   Exeter senior Giulia Weisser, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in each of her first three seasons of scholastic golf, was McReynolds’ closest pursuer as she made birdies at the sixth and 18^th holes and had nine pars on her card to earn runnerup honors with a 7-over 78.

   Clearview senior Stella Bernardi made a birdie at the 16^th hole and had 11 pars on her card, including a stretch of six consecutive pars from 10 through 15, as she finished a shot behind Weisser in third place with a 79.

   Harriton junior Megan Choi, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in each of her first two seasons of scholastic golf, finished a shot behind Stella Bernardi in fourth place with an 80.

   Choi had lost in a playoff to Valerie Danby for the overall girls title in the Junior Tour Championship a day earlier at Chester Valley.

   Megan Tyhanic of Little Egg Harbor, N.J. and Emily Maurer of Mount Laurel, N.J. shared fifth place, each recording an 83.

   Clearview senior Lydia Bernard, Stella Bernardi’s sister – twins maybe? – finished in seventh place with an 84.

   Indian River junior Ellie Walls, who capped her sophomore season by finishing in third place in the DIAA Championship at Baywood Greens, and Mariana Walker, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Council Rock North last fall, finished in a tie for eighth place, each landing on 85.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the girls 16-to-18 division was Anna Firko, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Concord in the spring, as she finished in 10^th place with an 88.

   Firko, who will attend Thomas Jefferson, a Division II school in Philadelphia, and play golf for the Rams, was the winner of the girls division in the Harry Hammond a year ago.