Rhianna Gooneratne, a junior at Plymouth Whitemarsh, who won the Class 3A state golf championship by 5 strokes at Penn State last Tuesday, started playing golf when she was 8 years old. But in high school, she has been a three-sport athlete — until this year.
A year ago, she tied for 11th at the state golf tournament (after finishing 14th as a freshman). Most kids her age would find such accomplishments thrilling. Not her.
“I decided to focus just on golf,” Gooneratne said. “My goal all year was to come back and win states.”
Gooneratne played basketball and lacrosse at the varsity level. She was a leader on both teams. However, her passion for golf, and her remarkable talent, made her want to specialize.
“You could see after her sophomore year, she wasn’t satisfied with finishing 11th,” PW golf coach Jeff Kavanagh said. “She started spending a lot of time dedicating herself to golf, including outside of school. She put herself into some major tournaments over the summer, some big moments.
“She gained a lot of experience, and you can really see her improvement,” he said.
Among the pressure-cooker moments during the summer, Gooneratne qualified for nationals, which will be in Louisiana in November.
“I’m looking forward to that,” she said. “I’m really excited about it.”
On Penn State’s Blue Course last week, Gooneratne shot a scorching, 5-under 67 in a first round that included five consecutive birdies on the back nine. It put her up 5 strokes. She turned in a steady, 1-over 73 in Round 2 to preserve her advantage and secure the PIAA gold.
“I wanted to get ahead early, on the first day, to try to shoot low and see if I could get a big lead,” she said. “For the second round, I wasn’t trying to be too aggressive for pins but still trying to play as well as I could.”
Kavanagh emphasized the Gooneratne, despite her individual achievements, has always been a good teammate.
“Last year, we brought two kids to states, her and Evan Rosenstein,” he said. “She was more excited for him than she was for herself.”
A few colleges were already interested in Gooneratne before she won the state title, but more are sure to come calling now, even though she won’t graduate from Plymouth Whitemarsh until 2025.
“I’ve had some interest from some colleges around here, the University of Delaware is one,” she said. “I plan to stay in this area, most likely, and I want to get a good education.”
Gooneratne’s game has continued to grow, even in the last few months. She won the Suburban One League championship, and then finished third in District 1 before winning it all in Happy Valley.
“It just feels great to work hard and have it pay off,” she said.
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Email Christiaan DeFranco at cdefranco@thereporteronline.com. Follow him on X at @the_defranc, or go to ChrisDeFranco.com.
