The Pennsylvania Open,
the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship, the U.S. Amateur, the Golf
Association of Philadelphia’s Caddie Tournament … whoa, there’s a lot going on
this week. It’s a bad week for me to be filling in for the weekday overnight
guy at the U.S. Traffic Network. First things first, though, and that
would be …
Like the PGA Tour, the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour
started last fall and it culminated Monday with the Junior Tour Championship at
Commonwealth National Golf Club.
And many of the names whose exploits I have faithfully
chronicled were at their best. I would advise all of them to take a minute and
look back at the scores they were posting at this time last year. Yes, you’re
all better players now than you were then, which makes everybody a winner.
The 16-to-18 division and overall 13-to-18 competition came
down to a playoff between Austin Barbin of Elkton, Md. and Caleb Ryan of Norristown
after they each carded a 2-under-par 69 over the 6,288-yard, par-71
Commonwealth National layout.
Barbin, whose four birdies all came on a blazing front nine,
got one more birdie on the first hole of the playoff to win the division and
the overall title. Ryan, a PIAA qualifier as a sophomore last fall at
Norristown, had five birdies.
Three other players – Haverford School junior David Hurly,
Alec Ryden of Moorestown, N.J. and William Mirams of Stroudsburg – all broke
par at 1-under 70 and had to settle for a tie for third.
Jack Habeeb of Scranton and Colin Walsh of Warminster
finished tied for sixth, each carding a 3-over 74. Christopher Colman of
Wenonah, N.J. finished alone in eighth with a 75.
Hayden Moffat of Hatboro and Akhil Giri of Moorestown, N.J.
shared ninth place at 76. And four more players finished tied for 11th
at 77, including Nikita Romanov of Wilmington, Del., Central Bucks East junior
Patrick Sheehan, Tyler Wassell of Lancaster and the older of the Barbin
brothers, Zachary.
Radnor sophomore Davis Flannery earned the top prize in the
13-to-15 division after prevailing in a scorecard playoff with Morgan Lofland
of Paoli and Dylan Gooneratne of Plymouth Meeting. They each carded a 2-over
73, finishing tied for sixth in the overall scoring, with Flannery’s 1-over
total over the last six holes giving him the tiebreaking edge.
Logan Paczewski of Dallas finished fourth with a 74, Patrick
Laushell of Morrisville was fifth with a 75 and Ryan McCabe of Media was sixth
with a 76. John Peters of Carlisle and Nicholas Hano of Warrington shared
seventh place at 77.
Rounding out the top 10 were three players tied for ninth at
78, including Stephen Lorenzo of Lower Gwynedd, Hunter King of Atglen and
Strath Haven sophomore Kevin Smith.
She’s only in seventh grade, but there’s no question who the
best girl on the Junior Tour circuit is. That
would be Wissahickon Middle School’s Elizabeth Beek. She fired a 2-over
73 to take top honors in the 13-to-15 division and in the overall competition.
Beek went even-par on the front nine at Commonwealth National.
Episcopal Academy’s Lauren Jones of Newtown Square was the
runnerup to Beek in the division and third overall with an 82. Morgan Sohosky
of Bloomsburg and Lily Yang of West Chester finished tied for third, each
posting an 84.
Michelle Cox of Allentown finished fifth with an 88 and
Molly Gregor of North Wales and Kathleen Mark of Media shared sixth place at
104.
Christina Carroll of Bear, Del. was the runnerup to Beek in
the overall scoring with an 81, which gave her the top spot in the 16-to-18
division. Savanna Haas of Pottstown and Grace Hickey of Downingtown shared
second place, each carding an 86.
Casey Oppenheimer of Conshohocken finished fourth with an
88, Jessica McClellan of Freeland was fifth with a 92, Georgia Naples of West
Chester was sixth with a 96 and Episcopal Academy’s Amanda Jones, the older of
the Jones girls, was seventh with a 102.
There was a playoff for the title among the nine-holers
between Nicholas Gross of Downingtown and Ethan Trinh of Plainsboro, N.J. after
each carded a 2-over 38. Gross birdied the second hole of the playoff to
capture the top spot in the division.
Henry Stone of Kennett Square and Nicholas Ciocca of Devon
finished tied for third at 39 and Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel, N.J. and
Benjamin Saggers of West Chester shared
fifth place at 40.
Matthew Lofland of Lumberton, N.J. and Krtistof Kopecky of
Garnet Valley finished tied for seventh, each posting a 41, and Megan Adelman of
Bryn Mawr and Nicholas Joyce of Quakertown rounded out the top 10 in a tie for
ninth at 43.
The Graham Company is the title sponsor of the Junior Tour
and its support is helping a whole lot of area youngsters enjoy a game many of
them will still be playing 50 years from now.
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