Jack Hamilton of West Chester saved his best for last.
The Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour staged its final
event of 2017 on a chilly Saturday that eventually turned rainy as well at The
Bucks Club in Jamison.
But it didn’t seem to bother Hamilton, who had three birdies
in a brilliant 2-under 32 on the back nine of the 6,210-yard, par-70 Bucks Club
layout that enabled him to card a 2-over 72 and capture top honors in the
16-to-18 division.
The Junior Tour is actually in the middle of its wraparound
2017-’18 season, but the youngsters will have to take a break, or at least head
for the simulators for a little while. The next time they tee it up in a Junior
Tour event sometime next March, it will probably still be pretty chilly, but these kids know how to
deal with tough conditions. The Graham Company is the title sponsor of the
Junior Tour.
Hamilton proved it again Saturday. He finished five shots
clear of Dylan Gooneratne, a District One Class AAA qualifier for
Plymouth-Whitemarsh this fall, and Cole Shew of West Chester, both of whom
finished tied for second, each carding a 77.
Stephen Lorenzo of Upper Gwynedd finished fourth with an 80,
Andrew Benner of Hellertown was fifth with an 82, Nicholas Hano of Warrington
was sixth with an 83 and Jack Herbine of Doylestown was seventh with an 85.
Colin Hoy of Harleysville finished eighth with a 92, Mason
Asadoorian of Richboro was ninth with a 94, Will Hage of Phoenixville was 10th
with a 96 and Brady Ross of Feasterville was 11th with a 112.
Jake Maddaloni of Newtown Square was just as good as
Hamilton in capturing top honors in the 13-to-15 division with a 2-over 72.
Maddaloni also had three birdies, one on the outgoing nine and two on the
inward nine. Kevin Motil of Sewell, N.J. was the runnerup with a 6-over 76 that
included a birdie at the 15th.
Travis Dix of Howell, N.J. took third with an 81 that
included two birdies. Ethan Finkelstein of Yardley finished fourth with an 82,
Jun Lee of York was fifth with an 84, Dylan Keopraseut of Emmaus was sixth with
an 85 and Stephen Cain of Yardley was seventh with an 86.
Rounding out the top 10 were three players tied for eighth
at 88, including Christopher Myers of Yardley, Jack Romeo of Ambler and Luke
Corcoran of Lansdale.
Olivia Schwandt of Wilmington, Del. finished atop the girls
16-to-18 division with an 82. It was Schwandt’s second Junior Tour victory this
fall. Isabella McCloskey of Princeton Junction, N.J. was the runnerup with an
87.
The 13-to-15 division has produced some outstanding golf
this fall and it took a 78 by Grace Lu of Edison, N.J. to edge Katherine Lu of
Plainsboro, N.J. by a shot for the victory. It was Grace Lu’s first Junior Tour
victory.
Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel, N.J. and Sydney Yermish
of Wynnewood, both of whose games have
taken great strides in 2017, finished third and fourth with respective scores
of 81 and 84.
Chaela Barnett of Churchville finished fifth with an 87,
Megan Adelman of Bryn Mawr was sixth with an 88 and Claire Lu of Edison, N.J.
and likely the sister of the division winner, was seventh with an 89.
Nicholas Gross of Downingtown fired a 2-over 38 to edge
Michael Maslanka of Taylor by a shot for top honors among the nine-holers.
Gross will represent the Philadelphia Section PGA in the Drive, Chip and Putt
National Finals, an event that has quickly established itself as the official
start of Masters week, coming on the Sunday before the first professional major
championship of the year at Augusta National Golf Club.
Daniel Shin of Horsham finished third with a 46, Hank
Kancher of Philadelphia was fourth with a 52, Aaron Combs of Basking Ridge,
N.J. was fifth with a 61 and Vanessa Newett of Gilbertsville was sixth with an
85.
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