Bagga makes it two straight Junior Tour wins with a victory at Spring Ford

   Ajeet Bagga of Blue Bell made it 2-for-2 at the start of the wraparound 2019-2020 Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour season as he fired an 8-over-par 80, the best score of the day, at Spring Ford Country Club Monday to take top honors in the 13-to-15 division.

   Bagga had opened the new season with a 2-over 73 that gave him a win at LuLu Country Club last week. At Spring Ford, Bagga had a birdie at the third hole and finished strong, registering four straight pars to close out his round.

   Lucas Steinmetz, who, as the son of Spring Ford head pro Rich Steinmetz, has a little local knowledge at the 6,593-yard, par-72 Spring Ford layout, shared second place with Zachary Sandler of Gladwyne, each carding an 83.

   Steinmetz had a birdie on the par-5 15^th hole to highlight his round while Sandler’s round featured 10 pars.

   An international entry, Yili Wang of China’s Zhejiang Province, shared fourth place with Michael Dignazio of Wilmington, Del., each posting an 89.

  Hunter Stetson of Newtown Square took sixth place with a 91, Alex White of Schwenksville was seventh with a 92 and Jacob French of Doylestown was eighth with a 109.

   Patrick Traynor of Villanova birdied the second hole and had six pars on Spring Ford’s back nine as he carded an 84 to finish atop the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division.

   Christopher Buysse of Paoli had eight pars, including pars on a couple of Spring Ford’s toughest holes, the 520-yard, par-5 fifth and the 405-yard, par-4 10^th, on his way to an 85 that left him a shot behind Traynor in second place.

   Keller Mulhern, gearing up for his sophomore season at Malvern Prep, birdied the par-5 15^th hole as he finished a shot behind Buysse in third place with an 86.

   Christopher Waldmann of Malvern took fourth place with an 88 and Glenallen Thomas of Newtown Square was fifth with a 91.

   The best score among the girls at Spring Ford also came out of the younger 13-to-15 division as Rhianna Gooneratne of Plymouth Meeting fired an 87 to edge Chaela Barnett of Hatboro by a shot for the victory.

   Gooneratne birdied the fifth hole and made pars on two of her last three holes to hold off Chaela Barnett, who opened her round with three straight pars. Lola Barnett of Hatboro’s Team Barnett had three pars as she ended up in third place with a 93.

   It was an Inter-Ac League battle in the girls 16-to-18 division as Episcopal Academy junior Kathleen Mark claimed a five-shot victory over the Academy of Notre Dame’s Stefanie Bonini.

    Mark, who helped the Churchwomen make their second straight perfect run through the Inter-Ac last spring, birdied the 12^th hole and added a clutch par at the 16^th hole as she carded a 90. Three of Bonini’s four pars came on the back nine as she posted a 95.

   Mark and Bonini were two of the three players who finished in a tie for fourth in the Inter-Ac League Championship at French Creek Golf Club last spring.

   Mac Traynor gave Villanova’s Team Traynor its second gold medal of the day as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 12-over 48. Mac Traynor made pars at the par-5 fifth hole and at the par-3 seventh hole.

   Elliott Evans of York made 4s on the fourth and seventh holes as he claimed runnerup honors with a 54. Reagan Garnsey of Dover, Del. took third place with a 57 that included a par at the par-3 fourth hole.