Chester County golfers earn medals at PIAA state tourney

In a thrilling, down-to-the-wire finish, West Chester East sophomore Victoria Kim got into a three-way playoff for the PIAA Class AAA Girls Golf Championship title Tuesday at Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York.
Kim rolled in a tough sidehill 18-foot birdie putt with a big left-to-right break on her 17th hole of regulation play, then took Wissahickon freshman Elizabeth Beek three holes into the sudden-death playoff before finishing in second place.
Youth was served in the PIAA Class AAA Girls Golf Championship – the sudden-death playoff included two freshmen (Beek and Lower Merion’s Sydney Yermish) and a sophomore (Kim), and Unionville freshman Mary Dunigan finished fifth.
Kim, Beek and Yermish finished the two rounds of regulation play at 146, two over par.
“It was mind-boggling – of the last four girls to tee off today, three [Beek, Yermish and Dunigan] were 14 years old, the other [Kim] was 15, and they all displayed nerves of steel Tuesday,” said West Chester East golf coach Todd Lorback. “It was a shame there had to be a second- and third-place finisher. Elizabeth is an amazing player, but I am so proud of the way Victoria played – she is an exemplary representative of West Chester East.”
Once Kim was in the playoff with Yermish and Beek, the trio headed for the 18th hole, the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. All three of them birdied No. 18. Then the rain began to get heavier, but that didn’t stop Kim and Beek from parring the second playoff hole, No. 10, which Yermish bogeyed to fall out of the playoff.
On the third playoff hole, No. 18, Kim tried a go-for-broke approach shot with a hybrid but landed in the water just short of the green, and lost the hole to Beek. Her chip shot to the green missed the cup by only a couple of inches.
Kim said, “Overall, my putter wasn’t working today like it was Monday – I had some makeable birdie putts that lipped out.”
“Victoria was not putting as well as she would have liked, but when she needed to make a birdie [on her 17th hole] she sunk her most important one-putt of the postseason,” said Lorback. “I lack the words to describe how impressive the level of play was among these girls today when the pressure was on and the stakes were high.”
Dunigan finished in fifth place, with a 75-78-153.
“Mary Grace had a great [individual] tourney,” said Unionville boys golf coach Jimmy O’Rourke. “The Unionville girls team is ready for the team competition Wednesday – it should be another great day of golf.”
Downingtown East sophomore Ava O’Sullivan tied for 14th place in the PIAA Girls AAA tourney, shooting 82-84 for a total of 166.
In the PIAA Class AA Boys’ Golf Championship, Devon Prep junior Ryan McCabe shot 73-75-148 to finish tied for third place, four strokes behind first-place finisher Skyler Fox of Riverside (72-72). McCabe, who earned a state medal for his efforts, carded five birdies Monday and his Tuesday round included an eagle and two birdies. He started his round on hole No. 13 (it was a shotgun start due to impending rain), and after taking an 8 on No. 17, bounced back nicely, carding birdies on Nos. 1 and 2, and an eagle on No. 7.
“Ryan played really solid golf over the past two days,” said Devon Prep golf head coach Joe Suarez. “In typical Ryan fashion he turned his attention to his teammates and joined them out on the course for the practice round before we compete [Wednesday] for the team championship. Ryan is the ultimate team player and leader of our team.”
McCabe eagled the par 5 seventh hole with a drive, 5-iron and a 40-foot putt from the fringe of the green. On the following hole, the par 3 eighth hole, he hit his tee shot to the left of the cart path, then hit a nice lob wedge to within six feet of the hole, and made the par putt.
McCabe, who placed second in last year’s PIAA Class AA Boys tournament, said of his third-place finish, “It didn’t end up the way I [really] wanted it to, but I was happy I came back the way that I did.”
Conestoga junior Morgan Lofland earned a medal at the PIAA Class AAA Boys’ Golf Championship Tuesday, finishing in ninth place with a total of 6-over-par 148, which was 14 strokes behind the first-place finisher, Central York senior Carson Bacha (67-67-134). Bacha’s winning score was a Heritage Hills PIAA record by five strokes over the previous best score. Only four players in the field were able to break par for the two-round tournament.
Lofland shot a 4-over-par 75 Monday, then followed it up with an improved 73 Tuesday at Heritage Hills.
“I really felt good at the medal presentation today, because after my round on Monday it didn‘t look likely that I would get a medal,” said Lofland, who finished 23rd at States as a freshman but did not compete in the state tourney last year. “I was driving the ball better today – I hit a lot of blocked shots Monday. My ball-striking was really good today, and I gave myself a lot of looks at birdies, but I wasn’t able to make a lot of putts today – the greens were [relatively] slow.”
Lofland started his Tuesday round with a couple of bogeys (he started his round on Hole No. 2), but rebounded nicely toward the end of his round with birdies on hole Nos. 16 and 17.
Conestoga golf coach John Jones said, “I’m extremely proud of Morgan for finishing his junior year as one of the top 10 golfers in the state. Morgan is a tough competitor and will always scratch and claw to the end. His ball striking was great during the tournament. While he struggled some with the putter, he ultimately rolled in some late birdies and earned himself a PIAA medal.”
Unionville’s Roy Anderson (76-80-156) finished in a tie with five golfers for 22nd place, including Harriton senior Andrew Wallace (80-76-156). and Radnor senior Jack Hamilton (80-76-156). Unionville’s Jack Cooley (80-80-160) tied for 28th place.
“It was a tough day for both [Unionville] boys,” said O’Rourke. “They each had some streaks of solid play and some holes that got them a bit. Big hearts in both of those warriors – just not quite their day today.
“[Weather] conditions weren’t bad since the final round was changed to a shotgun start to get it in before the rain – a very wise on the tourney administration’s part. The weather was a little chilly maybe, but the greens were soft and gettable.”
Harriton senior Andrew Wallace shot 80 in his opening round, then improved with a 76 Tuesday.
“Andrew was a little rusty Monday – his sister got married in New York City Saturday night,” said Harriton golf coach Brian Dobak. “His ball striking was okay Monday but he really felt it on the greens – he had 36 putts. Today, Andrew got his stroke back on the greens, he putted better; however he had five lip-outs, He had the stroke but the putts just weren’t falling. His 76 could have easily been even par or better. On both days Andrew got himself into some trouble off the tee; however, he is a good scrambler and managed to get himself out of trouble most of the time.”