Matt betters par wtih 70 at Downingtown to capture Junior Tour victory

   Christian Matt of Springhouse had four birdies to go low and claim the 13-to-15 division title in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Downingtown Country Club Tuesday.

   Matt toured the 6,338-yard, par-72 Downingtown layout in 2-under 70 for the best score of the day among the boys who teed it up in the 16-to-18 or 13-to-15 divisions. Eli Shah of Newtown Square birdied the second hole and rattled off a string of six straight pars on the front nine as he matched par with a 72 to claim runnerup honors.

   Lucas Steinmetz of Gilbertsville and Graham White of West Chester shared third place as each carded a 2-over 74. Eric Miller of West Chester and Scott Hughes of Ambler finished in a tie for seventh place as each posted a 75.

   Another shot behind Miller and Hughes in a tie for seventh place at 76 were Dylan Kochis of Exton and Graham Boone of Naples, Fla. Drew Clark of Kennett Square took ninth with a 77 and Robert Dominy of Moorestown, N.J. rounded out the top 10 as he finished alone in 10^th place with an 80.

   Jack Cooley, a member of the PIAA Class AAA runnerup Unionville team last fall, made birdies at the ninth, 12^th and 16^th holes on his way to a 1-over 73 to claim the top spot in the 16-to-18 division. Nick Martin of Audubon rode a string of three straight birdies to a 2-over 74 that earned him runnerup honors. Martin made five straight pars after his birdie run.

   Colton Murray of Sewell, N.J. took third place with a 75, Thomas Larkin of Drexel Hill was fourth with a 77 and Garnet Valley senior Jake Sokolsky and Benjamin Lee of Malvern finished in a tie for fifth place, each carding a 78.

   Four more players – Ethan Boone of Team Boone out of Naples, Fla., Matthew Feeney of West Chester, Jackson Debusschere of Wallingford and Joseph Taggart of Broomall – rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for seventh, each signing for an 80.

   Kayla Maletto of Sinking Spring might have been the day’s most impressive winner as she captured top honors in the girls 13-to-15 division with a sparkling 2-over 74 that included a birdie at the third hole and 14 pars.

   Caroline Gola, a freshman on Mount St. Joseph’s District One Class AAA championship team last fall, was the runnerup with an 83 that featured back-to-back birdies at the 12^th and 13^th holes. Stefania Fedun of Glenmoore took third with an 88.

   Emma Reilly of Doylestown finished fourth with a 93, Emily McAninch was fifth with a 95, Suzie Ahn of Paoli was sixth with a 109, Emily Scavuzzo of Downingtown was seventh with a 118 and Annie McTaggart of Wilmington, Del. was eighth with a 119.

   Ethan Martin of North Wales and J.P. Hoban of Havertown finished in a tie atop the field of nine-holers as each posted a 4-over 40. Martin had four pars on his scorecard and Hoban made par on five of the holes.

   Sean Curran of Newtown Square took third with a 43, Samuel Feeney of West Chester was fourth with a 44, Jake Grossman of Elkins Park was fifth with a 45 and Mia Pace of Exton was sixth with a 46.

   Davis Conaway of West Chester finished seventh with as 47, Jason DiRita of Media was eighth with a 48, Liam McFadden of Bryn Mawr was ninth with a 49 and Nicholas Shanahan of Devon rounded out the top 10 as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 52.