New coach set to lead Sewickley Academy boys golf team

By: Ray Fisher
Thursday, August 1, 2024 | 10:36 PM

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Sewickley Academy’s Severin Harmon is the reigning WPIAL Class 2A champion in boys tennis.

He’d like to add another prestigious title to his resume this fall, joining Sewickley grads Jason Li (2015), J.F. Aber (2019) and Tim Fitzgerald (2020) as WPIAL individual golf champions.

“Personally, my goal is to improve on my finishes in last year’s WPIAL and PIAA championships,” said Harmon, a senior in 2024-25. “I wasn’t playing my best golf around that time, and I know I only get one more shot at it. So that’s definitely what I’m working towards.”

Harmon has been tinkering with his game and playing golf as much as possible this summer on what he considers his “home” course, Sewickley Heights Country Club.

“I haven’t really been focusing on anything in terms of mechanics,” he said, “but I’ve definitely been trying to play smarter. For me, the key is just hitting as many greens as possible, which means less pin hunting and (having) more conservative targets into greens.”

Sewickley was led last year by Harmon and then-juniors Karan Kad and Nolan Donnelly, who served as co-captains. There were no seniors on the team which finished third in section play.

The early buzz around the program this season revolves around the fact the Panthers have a new coach, Chuck Scally, who has taken over for last year’s coach, Seamus Coons.

Scally is a PGA of America member and head instructor at Scally’s Golf Center in Moon Township. He has a strong background in the game of golf; his family has been deeply involved in the sport.

He has taught golf for more than 25 years and helped guide high school players to state and district titles.

Scally is married to Jill Finlan Scally, an LPGA golf teaching professional, and the couple has three children, Charlie, Maya and Max.

Scally will kick off his tenure at Sewickley with an abundance of talent, particularly with the likes of Harmon, Kad and Donnelly at the top of the lineup. Other starters expected back include senior Robert Fogle and juniors Niko Frazzini and Billy Pietragallo.

“I think our team is in a good spot heading into the year,” Harmon said. “We want to make it back to playoffs and hope to make a run at the WPIAL title. The team is motivated to improve on last year’s result.

“We should have a very similar team as last year. Obviously, we don’t know exactly who is on the team because tryouts haven’t begun yet, but I anticipate the starting lineup to remain unchanged.”

It appears Kad will miss the beginning of the season with an injury.

“My goal is to make states this year,” he said. “It would be an awesome opportunity to compete (at states) my senior year. I will be out for the first couple weeks dealing with an injury, so another goal is to come back stronger and better than ever.

“I’ve been putting in a lot of work with my short game and putter. I think that’s the most important part of golf, so I’ve been putting in those extra hours on the putting green.”

Along with golf, Kad plays tennis, baseball and table tennis.

“Sewickley Academy’s golf team has overcome so much with the passing of coach (Win) Palmer and having our interim coach, Seamus Coons, leave the academy,” he said. “This has really brought our core-six together. We consider ourselves family.

“My early expectations for the team are to work on building chemistry with our new coach, Chuck Scally, and get off to a hot start with some wins.”

Donnelly, who also competes in basketball at Sewickley, is aiming for a championship season for the Panthers in 2024.

“It’s the fourth and last year for Karan, Severin and myself,” Donnelly said. “We have been talking about ‘winning something’ together as leaders for a while now. With that being said, our team’s goals are straightforward: section title, WPIAL title, compete in states.

“With last season being a whirlwind of emotion for us, it made it difficult to stay focused. That was my personal worst season so far. As a team we came up way shorter than we wanted. Last season, strangely enough, raised our team’s expectations and didn’t lower them.”

Donnelly said he has been working this summer on “playing smart,” which he hopes will set him up for a banner season.

“It’s easy to cut strokes playing smart golf,” he said. “For example, playing an approach number to the green on every hole instead of just sending a ball out there and playing it where it lies. I’ve seen some improvement over the summer playing like this.

“My goal for this year is to be more consistent for my teammates. In the past, I have been jumpy with my rounds. I want to be able to shoot the same score — plus or minus two strokes — on any course we play. I also would like to finally make the WPIAL individual round championship. I have come up short all three years on the team. It would be nice to compete in it my senior year.”

The Panthers open up Aug. 12 in the Chairman’s Cup at Cedarbrook Golf Course.

“The team is very excited to have a new coach,” Donnelly said, “with coach Scally being a first-time high school coach. We are excited to learn together throughout the season.”

Sewickley ended up 9-6 overall last season. The Panthers started out with three wins in the Chairman’s Cup tournament, defeated Aquinas Academy twice and Shady Side Academy, Quaker Valley, Eden Christian and Bishop Canevin once.

The Panthers split decisions with their rival Quakers, winning 154-163 in early September at Sewickley Heights Golf Club and losing later in the month by a 200-211 score at Allegheny Country Club.

Harmon placed fifth in the section tournament held at Rolling Hills Golf Course and tied for ninth at the WPIAL finals at Butler Country Club, qualifying for the PIAA championships held at Penn State’s Blue Course.

Kad tied for seventh at sectionals and ended up 20th at the WPIAL championship.

Along with proficiency on the links, Harmon has been Sewickley’s top singles player in boys tennis throughout his high school career.

He defeated Aquinas Academy’s Jackson Gillespie, the No. 2 seed, in straight sets at last year’s WPIAL championship match at Glen Creek Tennis Club in South Park.

“I knew that this was what I wanted to accomplish and I’m really grateful I was able to get it done,” Harmon said. “It is really nice to be a part of that list of (Sewickley) champions.”

Harmon received the tournament’s top seed and with it a first-round bye, then ran the table at the two-day event.

“As soon as the last point ended, I just felt relieved,” he said of the title match. “It was such a physical match, and I was so glad that it went my way. It was incredibly rewarding.”

Tags: Sewickley Academy