Stephen Lorenzo of Lower Gwynedd had a strong junior season
at La Salle.
My Philadelphia Catholic League contacts aren’t quite as
good as they are with some of the District One programs and the Inter-Ac
League. But I do know Lorenzo showed up for PIAA East Regional at Golden Oaks
Golf Club as the District 12 Class AAA champion and got through to the PIAA
Championship on the number with a 77.
Lorenzo struggled a little in the PIAA Championship at the
Heritage Hills Golf Resort, finishing 30th, but he got there. The
day after the individual competition was completed, Lorenzo helped La Salle,
the District 12 champion, finish fifth in the Class AAA team championship, just
a shot behind two teams that finished tied for third.
He showed the kind of mental toughness he exhibited in the
high school postseason in matching par Sunday with a 71 at the Seaview Hotel
and Golf Club – not sure if he was playing the 6,342-yard Bay Course or the
6,602-yard Pines Course – to take the top spot among the older guys as the
Hurricane Junior Golf Tour (HJGT) teamed with the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior
Tour (PJT) to stage the HJGT&/PJT Junior Championship.
Lorenzo had opened with a 79 in tough conditions in Galloway
Township at the Jersey Shore Saturday. But he had three birdies Sunday to win
the boys HJGT/PJT 13-to-18 division by three shots with an 8-over 150 total.
And he beat a tough field comprised of many of the top players from the Philly
Junior Tour along with Hurricane Junior Golf Tour regulars from New York, New
Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, upstate Pennsylvania, Connecticut and even Canada.
Andrew Miller of Bryn Mawr, who had grabbed the
opening-round lead with a 4-over 75 at the Bay Course, added a 78 in Sunday’s
second round to share second place with Michael Mitnick of Linwood, N.J. at
153, three shots behind Lorenzo. Mitnick carded a solid 75 Sunday after opening
with a 78.
St. Joseph’s Prep’s Joseph Morganti, a junior from
Havertown, shared fourth place with Jack Ross of Medford Lakes, N.J. at 155.
Morganti added a 77 to his opening-round 78 while Ross took three shots off his
opening-round 79 with a 76 Sunday.
Lorenzo’s classmate at La Salle, Matthew Lafond of Blue
Bell, finished in a tie for sixth with Spring-Ford’s Luke Watson, a PIAA Class
AAA East Regional qualifier as a sophomore this fall, and Ryan Ferry of
Meadville at 158. Lafond, named the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Sportsperson
of the Year, had a pair of 79s while Watson and Ferry each added a 78 to his
opening-round 80.
Alexander Reyes of Forest Hills, N.Y. finished ninth at 159
after adding a 77 to his opening-round 82 and Win Thomas of Unionville rounded
out the top 10 as he finished alone in 10th at 160 after adding an
81 to his opening-round 79.
The HJGT kept a couple of its regular boys age groups, the 11-to-13
and under-10 divisions, together.
Hunter Po of Bridgewater, N.J. made his opening-round lead
hold up in the HJGT 11-to-13 division as he added an 82 to the 77 he shot
Saturday for a 159 total that gave him a three-shot victory.
Emil Riegger of Potomac, Md. was the runnerup at 162, three
shots behind Po, as he added an 84 to his opening-round 78. It was another
three shots back to Maximus Liu of Warren, N.J. at 165 as he opened with an 81 before
finishing up with an 84 Sunday.
Giancarlo DiLeo of Lido Beach, N.Y. finished fourth at 167
after adding an 82 to his opening-round 85. Andrew Flynn of Monroe, Conn. added
an 82 to his opening-round 87 to finish fifth at 169. Luke Huang of Great Neck,
N.Y. took sixth at 172 as he took four shots off his opening-round 88 with an
84 Sunday.
Owen Saad (92-87) of Fair Haven, N.J. finished seventh at
179, Andrew Liu (88-94) of Clinton, N.J. was eighth at 182, Austin Barrett
(103-89) was ninth at 192 and Jeremy Cammayo (107-103) of River Vale, N.J.
rounded out the top 10 as he finished alone in 10th at 210.
Remarkably, the low round of the day overall belonged to the
HJGT under-10 winner Mihir Roperia of Cranbury, N.J., who fired a 1-under 70 in
winning the division by 30 shots. The kid is listed as Class of 2026, which
makes him, what, a fifth-grader. He had four birdies Sunday. Wow.
Colby Baran of Wading River, N.Y. was the runnerup with a
176 total as he added a 92 to his opening-round 84. Nicky Jadav of Latham, N.Y.
was third at 190 as he added a 96 to his opening-round 94 and Kyler Madden of
Titusville was fourth at 259 after taking seven shots off his opening-round 133
with a 126 Sunday.
Esther Park, one of the three teens who comprised a Delaware
team that was the runnerup in the final USGA Women’s State Team Championship at
The Club at Las Campanas’ Sunrise Course in Santa Fe, N.M. a year ago, capped a
winning performance in the girls HJGT 14-to-18/PJT 13-to-18 division by making
birdies on her final two holes for a 6-over 148 total.
Park of Wilmington, Del. carded a solid 1-over 72 Sunday
after opening with a 76 Saturday. Caraline Oakley of Southampton, N.Y. added a
solid 4-over 75 to her opening-round 78 for a 153 total that left her five
shots behind Park in second place.
It was another 13 shots back to a trio of players tied for
third at 166. That group included Ashley Liu of Team Liu from Clinton, N.J.,
who improved eight shots from an opening-round 87 with a 79 Sunday, Julia McLaughlin of Princeton, N.J., who
added an 82 to her opening-round 84 and
Hartley Zook of Flemington, N.J., who added an 86 to her opening-round 80.
Unionville sophomore Charlotte Scully, coming off a tie for
16th in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last month, bounced back
from an opening-round 89 with a 78 to finish alone in sixth at 167. Lory
Paradis of Canada was another shot behind Scully in seventh at 168 after adding
an 80 to her opening-round 88.
Sydney Nethercott of Greenwich, Conn. finished eighth with a
170 total after adding an 86 to her opening-round 84. Isabella McCloskey of
Princeton Junction, N.J. ended up in ninth place as she added an 87 to her
opening-round 84 for a 171 total.
Madison Barber of Canada had a pair of 86s to finish alone
in 10th at 172. Haverford High’s Riley Quartermain, who capped a
solid sophomore season by finishing 14th in her first trip to the
PIAA Class AAA Championship last month, bounced back from an opening-round 94
with a 79 to finish 11th at 173.
Sawyer Brockstedt, the talented youngster from Rehoboth
Beach, Del. who finished tied for fourth in the girls 10-11 division in the
Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club the Sunday
of Masters week last spring, captured the girls HJGT under-13 division with a
163 total.
Brockstedt trailed Kennedy Swedick of Altamont, N.Y. by two
shots after an opening-round 82, but added an 81 in Sunday’s final round while
Swedick added an 86 to her opening-round 80 to finish three shots behind
Brockstedt at 166.
It was another 11 shots behind Swedick back to Hannah Rabb
of Watsontown in third at 177 as she took seven shots off her opening-round 92
with an 85. Renna Chang of Jericho, N.Y. and Lia Huang of Team Huang of Great
Neck, N.Y. shared fourth place, each landing on 179. Chang improved nine shots
off her opening-round 94 with an 85 and Huang added an 89 to her opening-round
90.
Sammi Yeslavage of Doylestown improved 13 shots from her
opening-round 98 with an 85 to finish sixth at 183. Catherine Andino (101-106)
of Port Washington, N.Y. took seventh with a 207 total and Jillian Burks
(103-105) of Paoli was eighth at 208.
Jolie Pastorick of Rydal had five pars in an outstanding 41
on the back nine at the Pines Course to surge to the top spot among the PJT
nine-holers at 91. Pastorick had trailed Tommy Marshall of Marlton, N.J. by
three shots after an opening-round 50. She is listed as Class of 2027, which
makes her, what, a fourth-grader. That’s some pretty good playing by her.
Pastorick’s 41 was actually the third best round carded by
the four nine-holers who teed it up Sunday. Justin Forman of Sewell, N.J. signed
for a 39 and Sean Curran of Newtown Square posted a 40.
Forman, who had opened with a 53, Curran, who had an
opening-round 52, and first-round leader Marshall shared second place at 92, a
shot behind Pastorick. Marshall added a 45 to his opening-round 47.
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