Conaway keeps Junior Tour roll going with victory at West Chester

   Davis Conaway has been the dominant player among the nine-holers who compete in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour and Friday, with Tropical Storm Fay bearing down on Chester County Friday, was more of the same.

   Conaway, playing not far from his East Bradford home at West Chester Golf & Country Club, birdied the first two holes and added four pars on his way to a 1-over-par 37 that earned him a victory in a Junior Tour stop limited to just the coed 12-and-under division.

   It was Conaway’s 10^th victory of the wraparound 2019-2020 season, the majority of which have come since the Junior Tour resumed playing in early June following a coronavirus-enforced layoff.

    Interesting story on Conaway in the Daily Local News from Neil Geoghegan, a golf-writing colleague of mine during my journalism days, this week. A seventh-grader at Malvern Prep, the 12-year-old Conaway had open-heart surgery to repair a hole in his heart, among other irregularities, at five-months old.

   The Junior Tour youngsters battled some tough conditions with the approaching tropical storm, but 32 players completed their rounds with half of them coming in at 50 or better over the par-36 nine-hole layout at West Chester.

   Carson Holmes of Thorndale opened his round with three straight pars and had six pars on his scorecard overall on his way to a 4-over 40 that earned him runnerup honors.

   Ian Larsen of Glenmoore opened his round with a birdie and had four pars as he finished in third place with a 41.

   Lawson Leeper of York, who has also been playing some solid golf since the Junior Tour resumed its schedule, and Cameron Peffel of Fleetwood shared fourth place, each posting a 43. Chase Mitstifer of Sinking Spring finished alone in sixth place with a 44.

   Five players landed on 45 in a tie for seventh place, including Thomas Ploszay of Berwyn, Jason Mack of Delaware Water Gap, Ian Rotto of Kennett Square, Anthony Proud of Stroudsburg and Ravi Khanna of Bryn Mawr.

   Avery O’Neill of Romansville finished in 12^th place with a 46, Jack Hollerback of Millsboro, Del. was 13^th with a 48 and Eli Press of Bryn Mawr was 14^th with a 49.

   Colby Komancheck of Royersford and Henry Galla of Ardmore rounded out the top 15 as each posted a 50. Carried Komancheck’s bag during a round last summer at Stonewall’s Old Course along with his mother Kelly, part of the husband and wife team in the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve pro shop. Jamie Komancheck is RiverCrest’s head pro. As you might expect, young Colby can play a little and he’s only going to get better.