Caskey cards 74; Chamberlain wins Div. I title with 75
By J.P. BUTLER
Special to the Star
BRAFORD, Pa. – Kai Caskey had played the week before at Elkdale Country Club.
But by his own admission, “I didn’t have a great day that day.”
At the initial stop of this year’s Penn-York Junior Golf League on June 30, the St. Marys, Pa., native came short of cracking the top 10 for his age group. But that only made his response in Week 2 even more impressive.
Caskey fired a 3-over-par score of 74 to claim his first divisional title on a scorching afternoon at The Pennhills Club on Monday. With that superb bounce-back effort, he not only won the boys Division II (ages 14-15) crown, but he also notched the low round for the day. In Division I (16-18), Kane’s Phinn Chamberlain carded a 5-over 75 to edge Louie Nedzinski (Bavarian Hills) for the top spot. This marked a rare occurrence in which the overall winner came from outside of the eldest boys’ age group.
“So, my brothers came down and told me that my score won the division above me, too, when I finished and told them that I shot a 74,” recalled Caskey, who won Division II by six shots over Liam McCardle – the runner-up finisher in each of the first two weeks. “So, that’s kind of how I found out.
“I thought it was really cool to have that happen after … I won an invite in Smethport last year against some of those kids, so it was really nice to repeat myself to show them that I CAN do that.”
THE SECOND leg of this 56th Penn-York season was played from the championship tees at Pennhills. Beyond that, temperatures were high and the greens were slick, all of which “made the scores a little higher than normal,” tournament director Kyle Henzel noted.
In total, only three golfers broke 80.
Despite those challenges, however, Monday still produced several fine performances.
A week after finishing tied-for-third and second, respectively, Chamberlain and Nedzinski went 1-2 to stake their place near the top of the Division I standings alongside Owen Wright, the Elkdale winner who placed fifth at Pennhills with an 82. McCardle, displaying consistency, posted his second-consecutive 80 to make it back-to-back second-place finishes. And in Division III (12-13), Kayd Caskey, Kai’s brother, won for the second-straight week, notching a 40 over nine holes and beating Carter Crabtree by four strokes.
The finest performance, however, belonged to Kai Caskey, the St. Marys Area High School student who only recently turned 15.
Phinn Chamberlain (left), of Kane, posted a 5-over-par round of 75 to win the boys Division I (16-18) championship at Monday’s Week 2 leg of the Penn-York Junior Golf League at The Pennhills Club in Bradford. Louie Nedzinski (Bavarian Hills) carded a 79 to finish in second place for the second-straight week. | Photo provided
Caskey’s round was fueled by a couple of “300-plus-yard drives,” he said. On hole 18, he made a birdie due in large part to driving the green. For the day, he finished with two birdies, nine pars and six bogeys. Aside from hitting it well off the tee, he credited his Week 2 outing to course familiarity and a growing belief in himself.
“It was great,” Caskey said of climbing from outside the top 10 to the No. 1 spot. “I’ve played (Pennhills) a lot due to playing at school; I played it four times last year – once at Penn-York and three times for school – and the course was playing really nice today.
“I just have been getting into a little bit of a groove recently before this. And it’s all about confidence, really; it’s what’s between your ears that affects your golf game.”
ELSEWHERE, Keegan Smith unseated last week’s winner, Kaysen Beaver, to capture the boys Division IV (11-and-under) title, recording a 36 over nine (modified) holes to Beaver’s 38 (Beaver and Bartlett’s Gavin Blocher, who took third Monday, broke 40 for the second-consecutive week, with the latter carding a 39).
In girls Division I (14-18), Elise Kartesz won for the second time in as many weeks with a 52. Bartlett’s Molly Leslie did the same in Division III (12-13) by posting a 58. Back in boys Division I, M. Muccio (Bavarian Hills) and J. Morrison (Cardinal Hills) each shot 81 to tie for third place.
Eighty-four of 101 registered golfers participated on Monday at Pennhills, Henzel said. Penn-York will resume with next Monday’s Week 3 stop at Wellsville Country Club. Kai Caskey is hoping that his 4-over-par performance in Bradford can kickstart a strong finish over the circuit’s final three legs, perhaps to where he might still be able to compete for a divisional points title.
“I sure hope so,” said Caskey, who calls Bavarian Hills home, “but that first week will be tough to recover from points-wise, not scoring a single point. But I think I can do it.”
Following are the top 10 finishers in each age group from Pennhills:
BOYS
DIVISION I (16-18)
1. P. Chamberlain (Kane) 75 10
2. L. Nedzinski (Bav. Hills) 79 9
3. M. Muccio (Bav. Hills) 81 7.5
3. J. Morrison (C. Hills) 81 7.5
5. O. Wright (C. Hills) 82 6
6. L. Kiel (Kane) 83 5
7. E. Wright (Pennhills) 84 3
7. C. Obenrader (H. Station) 84 3
7. C. Riekofsky (Smethport) 84 3
10. J. Walter (B. Hills) 85 1
DIVISION II (14-15)
1. Kai Caskey (B. Hills) 74 10
2. L. McArdle (Caledonia) 80 9
3. F. Kaye (Wellsville) 83 8
4. J. Bell (Pine Acres) 93 7
5. C. Kahm (Moonbrook) 94 5
5. E. Sarvaiya (South Hills) 94 5
5. S. Lundeen (Kane) 94 5
8. C. Backus (Caledonia) 96 1.5
9. K. Riekofsky (Smethport) 96 1.5
10. D. Preston (Caledonia) 97 1
DIVISION III (12-13)
(9 holes)
1. Kayd Caskey (Bav. Hills) 40 10
2. C. Crabtree (Chautauqua) 44 9
3. Kalon Caskey (B. Hills) 45 8
4. C. Lundgren (Pennhills) 47 7
5. L. Vecchio (Bartlett) 48 6
6. K. McArdle (Caledonia) 50 5
7. A. Wade (Elkdale) 51 4
8. C. Jackson (Bartlett) 60 3
9. A. Kuhn (Pine Acres) 61 1.5
9. A. Rupp (Rolling Hills) 61 1.5
DIVISION IV (11-and-under)
(9 holes, modified)
1. K. Smith (B. Hills) 36 10
2. K. Beaver (C. Hills) 38 9
3. G. Blocher (Bartlett) 39 8
4. A. Wade (Elkdale) 40 7
5. H. Honeck (St. Bona) 43 6
6. C. Giles (Chautauqua) 46 5
7. G. Beaver (Cardinal Hills) 47 4
8. S. Smith (Bartlett) 48 2.5
8. D. DeLong (St. Bona) 48 2.5
10. C. Beaver (C. Hills) 53 1
GIRLS
DIVISION I (14-18)
(9 holes)
1. E. Kartesz (South Hills) 52 10
2. A. Ricker (Cardinal Hills) 70 9
3. B. Johnsen (Bartlett) 82 8
DIVISION III (12-13)
(9 holes)
1. M. Leslie (Bartlett) 58 10
2. A. Sikora (Orchard Park) 71 9
