Williamson grabs medalist honors, leads Saint Joseph's to team crown in Big 5 Invitational at Stonewall

 

   Behind an individual victory by George Williamson Jr., a sophomore from Sykesville, Md., Saint Joseph’s claimed the team title in the Big 5 Invitational Thursday at an Old Course at Stonewall that was dressed in its fall finery.

   As a regular Stonewall looper, I was looking forward to watching some of the Big 5’s best tee it up at the Tom Doak gem in the northwest corner of Chester County. Unfortunately, the Big 5 Invitational landed on the same date as the Bert Linton Championship for the Inter-Ac League’s individual championship over at the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve, an event that I have live-blogged most years.

   The Old Course has been playing as tough as it possibly can with a sudden dry spell firming up the 6,910-yard, par-70 layout. Superintendent Dan Dale has been able to take advantage of the weather conditions to make the green complexes, always tricky, just downright treacherous.

   And Williamson was the only player in the field who was able to rise to the challenge as he carded a solid 1-under-par 69 to claim the individual title by three shots over Temple’s Max Jackson, a junior from Cumberland, R.I. who joined the Owls after transferring from Rutgers.

   The Big 5 Invitational came amid a backdrop of what’s shaping up as the breakup of the old City Series in men’s basketball with Villanova being cast as the villain. It is not the first time that this scenario has come up, probably won’t be the last.

   But the same elements that made the rivalries in Big 5 basketball so great still work when it comes to men’s golf.

   It makes perfect sense for the Philadelphia area’s six Division I colleges to get together for a one-day shootout at one of the region’s great golf courses at the end of the teams’ fall campaigns.

   Most college golf tournaments are three-day affairs that require a road trip. At Stonewall last week, it was a drive out into the country on a beautiful late October Thursday and a drive back home.

   And that drive home had to be a little more satisfying for the St. Joe’s guys after the Hawks put together a 17-over 297 total that was six shots better than runnerup Temple, the defending champion.

   Not sure when the last time St. Joe’s captured the team title in the Big 5 Invitational, but it’s been a while.

   Had a late loop the previous Thursday and some of the St. Joe’s and Temple guys got in a practice round behind us with the sun setting and a half-moon rising at the Old Course.

   Each team brought six players with the top four players counting toward the team score.

   Williamson opened his round with a birdie at the Old Course’s gettable par-5 first hole. He quickly gave two shots back, though, with a double bogey at the par-5 third hole.

   Williamson got it going in the middle of his round with birdies at two of the three par-3s on the Old Course’s outgoing nine at the seventh and ninth holes and a birdie at the last of the three par-5s, the 11^th, to get to 2-under for his round.

   Williamson made a bogey at the par-3 17^th hole, but was the only player to post red figures at the Old Course.

   The Hawks, who play out of the Atlantic 10, ended up with four players among the top-10 finishers.

   Senior Kevin Lafond, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in 2022 as a senior with Catholic League power La Salle, backed up Williamson as he finished alone in fourth place with a 5-over 75.

   Senior Noah Moelter, who finished in a tie for sixth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Central Bucks South in 2022, finished among a foursome of players tied for fifth place at 6-over 76.

   Sophomore Sam Feeney, the District One Class AAA champion as a junior with West Chester Rustin in 2023, was the final counter for St. Joe’s as he landed in a bulky group of eight players tied for ninth place with a 7-over 77.

   Behind Jackson’s solid 2-over 72, Temple, which plays out of the American Athletic Conference, earned runnerup honors a 23-over 303 total.

   Like St. Joe’s, all of Temple’s counters finished in the top 10 as Travis Robertson, a junior from Palm Beach, Fla. and a transfer from Lafayette, Mason Tome, a junior from West Palm Beach, Fla., and Nicholas Pisarski, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla. were all part of that gang of eight players that finished in a tie for ninth place at 7-over.

   La Salle, another Atlantic 10 representative, capped a decent fall by finishing a shot behind Temple in third place with a 24-over 304 total.

   Leading the way for the Explorers was graduate student Billy Pabst, who lost in a playoff to Nick Gross in the 2021 PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at North Pocono. Pabst, who began his college career at Penn State, finished a shot behind Temple’s Jackson in third place with a solid 3-over 73.

   Peyton Hawke, a junior from Canada, tallied a 6-over 76 to join the foursome tied for fifth place.

   Another graduate student, Logan Paczewski, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Dallas, gave La Salle a third top-10 finisher as he signed for a 7-over 77 to join the large group tied for ninth place.

   The college journey for Paczewski, who teed it up in the U.S. Amateur at Philadelphia Country Club and Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course in August, has included stops at Rutgers and George Mason. Paczewski owns a victory in a Golf Association of Philadelphia major championship, having captured the Patterson Cup in 2023 at Llanerch Country Club.

   Villanova, a Big East representative and the defending champion in the Big 5 Invitational, was another six shots behind La Salle in fourth place with a 30-over 310 total.

   Leading the way for the Wildcats was Cameron Besaw, a junior from New Canaan, Conn. who was part of the quartet tied for fifth place at 6-over.

   Evan Rohde, a freshman from Houston, Texas, gave Villanova another top-10 finisher as he landed in the large group tied for ninth place with a 79.

   Drexel, a Coastal Athletic Association representative, finished a shot behind Villanova in fifth place with a 311 total.

   The Dragons were led by a couple of freshmen, Nathan Crawford of Port St. Lucie, Fla. and former Strath Haven standout Luca Kleinschmidt, the runnerup in the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship in June at Chester Valley Golf Club, both of whom ended up in the group tied for ninth place with 79s.

   The original plan for Kleinschmidt was to join the program at PSAC power Millersville, but his strong play in the summer drew the attention of Drexel and he decided to take a shot at Division I golf.

   Rounding out the team standings was the Ivy League’s Penn as the Quakers finished two shots behind their West Philadelphia neighbor Drexel in sixth place with a 33-over 313 total.

   Leading the way for Penn, still coming down from a bucket-list trip across the pond to tee it up in the St. Andrews Links Collegiate at the home of golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland earlier in the month, was Arjun Caprihan, a sophomore from Short Hills, N.J. who rounded out the foursome tied for fifth place at 6-over.

   Rounding out the Saint Joseph’s lineup were sophomore Michael Henry Jr., a standout at Malvern Prep who posted an 80 to finish among the group tied for 25^th place, and freshman Chris Parrish, a scholastic standout at Kingsway in South Jersey who recorded an 86 to end up in a tie for 34^th place.

   It’s been a solid start to the wraparound 2026-2027 season in the fall for St. Joe’s.

   The Hawks were coming off a final round of 12-under 272 in the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate at Kilmarlic Golf Club in Powells Point, N.C. earlier in the week that lifted them to a sixth-place finish in the team standings with a 9-over 861 total.

   Moelter led the way, finishing in a tie for seventh place with a 2-under 211 total.

   In early October, Saint Joseph’s finished in 14^th place in a tough 16-team field with a 44-over 908 total in the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington in western Pennsylvania. Henry led the way for the Hawks, finishing in a tie for 35^th place with an 8-over 224 total.

   In September, St. Joe’s finished in a tie for third place with an 11-over 863 total in The Goat at the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Club in Annapolis, Md. Moelter led the way for the Hawks as he finished in a tie for sixth place in the individual standings with an even-par 213 total.

   Saint Joseph’s had opened its season by finishing in second place with a 1-under 863 total in the Alex Lagowitz Memorial over the Labor Day weekend Seven Oaks Golf Club in Hamilton, N.Y.

   Moelter, the most consistent Hawk throughout the fall season, finished in a tie for 11^th place with a 2-under 214 total.

   It was a nice college debut at the Alex Lagowitz for freshman Lannon Boyd, a two-time co-medalist in the Central League Championship during an outstanding scholastic career at Radnor. Boyd finished in a tie for 14^th place with a 1-under 215 total.

   Got a glimpse into the future at Saint Joseph’s when I was at the Bert Linton Championship the same day as the Big 5 Invitational as Malvern Prep senior Colby Komancheck, the Inter-Ac League’s best player during its regular season, matched par at RiverCrest, his home course, with a 71 to finish in second place. Komancheck is a good get for the Hawks.

   Rounding out the Temple lineup were the Vital twins, Matt Vital, who finished in the group tied for 25^th place with an 80 and Michael Vital, who finished in the group tied for 31^st place with an 83. The two seniors were scholastic standouts at Bethlehem’s Liberty High.

   I had posted on Temple’s season-opening victory in its John MacDonald Temple Invitational at The 1912 Club.

   From there, the Owls went on to finish in ninth place in the 14-team field at the Ironwood Collegiate Classic with an 8-over 872 total at the Ironwood Golf & Country Club in Greenville, S.C.

   Tome led the way for Temple, closing with a sparkling 5-under 67 to finish in a tie for fifth place with a 5-under 211 total.

   Temple was last of 17 teams in the Phoenix Invitational hosted by Elon with a 31-over 883 total at the Alamance Country Club in Elon, N.C. in mid-October.

   Pisarski led the way for the Owls as he finished in a tie for 26^th place with a 3-under 210 total.

   Temple entered the Big 5 Invitational off a solid runnerup finish in the Lehigh Invitational, which wrapped up two days before the Owls took on Stonewall at another challenging golf course, the Grace Course at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem.

   Temple closed with a solid 2-over 290 in the two-day Lehigh Invitational for a 17-over 593 total.

   Robertson finished in third place in the individual standings with a 1-over 145 total with Tome finishing a shot behind Robertson in fourth with a 2-over 146 total.

   La Salle had its pick for its final counter at Stonewall as both Sam Parker, a freshman from Hickory, N.C., and Gavin Dosch, a senior from Draper, Utah, finished in the group tied for 17^th place, each registering an 8-over 78.

   Kyle Virsik, a sophomore from Melbourne, Fla., rounded out the lineup for the Explorers in the Big 5 Invitational as he finished alone in 29^th place with an 81.

   I had run into La Salle in my posts on the John MacDonald Temple Invitational and on the Matthew’s Auto Collegiate, where Dosch became the Explorers’ first individual champion since 2021.

   Dosch also led the way for La Salle in the Bucknell Invitational as he finished in a tie for 28^th place with a 1-over 141 total at the Bucknell Golf Club in Lewisburg.

   La Salle finished in seventh place in the 18-team field at Bucknell with a 1-over 561 total.

   La Salle joined Saint Joseph’s in the field for the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate at Kilmarlic and Dosch again led the way for the Explorers as he finished in a tie for 18^th place with a 2-over 215 total.

   La Salle finished in 13^th place in the 15-team field with a 28-over 880 total.

   Backing up Besaw and Rohde for Villanova in the Big 5 Invitational was Vibhav Alokam, a junior from Ypsilanti, Mich. who joined the large group tied for 17^th place with an 8-over 78.

   A.J. Colonna, a freshman from Jupiter, Fla., had the final counter for the Wildcats as he finished among the trio tied for 22^nd place with a 9-over 79.

   Rounding out the Villanova lineup were Peter Barros, a senior from Bethesda, Md. who finished in a tie for 34^th place with an 86, and Luke Leonard, a sophomore from Jupiter, Fla. who finished in 36^th place with an 88.

   The Big 5 Invitational capped a busy fall for Villanova as it was the sixth time the Wildcats had teed it up since Labor Day and it was a solid stretch for Alokam.

   A week before the Big 5 Invitational, Villanova teed it up in the Blue Hen Invitational, which was played at Wyncote Golf Course, the neat links near Oxford in southern Chester County, and finished in fourth place in the 14-team field with a 17-over 881 total.

   Earlier in October, Villanova finished in third place out of 11 teams in the SHU Fall Classic, hosted by Sacred Heart, with a 28-over 892 total at the Great River Golf Club in New Haven, Conn.

   Alokam led the way as he finished in a tie for fifth place with a 4-over 220 total.

   Villanova began its two-tournament swing in Connecticut in late September as the Wildcats finished in 12^th place out of 14 teams in the UConn Invitational with a 40-over 616 total at the GreatHorse Golf Course in Hampden, Conn.

   Alokam led the way for Villanova as he finished in a tie for ninth place with a 3-over 147 total.

   Villanova joined Saint Joseph’s in the field for The Goat at the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Club in Annapolis, Md. earlier in September and finished in a tie for ninth place in the 15-team field with a 36-over 888 total.

   Alokam started his streak of four straight tournaments in which he was Villanova’s leading man at The Goat as he finished in 16^th place with a 4-over 217 total.

   Villanova also joined St. Joe’s in the season opener for the Wildcats in the Alex Lagowitz Memorial over the Labor Day weekend and finished in seventh place in the 14-team field with a 10-over 874 total at Seven Oaks Golf Club in Hamilton, N.Y.

   Rohde, making his college debut, led the way for Villanova at Seven Oaks as he finished in a tie for third place with a 4-under 212 total.

   Backing up the two freshmen, Crawford and Kleinschmidt, for Drexel was junior John Stevenson, a scholastic standout at La Salle who dominated the GAP junior scene in the summers of 2023 and 2024.

   Stevenson finished among the group tied for 17^th place with an 8-over 78.

   The final counter for the Dragons was senior John Keba, who starred scholastically at Allentown Central Catholic, as he finished among the trio tied for 22^nd place with a 79.

   Freshman Caleb Walsh, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Southern Lehigh in 2024, ended up in the group tied for 25^th place for Drexel with an 80.

   Rounding out the Drexel lineup was junior Nathan Guertler, a scholastic standout at Haddon Heights, as he finished in 33^rd place with an 84.

   Drexel might have been a little jet-lagged at Stonewall as the Dragons had wrapped up a tie for sixth place in the Monterrey Collegiate Classic at Club Campestre Monterrey Sierra-Silla in Monterrey, Mexico two days earlier with a 23-over 887 total.

   Crawford led the way for Drexel in Mexico as he finished in a tied for 17^th place with a 4-over 220 total.

   Drexel had joined Saint Joseph’s in the field for the Nemacolin Collegiate Invitational at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in western Pennsylvania in early October, the Dragons finishing in eighth place with a 27-over 891 total.

   Keba led the way for Drexel at Nemacolin as he finished in a tie for 14^th place with a 2-over 218 total.

   Backing up Caprihan for Penn was Ryan Chang, a junior from Brookline, Mass. who finished in the group tied for 17^th place with an 8-over 78.

   It was a decent showing for Penn freshman Sean Curran, who dominated the Inter-Ac League as a junior at The Haverford School in the fall of 2024 and captured the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship in the summer of 2025, as he finished among the trio tied for 22^nd place with a 79.

   The final counter for the Quakers came from Max Fonseca, a senior from Miami, Fla. who finished in the group tied for 25^th place with an 80.

   Wesley Hu, a junior from Suwanee, Ga., finished alone in 30^th place with an 82. Rounding out the lineup for the Quakers was Oliver Uribe, a freshman from Scottsdale, Ariz. who finished in a tie for 31^st place with an 83.

   Penn’s previous stop on its fall schedule was Scotland and the St. Andrews Links Collegiate.

   There were two rounds of stroke play for the four teams at the Jubilee Course in Fife, Scotland and it looks like Penn got the full force of some brutal Scottish weather in a second-round 344 that left the Quakers in fourth place with a 66-over 642 total.

   Caprihan led the way for Penn, finishing in ninth place with a 7-over 149 total.

   Penn took on the Big Ten’s Washington in a match the following day at the Old Course at St. Andrews and dropped a 5-1 decision to finish in fourth place.

   But the experience was undoubtedly priceless. The Penn guys, like the Penn women, took a team picture at the iconic Swilcan Bridge on the 18^th hole at the Old Course, a picture that now graces the top of the roster page on the Penn men’s golf team’s website.

   Penn only got in one round in the Macdonald Cup the weekend that a nor’easter battered the East Coast in September.

   The Quakers finished in ninth place in the 11-team field with a 27-over 307 total over the Yale Golf Course in an event named for C.B. Macdonald, the famed architect who designed the course along with his protégé Seth Raynor.

   Chang led the way for Penn in the Macdonald Cup as he finished in a tie for sixth place with a 2-over 72.

   Penn had opened its fall campaign in the Alex Lagowitz Memorial over the Labor Day weekend along with Saint Joseph’s and Villanova.

   The Quakers finished in sixth place in the Alex Lagowitz with a 9-over 873 total over the Seven Oaks Golf Club layout in Hamilton, N.Y.

   Leading the way for Penn in the Alex Lagowitz was Kayden Wang, a sophomore from San Diego, Calif. who finished in a tie for fifth place with a 3-under 213 total.