Carlisle's Peters surges to Pennsylvania Junior Boys' crown, Jericho National's Meng the Girls' champion

   Carlisle Country Club’s John Peters surged past the first-round co-leaders with a sizzling 4-under-par 67 at Hershey Country Club’s East Course while Jericho National Golf Club’s Megan Meng cruised to a three-shot victory at Lebanon Country Club as the Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) crowned its Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ champions Tuesday.

   The championships are presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods and supported by UPMC Pinnacle.

   Peters finished in a tie for third place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a junior at Carlisle last fall and he trailed the player who won that PIAA Class AAA crown, Carson Bacha, playing out of Out Door Country Club, and Oakmont Country Club’s Rocco Salvitti by four shots after Peters opened with a 2-over 73 over the challenging par-71 East Course layout Monday.

   But Peters blitzed the outgoing nine at Hershey East with four birdies in a 4-under 32 and then held it together on the back nine to get in with a 2-under 140 total.

   Bacha, who capped his scholastic career at Central York with a state title, and Salvitti, who finished in seventh place at Heritage Hills as a freshman at Pittsburgh Central Catholic last fall, each added a 1-over 72 to an opening-round 69 as they shared second place at 1-under 141, a shot behind Peters. Bacha, who will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Auburn later this summer, was trying to add a second Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ crown to the one he won in 2018.

   Peters came out of the gate firing in Tuesday’s final round as he made birdies at the second, fourth, fifth and ninth holes to get it to 2-under for the tournament. He followed up a bogey at the 11^th hole with a birdie at the 14^th and, after making bogey at the 15^th hole, he again responded with a clutch birdie at the 17^th to nail down the title.

   Conestoga senior Morgan Lofland, playing out of Phoenixville Country Club, capped a month of outstanding golf by adding a 1-over 72 to his opening-round 70 to finish alone in fourth place at even-par 142.

   Since tournament play resumed after the coronavirus-enforced layoff this spring, Lofland, the Class AAA East Regional winner last fall at Golden Oaks Golf Club, has had two wins on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, including one at a Precision Pro Golf Open event at Hickory Valley Golf Club, a tie for second in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood Country Club and a brilliant 6-under 64 that earned him medalist honors in qualifying in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 106^th Junior Boys’ Championship at The 1912 Club.

   It was a coming-out party on the state scene for 13-year-old Nicholas Gross, who will join the Downingtown West program later this year. Playing out of Applecross Country Club, Gross matched par with a 71 Tuesday after opening with a 72 and shared fifth place with Merion Golf Club’s John Bradbeer at 1-over 143. Bradbeer had matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added a 1-over 72 in Tuesday’s final round.

   Gross owns a pair of big wins over the Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s No. 8 Course in Pinehurst Village, N.C. in the last year, one in the Boys 12 division of the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship last summer and another in the Donald Ross Junior in December. The win in the Donald Ross Junior earned him a berth in next week’s Junior Boys North & South Amateur Championship at Pinehurst.

   Michael Maslanka of the Country Club of Scranton was two shots behind Gross and Bradbeer in seventh place at 3-over 145 after adding a 74 to the even-par 71 he posted in Monday’s opening round.

   Fox Chapel Golf Club’s Adam Lauer, who finished in a tie for fifth place in Class AAA as a junior at Shady Side Academy at Heritage Hills last fall, was a shot behind Maslanka in eighth place at 4-over 146 after signing for a second straight 73.

   Haverford School senior Tyler Zimmer, one of the Inter-Ac League’s top returning players, headed a group of three players who finished in a tie for ninth place at 5-over 147. Zimmer, playing out of Philadelphia Country Club, shaved three shots off his opening-round 75 with a solid 1-over 72 in Tuesday’s final round.

   Zimmer was joined at 5-over by Holy Ghost Prep junior Calen Sanderson, who plays out of Jericho National, and Luke Lestini, a PAGA individual member.

   Sanderson, who finished in a tie for second in the District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Club last fall, was only two shots out of the lead following an opening-round 71, but fell back with a 5-over 76. Lestini added a 4-over 75 to his opening-round 72.

   Makefield Highlands Golf Club’s Jack Irons finished alone in 12^th place at 148 after bettering par with a 1-under 70 Tuesday. Irons had opened with a 78.

   Josh Ryan, a PAGA individual member, had a bit of a letdown after etching his name on the Peg Burnett Trophy with a victory in the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship at The 1912 Club last week.  Ryan, who shared third place with Peters at Heritage Hills last fall after winning the District One Class AAA crown at the Turtle as a junior, shared 13^th place with Hanover Country Club’s Karl Frisk at 149.

   Ryan, who represents Norristown High on the golf course, and Frisk, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Spring Grove last fall, had identical splits at Hershey East, each adding a 2-over 73 to an opening-round 76.

   An Aronimink Golf Club junior program that is arguably the Philadelphia area’s best, produced the Junior Boys’ team champion at Hershey East. Aronimink improved six shots from its opening-round 229 with a 223 and its 26-over 452 total was one shot better than Peters and Carlisle registered.

   Jack Davis was the low man for Aronimink in the four-score-three format with a 73 Tuesday. Haverford School senior Jake Maddaloni, who has helped the Fords win the last two Inter-Ac crowns, added a solid 74 and Devon Prep freshman Nick Ciocca, who won the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood last week, chipped in with a 76.

   Hunter Stetson carded an 83 that the team was able throw out, to round out the Aronimink lineup.

   Speaking of coming-out parties, it was a pretty impressive performance by Meng in claiming the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ crown. She’s a Class of 2024 player from Pennington, N.J. As I mentioned in my post Monday, I’m not sure where she’s playing scholastic golf, but somebody’s getting a player.

   After grabbing a one-shot lead with her opening-round 68 over the par-72 Lebanon layout, Meng fired a 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s final round for a 6-under 138 total.

   Meng was a little up and down early, following up a birdie at the second hole with a bogey at the third and following up a birdie at the ninth with a bogey at the 10^th. But she sealed the deal with birdies at the 13^th, 14^th and 16^th holes that got her to 7-under before a closing bogey at the 18^th.

   At the other end of the junior spectrum was runnerup Jennifer Cleary, who plays out of Applecross and is is writing the final chapters of a strong junior career. Cleary added a 2-under 70 to her opening-round 71 for a 3-under 141 total.

   Denied her senior season at Tower Hill in Delaware by the coronavirus pandemic, Cleary will join a strong University of Virginia program later this summer.

   The low round of the day belonged to Meng’s Jericho National clubmate, Natasha Kiel, a George School senior. Kiel’s scintillating 5-under 67 included four birdies and an eagle at the par-5 second hole and, combined with her opening-round 75, left her alone in third place, a shot behind Cleary at 2-under 142.

   Yardley Country Club’s Jade Gu, a senior at Pennsbury, was the only other player to finish under par as she added a 1-over 73 to her opening-round 70 for a 1-under 143 total that left her alone in fourth place. Gu claimed the Class AAA East Regional title at Golden Oaks Golf Club in 2018.

   Cleary’s Tower Hill teammate, senior Rylie Heflin, trailed Meng by just a shot after firing an opening round of 3-under 69. Playing out of Hartefeld National Golf Club, Heflin, the 2017 Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ champion, cooled off with a 77 Tuesday that left her in a tie for fifth place at 2-over 146.

   Heflin was joined at that figure by reigning PIAA Class AAA champion Elizabeth Beek, playing out of Blue Bell Country Club, and White Manor Country Club’s Victoria Kim, who was one of three players along with Beek in a playoff for the state championship at Heritage Hills last fall.

   I was there last fall and there was no shortage of drama as regulation play led to the playoff among Beek, who was a freshman at Wissahickon, Kim, who was a sophomore at West Chester East, and another talented freshman, Lower Merion’s Sydney Yermish.

   Beek and Kim were in lockstep again this week at Lebanon, each carding back-to-back 73s to get a share of fifth place with Heflin.

   Michelle Cox, who was just out of that playoff in fourth place at Heritage Hills as a junior at Emmaus last fall, finished alone in eighth place at 4-over 148 after adding a 1-over 73 to her opening-round 75. Cox, who plays out of Lehigh Country Club, was the runnerup to Caroline Wrigley in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ a year ago.

   Rounding out the top 10 were The Club at Nevillewood’s Caroline McConnell, who finished alone in ninth place at 151 after adding a 76 to her opening-round 75, and another Jericho National entry, Ellison Lundquist, who finished alone in 10^th place at 152 with a pair of 76s.

   Merion Golf Club’s Lauren Jones, whose junior season at Episcopal Academy was another victim of the pandemic this spring, rallied from an opening-round 79 with a 3-over 75 as she headed a trio of players tied for 11^th place at 154.

   Jones was joined at 154 by a couple of PIAA qualifiers from last fall, Whitford Country Club’s Ava O’Sullivan, who made it to Heritage Hills in Class AAA as a sophomore at Downingtown East, and Carlisle Country Club’s Paige Richter, who finished in a tie for fifth in Class AA as a sophomore at Camp Hill.

   O’Sullivan matched Jones’ splits, adding a 3-over 75 to her opening-round 79 while Richter, who had opened with a 75, fell back in Tuesday’s final round with a 79.

   Meng and Kiel left little doubt in the Junior Girls’ team competition as they led Jericho National to a spectacular 8-under 280 total that was 40 shots better than runnerup Pleasant Valley Golf Club in the three-score-two format. Kiel’s 67 and Meng’s 70 enabled Jericho National to shave six shots off its opening-round 143 with a final round of 7-under 137.

   Jesse Shue of Crossgates Golf Club broke away from a tightly-bunched foursome at Lebanon with a sparkling 3-under 69 to claim the Junior-Junior Boys’ Championship with a 3-over 147 total.

   Shue trailed opening-round leader Ian Larsen of Honeybrook Golf Club by two shots and was in third place after Monday’s opening round, although only three shots separated the four contestants.

   Merion’s J.P. Hoban added a 75 to his opening-round 77 to claim runnerup honors at 8-over 152, five shots behind Shue. Evan Gross of Applecross’ Team Gross was another three shots behind Hoban in third place at 155 after improving three shots from his opening-round 79 with a 4-over 76.

   After opening with a solid 4-over 76, Larsen struggled a little with an 86 in Tuesday’s final round to finish in fourth place at 162.

   Elle Overly of Back Creek Country Club completed a dominating performance in winning the Junior-Junior Girls’ Championship. Overly added a 79 to her opening-round 80 at Lebanon for a 159 total.

   Her closest pursuer was Manufacturers Golf & Country Club’s Talia Hoffner, who added a 97 to her opening-round 95 for a 192 total.