Lugiano's back-nine hot streak gives him a Junior Tour win at Olde Homestead

   Bobby Lugiano of Shavertown heated up on the back nine on his way to claiming a victory in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at the Olde Homestead Golf Club in New Tripoli Saturday.

   Lugiano made two birdies and an eagle in a stretch between the 14^th and 16^th holes on his way to a 5-over-par 77 over the 6,054-yard, par-72 Olde Homestead layout that gave him a one-shot edge over William Mirams, a junior at Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg. Lugiano also had two birdies on the front nine.

   Mirams, who earned a share of second place in the PIAA Class AA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort last fall, finished alone in second at Olde Homstead with a 6-over 78.

   Ryan D’Ariano of West Chester and Thomas Butler of Telford shared third place, each carding an 82. Nathan Pierce of Limerick finished fifth with an 83, Jack Cooley of Chadds Ford was sixth with an 84 and Nathaniel Wheeler of Northampton was seventh with an 89.

   A scorecard playoff was needed to determine the winner of the 13-to-15 division and the victory went to Connor Gherghel of Orwigsburg after he finished in a tie for first with Jackson Debusschere of Wallingford, each posting an 8-over 80. Gherghel’s back nine score gave him the tiebreaker edge. Both Gherghel and Debusschere had a birdie in his round.

   James Vinson of Princeton Junction, N.J. and Stephen Butler of Telford shared third place, each carding an 87. Jacob Haberstumpf of Bethlehem finished alone in fifth with a 96.

   Grey Conta of Hummelstown and Dante Billoni of Lancaster shared sixth place, each posting a 103 and Lucien VanDerMiller of Langhorne finished eighth with a 121.

   Helen Shaw of Harleysville was the only entrant in the girls 16-to-18 division and claimed the win with her 116.

   Natasha Kiel of New Hope outdueled Kathleen Mark of Media to capture her first win of 2018 in the 13-to-15 division by a shot with an 88. Mark, a freshman at Episcopal Academy who was coming off a victory in Friday’s Junior Tour stop at Heritage Hills, carded an 89.

   John Keba of Emmaus had a pair of birdies on his way to a 3-over 39 on the front nine at Olde Homestead to top the field of nine-holers. Michael Maslanka of Taylor was two shots behind Keba in second with a 41. Maslanka lost out in a scorecard playoff in Friday’s Junior Tour stop at Heritage Hills, so he’s playing some solid golf.

   Jillian Burks of Paoli finished third with a 55 and Elora Walker of Philadelphia was fourth with a 57.