Bryn Krosse wasn’t old enough to play in the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Women’s Four-Ball Championship.
She was a year shy of the miniumum age.
But the 13-year-old received an exemption to play in the June 3 tournament at the Country Club of York based on her finish in last year’s Pa. Junior Girls Amateur.
She made the most of that exemption, firing off 10 birdies and eight pars on the vaunted Donald Ross course to break the women’s course record by three shots. It wasn’t just that she did it on what is arguably the most difficult course in York County. It’s that the Dallastown native took the record from the area’s golf royalty.
“They called me the next day to ask if I knew what the record was,” Connie Shorb said. “I told them there had been a 68 and 67 recorded in tournaments, but that I had a verified 66 I shot during a social round.”
If anyone shot a low round on the course, Shorb would know about it. She has the scrapbooks detailing rounds played during the lifetimes of three generations of her family. She has been the club’s women’s champion 46 times, starting at 18.
She even played in the four-ball (commonly known as better-ball) event won by Krosse and playing partner Rhianna Gooneratne, a PIAA Class 3A champion who will be playing at the University of Delaware. After shooting 3 under on the first day, the pair fired an 11-under 62 on the second day to win by 15 shots. The pair only had to use Gooneratne’s score on one hole.
“My putting was just so good,” Krosse said of the round. “I stood over the ball with so much confidence. CCY is so hard.”
Krosse plays out of Regents Glen Country Club, which works its way up the same hill CCY sits atop. She plays there four or five times a year with York Suburban rising junior Vivienne Powers.
“This 63 is the real deal,” Shorb said. “She hits the ball so far. She’s probably very close to hitting the par-5s in two. I’ve seen her hit shots, and she’s phenomenal.”
Golf runs in the Krosse family
Krosse got her first set of clubs when she was 7, but didn’t really starting playing until she was 8.
By that time older brother Lane was in Dallastown High School and brother Reed was a year behind.
Lane finished first, second and third in District 3 Class 3A tournaments and placed as high as 10th in the state tournament. He committed to play golf at Jacksonville State.
Reed finished seventh and eighth in district tournaments and placed tied for 16th in last season’s state tournament.
Bryn Krosse wanted to play on the high school team this coming season, but as an eighth grader, she doesn’t qualify.
“We petitioned the PIAA to let her play this season, but they said no,” Bryn’s father, Brett said. “It’s a shame because she wants to play with her friends and compete. It’s not a contact sport, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”
Bryn, like her brothers, attends cyber school. She lives with her dad in Dallastown during the warmer months and spends winters with her mom in southeast Georgia. Just like her brothers did.
Unlike her brothers, she thinks she’ll only compete for the Wildcats as a freshman, if she competes at all.
No plans to turn pro
Once she reaches 14 years old, she’ll be able to qualify for elite national tournaments, which are played at the same time as the high school season. Competing in those tournaments, and doing well, will get her to her ultimate goal.
A golf scholarship to LSU.
She toured the school while playing in a nearby tournament and fell in love with the campus.
Like Shorb, Bryn Krosse has no plans to turn pro.
Shorb was Rollins College’s first golf All-American and won the Florida Intercollegiate Championship in 1969. She won the Pa. State Amateur title and was runner-up three times each. She was the Pa. Senior Amateur champ 10 times and the runner-up twice.
Shorb has played in 40 USGA championships and has an award named for her that is presented annually to the women’s senior amateur player of the year.
Bryn Krosse knows the significance of shooting the 63 at CCY. To put that score in perspective, 2003 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and former LPGA pro Virada Nirapathpongporn “only” had a 68 when she played a tournament there.
So, how do you celebrate winning a state tournament with a record-setting score when you’re 13?
You go down the hill to your home course and spend a couple of hours on the range.
Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email mstallsmith@ydr.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @ShelStallsmith.
