D'Ariano, Jones take respective boys, girls titles in Junior Tour Championship at Coatesville

   West Chester Rustin sophomore Ryan D’Ariano survived a playoff with Garnet Valley senior Jake Sokalsky to capture the title in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour Championship Monday at Coatesville Country Club.

   D’Ariano had birdies at the first and 15^th holes on his way to a 2-over-par 73 over the 6,117-yard, par-71 Coatesville layout. Sokalsky came out firing with three birdies in his first eight holes and added a fourth birdie to match D’Ariano’s 73.

   D’Ariano defeated Sokalsky in a playoff for the overall crown among boys ages 13 to 18. The playoff win also gave him the top spot in the 16-to-18 division.

   Episcopal Academy junior Lauren Jones captured the overall girls crown as she had a run of six straight pars on her way to a 7-over 78 over a Coatesville layout that measured 5,742 yards for the gals. D’Ariano and Jones received a push cart from BagBoy, one of the tournament sponsors, for their wins.

   Jones, who plays out of Merion Golf Club, represented the Philadelphia area in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis. She was the runnerup in the Inter-Ac League Championship at French Creek Golf Club in May after leading the Churchwomen to their second straight perfect run through the league.

   In the boys 16-to-18 division, Alec Stern of Bryn Mawr had three birdies, two of them coming back-to-back on the back nine, on his way to a 4-over 75 that left him in third place in the division and fifth in the overall 13-to-18 scoring.

   Devon Prep junior Ryan McCabe, who finished in a tie for second in the PIAA Class AA Championship last fall, took fourth in the division and in a tie for sixth overall with a 5-over 76. Jake Rotelle of Honey Brook was another shot behind McCabe in fifth place in the division and in a tie for ninth overall with a 77.

   Brandywine Heights junior Elijah Ruppert, a PIAA Class AA qualifier last fall, Unionville junior Roy Anderson, Pennsbury junior Chris Myers and Christopher Waldmann of Malvern finished in a tie for sixth in the division, each posting a 78.

   Three players, Spring-Ford junior Luke Watson, a Class AAA East Regional qualifier last fall, Shane Lawler of Malvern and Tyler Geatens of Williamstown, N.J., rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for 10^th, each carding a 79.

   Eli Shah of Newtown Square and John Olsen of Boalsburg shared top honors in the 13-to-15 division and were very much in contention for the overall title as they finished in a tie for third, a shot behind D’Ariano and Sokalsky, at 3-over 74.

   Shah had two birdies on the back nine and a stretch of five straight pars in his round. Olsen lit up the Coatesville layout with five birdies.

   Wissahickon sophomore Christian Matt and Scott Hughes of Ambler finished in a tie for third in the division and shared sixth place overall with Devon Prep’s McCabe in the overall scoring as each carded a 76. Matt and Hughes both had 13 pars on his scorecard.

   Luke Corcoran of Lansdale finished fifth in the division and got a share of ninth in the overall scoring with Rotelle of Honey Brook with a solid 77.

   Paul Brady of Schwenksville took sixth place with a 78, Ryan Garvey of Media was seventh with a 79, Bobby Nicholson of York was eighth with an 80 and Nicholas Ciocca of Berwyn was ninth with an 82. Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Matthew Normand of Lumberton, N.J. and Tyler Smith of Maple Shade, N.J. as they shared 10^th place, each posting an 83.

   William Penn senior Christina Carroll and Hershey junior Amanda Gerrish, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, shared second place in the 16-to-18 division and overall as they were two shots behind Jones, each carding an 80. Carroll had a birdie on the 12^th hole and Gerrish had 11 pars.

   Haverford High junior Riley Quartermain, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, and Olivia Strigh of Hammonton, N.J. finished in a tie for fourth in the division and in a tie for fifth overall as each posted an 88.

   Jessica McClellan, a PIAA Class AA qualifier as a senior at MMI Prep last fall, finished sixth in the division and ninth overall with a 91.

   Gwendolyn Powell of Madison Township parred two of her first three holes and finished with seven pars on her scorecard as she took top honors in the 13-to-15 division and was fourth overall with an 85.

   Stefania Fedun of Glenmoore was the runnerup in the division and shared fifth place overall with Quartermain and Strigh with an 88 that was highlighted by two birdies on the back nine.

   Rhianna Goonerate of Plymouth Meeting was a shot behind Fedun with an 89 that left her in third place in the division and ninth overall. Gooneratne had four pars in her round.

   Emma Reilly of Doylestown placed fourth in the division and rounded out the top 10 overall by finishing alone in 10^th place with a 94.

   Kayla Maletto of Sinking Spring took fifth in the division with a 96. Maletto was coming off a sparkling 1-over 71 that gave her a victory in the 13-to-15 division in a Junior Stop at Indian Spring Country Club in Marlton, N.J. Friday.

   Maletto’s showing at Indian Spring came on the heels of a tie for 22^nd in the American Junior Golf Association’s Golf Performance Center Junior All-Star at The Redding Country Club in Redding, Conn. Maletto got better in every round in Redding, opening with an 84 before adding an 80 in the second round and finishing up with a 79.

   Serena Bagga of Blue Bell finished sixth in the 13-to-15 division at Coatesville with a 98.

   Reed Krosse of York opened with four straight pars as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 4-over 39. Samuel Feeney of West Chester was the runnerup, a shot behind Krosse with a 5-over 40 that featured a birdie on the third hole.

   Hank Kancher of Philadelphia and Ethan Martin of North Wales shared third place as each carded a 42. Carson Holmes of Thorndale finished alone in fifth place with a 43 and Sean Curran of Newtown Square and Lawson Leeper of York shared sixth place, each signing for a 45.

   Three players, including J.P. Hoban of Havertown, Jax Puskar of Kennett Square and Hunter Probst of Bear Creek, finished in a tie for eighth place, each posting a 46.

   The Junior Tour Championship marked the end of the wraparound 2018-’19 season and the new 2019-‘20 season will start right up Wednesday.

   The end of the season is a good opportunity to recognize The Graham Company, the Junior Tour’s title sponsor. The Graham Company is helping to put a golf club in the hands of youngsters, many of whom will still be playing the game decades from now. Much is made of the effort to grow the game and The Graham Company is walking the walk.

   And kudos to the parents who do the driving to golf courses all over the Philadelphia suburbs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Maybe some of the older guys and girls can get themselves to some of the tournaments, but I’m guessing, for the most part, mom and dad are the ones battling the traffic to get their kids to the Junior Tour events.