Miller at his best as Philadelphia Junior Tour schedule resumes at Pine Meadows

   Looks like Eric Miller, a District One Class AAA qualifier at West Chester Rustin last fall, must have been working on his game a little bit during the coronavirus-enforced lull in competition for the region’s junior golfers.

   Miller had five birdies on his scorecard on his way to a 2-over-par 74 at the Pine Meadows Golf Complex in Lebanon County that gave him a one-shot victory in the 16-to-18 division as the Philadelphia Section PGA staged its first competition since last November on a breezy but gorgeous Sunday.

   The stop at Pine Meadows was also the first in a series of qualifiers for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, which will be held June 22 at Bellewood Country Club on the North Coventry side of the Schuylkill River across from Pottstown.

   A little of the luster will be lost at Bellewood since a ticket to the Boys Junior PGA Championship, which had been scheduled to be held July 13 to 16 at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., will not be on the line. That’s because, like a lot of national junior events, uncertainty over the coronavirus prompted officials at the PGA of America to cancel its marquee junior event in 2020.

   The emphasis in this summer of coronavirus will be on the local events on the junior calendar and it looks like the Philadelphia Junior Tour has its typically busy summer schedule ready to help fill the void left by cancellations of events like the Boys Junior PGA Championship and the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.

   The Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA is always a big event on the local schedule and figures to draw a strong field with so many of the area’s youngsters starved for some opportunities to compete. I suspect Miller and his fellow junior golfers were just happy to be out there at Pine Meadows playing in an event in which the scores counted for the first time in too long.

   Miller’s 2-over round over the par-72 Pine Meadows layout also led a group of 14 qualifiers to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA. The top 10 in the older 16-to-18 division all earned tickets to Bellewood in the overall 13-to-18 scoring and the four top finishers in the 13-to-15 division also earned a spot in the field for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA.

   Elijah Ruppert, who finished in a tie for third place in last fall’s PIAA Class AA Championship as a junior at Brandywine Heights, had two birdies on the back nine to finish a shot behind Miller in second place in the 16-to-18 division and tied for second in the overall scoring with a 3-over 75.

   Luke Spangler of Fredericksburg was another shot behind Rupert in third place in the 16-to-18 division and fourth overall with a 4-over 76.

   Kyle Resuta, a District One Class AAA qualifier for Phoenixville last fall, and Simon Domencic of Lebanon shared fourth place in the division and were tied for fifth overall, each carding a 5-over 77.

Michael Fioravante, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Berks Catholic last fall, finished alone in sixth place in the 16-to-18 division and seventh overall with a solid 78.

   James Gradisek, coming off a solid scholastic campaign for Malvern Prep last fall, and Jake Shmonov of Harrisburg finished in a tie for seventh place in the division and were two of four players tied for eighth in the overall scoring as each signed for a 79.

   Franklin Zhu of Warren, N.J. carded an 80 to take ninth place among the older guys and was 12^th in the overall scoring. Tyler Kipp, who earned a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Muhlenberg last fall, rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division and punched his ticket to Bellewood with his overall 13^th-place finish with an 81.

   Adrian Jordan of Lawrenceville, N.J. toured the back nine at Pine Meadows in even-par, offsetting a bogey with a birdie at the 15^th hole as he topped the 13-to-15 division with a 3-over 75. That left him in a tie for second with Ruppert in the overall scoring.

   Michael Maslanka of Taylor and Kevin Zheng of Warren, N.J. finished in a tie for second place among the younger guys, each carding a 79. That landed them in the group of four players tied for eighth place in the overall scoring.

   Logan Wagner of Quarryville carded an 82 to finish in fourth place in the 13-to-15 division and grabbed the final ticket to Bellewood, ending up in 14^th place in the overall scoring.

   Maxwell Wager of State College took fifth place among the younger guys with an 83, a shot behind Wagner. Noah Shultz of York was alone in sixth place with an 85.

   Samuel Feeney of West Chester and Jarred Berish of Pottstown shared seventh place, each posting an 86 and Hunter Stetson of Newtown Square, Rajan Khanna of Bryn Mawr and Nick Mueller of Doylestown rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as each carded an 87 to finish in a tie for ninth place.

   It was not a qualifier for the girls at Pine Meadows. The Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship will bring together many of the top junior players July 6 at Old York Road Country Club. The national Girls Junior PGA Championship, scheduled to be held July 28 to 31, also at the PGA Golf Club, has been, like the boys tournament, cancelled because of coronavirus concerns.

   Hayley Eckert of Fairview Village had the best score of the day at Pine Meadows among the girls, an 85 that included a birdie at the fourth hole, as she finished atop the 13-to-15 division.

   Jillian Burks of Paoli, whose scheduled trip to the Augusta National Golf Club for the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals was postponed until 2021, finished two shots behind Eckert in second place with an 87. Burks closed out her round Sunday with three straight pars.

   Brynne Mushlin of Berwyn took third place in the 13-to-15 division with a 123.

   Emma Schotsch, whose junior season at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy was another casualty of the pandemic this spring, took top honors in the 16-to-18 division with a 90 that featured a birdie at the fifth hole.

   Sophia Brubaker, a District One Class AAA qualifier at Conestoga last fall, was the runnerup to Schotsch with a 103.

   Davis Conaway of West Chester proved to be ready for the resumption of competitive golf as he birdied the 18^th hole to cap a 2-over 38 that bested the field of nine-holers by four shots.

   Miles McGinty of Lititz, Avery O’Neill of Romansville and Lawson Leeper of York each carded a 42 to share runnerup honors.

   Thomas Ploszay of Berwyn finished in fifth place with a 45, Declan Conner of Swarthmore was sixth with a 48 and Callahan Harrell of York was seventh with a 50.

   Samuel Vinc of Brockton and Chase Mitstifer of Sinking Spring shared eighth place, each posting a 51 and Alaina Carson of Broomall rounded out the top 10, finishing alone in 10^th place with a 54.