Central Catholic grad Neal Shipley rallies to claim Pennsylvania Amateur
Central Catholic 2019 grad and future Ohio State player Neal Shipley shot a 3-under-par 67 during the final round to win the 109th Pennsylvania Golf Association Amateur Championship on Wednesday at Llanerch Country Club in Philadelphia.
It was the second huge win this season for the St. Clair Country Club member. Last month, he won the 119th West Penn Open. He finished the three-day event at 2-under 208.
Shipley let the field know early that he wanted the title by making birdie on three of the first four holes and five of the first eight. He shot a 5-under 30 on the front nine.
But the tournament wasn’t decided until the final hole.
Second-round co-leader Rij Patel of York and Shipley were tied. With Shipley already in, all Patel needed was a par to tie and birdie to win. But Patel ran into trouble and recorded a double-bogey six, giving Shipley the title.
Patel ended up tied for second with the other second-round co-leader, Nathan Piatt of Oakmont, at even-par 210.
Amani Dambrosio of Wildwood Golf Club tied for fourth at 1-over, and Aidan Oehrle of Oakmont and Brett Young of Nemacolin Country Club tied for seventh at 3-over.
Shipley transferred from James Madison.
Wildwood Golf Club member Justin Griffith and Wexford’s Rick Stimmel tied for 13th at 5-over. Sewickley’s Chris Tanabe tied for 22nd at 7-over. Longue Vue’s Kevin Koerbel tied for 27th at 9-over.
Chartiers Country Club member Steven Veydt finished 37th at 11-over, and Latrobe’s Brady Pevarnik tied for 39th at 14-over.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
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