Mulrooney's 74 at Ballamor earns him a Junior Tour victory

   Alex Mulrooney, a sophomore at Concord High, fired a 2-over-par 74 to take top honors in the 16-to-18 division as the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour was at the Jersey Shore for a stop at Ballamor Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. Sunday.

   Mulrooney is coming off a summer during which he captured the Delaware Junior championship and earned a tie for sixth in a field of the region’s top pros and amateurs in the Philadelphia Open at St. Davids Golf Club.

   Strath Haven junior Kevin Smith tuned up for the District One Class AAA Championship, which tees off Monday at Turtle Creek Golf Club, by carding a 4-over 76 over the 6,313-yard, par-72 Ballamor layout. Michael Mitnick of Linwood, N.J. matched Smith’s 76 and won a scorecard playoff with Smith with a final-nine 39 to claim second place.

   Tyler Peters of Berlin, N.J. finished fourth with a 77 and James Dalzell, another Linwood, N.J. entry, was alone in fifth with an 83.

   Three players, including Jeffrey Reilly Jr. of West Creek, N.J., P.J. Schulte of Cape May Court House, N.J. and Lasse Lehmann of Manahawkin, N.J., shared sixth place, each posting an 84.

Rounding out the top 10 were two players – Sean Caspar of Williamstown, N.J. and Kyle Bartholomew of Westampton, N.J. – who finished tied for ninth at 85.

   Henry Stone of Kennett Square, whose game is showing rapid improvement, fired a 4-over 76 to win the 13-to-15 division by 13 shots. Stone’s card featured birdies at the fifth, seventh and 17^th holes.

   Matthew Van Istendel of Haddon Heights, N.J. was the runnerup with an 89, Joseph Fargnoli of Mickleton, N.J. was third with a 95 and Riley Mostecki of Linwood, N.J. was fourth with a 96.

Ayden Rinaldi of Berlin, N.J. and Francis Wren of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. ended up in a tie for fifth, each carding a 99. Luca Gherardi of Hammonton, N.J. finished seventh with a 101, Shane Price of Mt. Ephraim, N.J. was eighth with a 102 and Joshua Blakely, another Egg Harbor Township, N.J. entry playing close to home, was ninth with a 104.

   Isabella McCloskey of Princeton Junction, N.J. finished ahead of the pack in the girls 16-to-18 division with an 82 for her third victory of the still young wraparound 2018-’19 season. Olivia Strigh of Hammonton, N.J. was the runnerup with a 90.

   Julia Li of Hockessin, Del. finished third with a 96 and Rachael Kraly of Sweetwater, N.J. was fourth with a 110.

   Kiera Bartholomew, from Team Bartholomew out of Westampton, N.J., finished atop the 13-to-15 division with an 80. It was her second win of the wraparound 2018-’19 season. Liberty Nuttall of Galloway, N.J. was the runnerup with a 116.

   Justin Forman of Sewell, N.J. birdied the fourth hole on his way to a 5-over 41 that gave him the top spot among the nine-holers. Hunter Probst of Bear Creek was the runnerup with a 43.

   Paul Reilly of Team Reilly from West Creek, N.J. won a scorecard tiebreaker to take third place after his 52 was matched by Jamie Ciesielka of Woolwich Township, N.J. Reilly’s total of 32 on the final six holes gave him the tiebreaker edge.

   Elora Walker of Philadelphia finished fifth with a 54.