Salvitti survives crazy round to win AJGA Southpointe Tournament
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Thursday, August 5, 2021 | 4:46 PM
Central Catholic’s Rocco Salvitti watches a tee shot during the 2019 PIAA West Region golf championship.
Rocco Salvitti’s final round at the American Junior Golf Association’s Southpointe Tournament on Thursday could only be simply described as crazy.
Despite beginning his round with a double bogey and ending with a bogey, Salvitti still found himself atop the leaderboard when the day ended.
Salvitti shot a 2-over-par 74 during the final round and finished the three-day event at Southpointe Golf Club near his hometown of Canonsburg with a one-shot victory. He ended at 4-over 220.
Ariihau Faana of Lake Mary, Fla., was second with a 5-over 221, while Breckin Taylor of Erie and Ryan Ford of Westfield, Ind., tied for third at 11-over 227. Second-round leader Quinlan Polin of Cary, N.C., ended up fifth at 12-over 228. He shot a 12-over 84 during his final round.
Salvitti had six birdies and six bogeys during his round. He finished with five pars, but only one through the first 11 holes.
His birdies came on Nos. 3, 6, 8, 11, 14 and 17.
The Central Catholic rising junior finished fourth in last year’s event, shooting an 11-over 227.
Seneca Valley’s Nolan Nicklas and Central Catholic’s Carter Pitcairn, Salvitti’s high school teammate, tied for 13th at 19-over. Among other local players, Penn-Trafford’s Chase Crissman and Fox Chapel’s Aidan Oehrle tied for 20th at 22-over, Upper St. Clair’s Scott Jordan placed 29th (241), Penn-Trafford’s Nick Turowski was 46th (263) and Fox Chapel’s Owen Delaney was 47th (268).
In girls tournament play, Cynthia Zhang of Milpitas, Calif., shot a 1-under-par 71 to finish 6-over 222 and take top honors. First- and second-round leader Chaemin Kim of Austin, Texas, shot an 8-over 80 and tied for second place with Maggie Ni of Cypress, Texas, at 8-over 224.
Fox Chapel’s Nina Busch finished 15th (240), Oakland Catholic’s Tara Loughran was 24th (254) and Sewickley’s Eva Bugler was 26th (257).
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.
Tags: Central Catholic, Fox Chapel, Oakland Catholic, Penn-Trafford, Sewickley Academy, Upper St. Clair
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