Petracci needs scorecard playoff to get the edge on Murray at The Shore Club

   The Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour headed for the Shore Wednesday and a stop at The Shore Club, formerly known as Wildwood Golf & Country Club, in Cape May Court House, N.J.

   Noah Petracci of Atco, N.J. captured top honors in the 16-to-18 division in a scorecard playoff with Colton Murray of Sewell, N.J. after each player carded a 7-over-par 79 over the 6,319-yard, par-72 Shore Club layout.

   Nathan Potts of Wilmington, Del. took third with an 81.

   Jack Davis of Newtown Square was the third boy to register a 79 at The Shore Club, which gave him a one-shot edge on James Dalzell of Linwood, N.J. for a victory in the 13-to-15 division. Dalzell carded a solid 80.

   Jack Fialko of Berwyn, who will by vying for some varsity appearances on Gary Duda’s Malvern Prep golf team this fall, finished third with an 82.

   Callie Jean Burns of Wynnewood was the only player to tee it up in the girls 16-to-18 division and posted a 95.

   Abigail Lynn of Furlong carded a 90 to take top honors in the girls 13-to-15 division. Olivia Strigh of Hammonton, N.J. was the runnerup with a 92 and Isabella Freund of Ocean View, N.J. took third with a 119.

   It took another match of cards to determine the winner among the nine-holers with Hank Kancher of Philadelphia getting the decision over Rajan Khanna of Bryn Mawr after each posted a 12-over 48. Savannah Thompson of Seaville, N.J. finished third with a 56.

   The winner among the nine-holers a year ago at what was then still Wildwood Golf & Country Club was Wynnewood’s Sydney Yermish with a 43. After being in contention in the coed 12-and-under division quite a bit, it marked Yermish’s first Junior Tour win.

   Monday, the 12-year-old Yermish has a 12:37 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (3:37 p.m. our time) starting time in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the Poppy Hills Golf Course on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula.

   Now, I’m not saying that all the kids playing with the nine-holers on the Junior Tour this summer are going to be playing in USGA championships a year later. But with some dedication, determination and a lot of hard work, Yermish proves it is possible.

   I’ll have more on Yermish’s journey when I wrap up her first round of qualifying for match play at Poppy Hills Monday. And, I expect, the blog will be following her progress for years to come.