PW’s Dylan Gooneratne captured the title at Wednesday’s SOL Boys’ Golf Championships. Ben Reese recaps the action. Photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography and Larry Small. CLICK HERE for the golf galleries.
By Ben Reese
WARMINSTER -- With the medalist and the second-place finisher from last year's Suburban One League golf championships gone, it was obvious that there would be new and different names at the top of the boys’ leaderboard.
And there were, with one exception.
In 2018, Central Bucks East's Patrick Sheehan and Luca Jezzeny of CB West topped the chart at Five Ponds Golf Club in Warminster. But both graduated.
The medalist for 2019 was indeed a new name. He is Dylan Gooneratne of Plymouth Whitemarsh, who shot an even-par 71 to lead the second-place finisher by three strokes and the players in third by four shots.
Second went to CB West's Kevin Lydon. The sophomore shot a 74.
The third-place finisher had a familiar name. It was junior Milo Jezzeny, the brother of 2018's runner-up, who shot a 75 along with West teammate Nick Hano, Souderton's Stephen Butler and Wissahickon's Jackson Tappen.
Gooneratne was pleased with his round, as he certainly should be. After all, it was what many are calling the hottest October day on record and there was a stiff breeze.
"It was a good round," he said. "I was able to put myself into position off the tee and the pins weren't too difficult.
"I came in and prepared a lot and was able to score. My teammates supported me a lot today. That's how I was able to do it."
What carried you through what must have been a difficult day to play golf?
"Today I hit some good iron shots," Gooneratne said. "My approach shots were pretty spot on.
"I was able to keep myself on the green and get two-putt pars for the most part. (The greens) look very flat but they're not.
"They're really bouncy. You can't hold a lot of greens so you have to hit a lot of shots short and run them up. I was able to do that a couple times today which really helped me out."
Lydon is only a sophomore but he worked his way around the course like he had been playing at Five Ponds for years. His putting especially helped him score.
"My wedge game and my putting (were working well)," Lydon said. "I made two 60-foot putts for bogey."
When told that that statistic was particularly impressive. He smiled and said, "I'm pretty good (at putting) but not that good."
Lydon appeared to be comfortable on the course. And he said he felt that way.
"I was hoping to come in (well)," he said. "I'm playing pretty good now. I played good yesterday (in a practice round). My swing felt good. I was hoping for a low number."
Jezzeny knows that comparisons with his brother are inevitable. But it doesn't seem to bother him.
"I think he was always one step ahead of me," he said of Luca. "I was just looking to keep pace with him."
According to Milo, there was never any competition between them. But there might be now.
"(I want) to try to make it to states," Milo said. "(And) do better than him there."
His play on Wednesday at Five Ponds was a good start toward that goal. While finishing 4-over, he had only one big slip, on the ninth hole.
"I was 120, middle of the fairway (on No, 9)," he explained. "Chunked a gap wedge; chunked my third shot into the bunker; three-putted for a triple (bogey 7)."
That might have sunk his round right there. But it didn't as he rallied on 10 for a birdie.
"I had about 20 yards, maybe 40 yards, into the green (after his tee shot on the 385-yard par-4)," he said. I hit a wedge to about four feet, made the birdie putt."
However, that comeback didn't carry through to the end of Jezzeny's round. He said he fell off at the end.
"(After the birdie on 10), I started hitting the ball well until hole 15 when it started going downhill again. I had a few bad holes at the end, but overall, it was a pretty good day.
"The first few holes I was just scrambling from crazy places and two-putting for par. Then I had a few bad drives to close it off."
The three were among the 37 players who advance to the District One tournament on Monday, October 7, and Tuesday, October 8, at Turtle Creek in Limerick.
There was a playoff for the final five spots with six players tied at 83. Qualifying were Abington's Samuel Giordano, CB South's Jack Neumann and Jake Waskowitz, James O'Malley of Souderton and Stephen Skiba of William Tennent. Eliminated was Carter Gates of Abington.
Gooneratne is looking forward to improving his play at districts. It hasn't been an easy trip.
"I've gotten to the first round of districts but haven't made it past that," he said. "Hopefully, I'll be able to get past that this year and we'll see how it goes.
"I know I just have to go out there and play my game. Hopefully, it will all go as I hope."
He also led his Plymouth Whitemarsh team into the team competition. The Colonials qualified as the wild card team for districts.
Following Gooneratne's 71 in the scoring were Jesse Stern (82), Evan Rosenstein (84) and Cade Missimer (86). The team total was 323.
SOL Qualifiers for District One
Dylan Gooneratne (PW) 71
Kevin Lydon (CBW) 74
Milo Jezzeny (CBW) 75
Jackson Tappen (W) 75
Stephen Butler (S) 75
Nick Hano (CBW) 75
Noah Sim (HH) 76
Christian Lee (W) 76
Tyler Leyden (Ab) 77
Christian Matt (W) 77
Samuel Barsh (W) 78
John Lee (CBW) 78
Charlie Molzahn (WT) 78
Nick Taylor (CRN) 78
Jack Dunsmore (CBE) 79
Ryan Firman (Sp) 79
Blake Stewart (P) 79
Ethan Finkelstein (Pb) 80
Adi Gaba (Pb) 80
Jack Marvin (HH) 80
Chris Myers (Pb) 80
Ryan Reardon (Pb) 80
Ryan Zakrzewski (CBS) 80
Dominic Della Penna (NP) 81
Will Locovere (CBS) 81
Brendan Bauer (P) 82
Josh Cicco (Pb) 82
Evan Erman (CRN) 82
Will Gerrity (Pb) 82
Jesse Stern (PW) 82
Zachary Conklin (CBS) 82
Dylan Blastein (CRN) 82
Samuel Giordano (Ab) 83
Jack Neumann (CBS) 83
James O'Malley (S) 83
Stephen Skiba (WT) 83
Jake Waskowitz (CBS) 83
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