Barbin goes low at Skippack to claim victory in Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA qualifier

    Evan Barbin, the youngest of the golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md., made five birdies on his way to a 2-under-par 68 as he cruised to victory in the 16-to-18 division in the third of a series of qualifiers for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship Wednesday at Skippack Golf Club.

   Many of the region’s top junior golfers will gather Monday at Valley Country Club for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship. The top finishers from that event earn a trip to the Boys Junior PGA Championship, one of the top national junior events in the country staged by the PGA of America.  The Boys Junior PGA Championship tees off July 12 at the Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington, Ky.

   The Boys Junior PGA Championship, like many top national events, was not played in 2020, a casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.

   One of Barbin’s older brothers, Zach, just wrapped up his junior season at Liberty at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Zach Barbin won two of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s major championships last summer, the BMW Philadelphia Amateur and the Patterson Cup.

   Another of his older brothers, Austin, just wrapped up his sophomore season at Maryland. Austin Barbin captured the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship in 2019 when he was the dominant junior golfer in the region.

   Continuing the family tradition, Evan Barbin made birdies on the fourth, eighth, 12^th, 14^th and 16^th holes on his way to his winning 2-under total. The three birdies on the incoming nine enabled him to post a 2-under 33.

   The Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour didn’t break out the qualifiers in the overall 13-to-18 scoring. I’ll round up the top 10 in the overall scoring while doing the usual age-group breakdowns.

   Three players, Garnet Valley junior Matt Pulcinella, Noah Moeller of Doylestown and Owen Blazick of Mountain Top, shared second place among the older guys and were tied for fourth place in the overall scoring as each carded a 4-over 74 over the 5,790-yard, par-70 Skippack layout in west central Montgomery County.

   Pulcinella had birdies at the third and ninth holes while touring the outgoing nine at Skippack in even-par 35 and added a third birdie at the 14^th. Moeller had birdies at the ninth, 12^th and 16^th holes. Blazick got off to a fast start with back-to-back birdies at the first and second holes and added a third birdie at the 14^th.

   Will Huntley of Lansdale and Kyle Mauro of Paoli each landed on 6-over 76 and finished in a tie for fifth place in the overall scoring and in a tie for ninth overall.

   La Salle junior Darren Nolan was another shot behind Huntley and Mauro in seventh place with a 77.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were five players who finished in a tie for eighth place, each registering a 78. Included in that group were Pennridge senior Blake Stewart, Evan Rosenstein of Plymouth Meeting, Jeffrey Seiler of Hatfield, Brady Manning of Downingtown and Eli Rapietski of Harvey’s Lake.

   Another member of Harvey’s Lake’s Team Rapietski, Cael Rapietski, finished atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division and was second in the overall 13-to-18 scoring behind Evan Barbin with a solid 1-over 71. Cael Rapietski was really consistent with a birdie at the 16^th hole and 15 pars on his scorecard.

   Ajeet Bagga of Blue Bell had birdies at the fourth, ninth and 10^th holes as he carded a 3-over 73 to earn runnerup honors among the younger guys and finish third overall.

   Charlie Ferrise of Phoenixville birdied the seventh hole while posting an even-par 35 on the front nine at Skippack and had 12 pars as he took third place in the 13-to-15 division and joined Pulcinella, Moeller and Blazick from the 16-to-18 division in a tie for fourth in the overall scoring with a 4-over 74.

   Aiden Farkas of Ardmore finished alone in fourth place in the 13-to-15 division and was eighth in the overall scoring with a 75.

   Ethan Martin of North Wales was another shot behind Farkas in fifth place among the younger guys and joined Huntley and Mauro from the 16-to-18 division in a tie for ninth overall with a 76 as that trio rounded out the top 10 among the 13-to-18 competitors.

   Tiger Li of Newtown took sixth place in the 13-to-15 division with a 78 and Shaun Mazzalupi of Wayne was another shot behind li in seventh with a 79.

   Rounding out the top 10 among the younger guys were three players – Joshua Fryer of Ambler, Daniel Shih of Horsham and Brendan Reilly of Doylestown – who finished in a tie for eighth place, each signing for an 80.

   North Penn junior Hayley Ekert had the best score among the girls as she topped the 16-to-18 field with an 83. Ekert, a District One Class AAA qualifier last fall, had seven pars, including pars on four of the last five holes on Skippack’s incoming nine.

   Sophia Brubaker of Wayne rounded out the field among the older girls as she was the runnerup with a 91 that featured three pars.

   Maggie Hawkins of Berwyn edged Emma Li of Newtown’s Team Li by a shot to claim the victory in the 13-to-15 division. Hawkins had five pars, including three in the last five holes on the back nine, on her way to a 95. Li had two pars in finishing a shot behind Hawkins in second place with a 96.

   Kaitlyn Hummers of Bethlehem rounded out the 13-to-15 field as she finished up with a par on the 18^th hole to take third place with a 112.

   The Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship tees off July 12 at Commonwealth National Golf Club and is an open tournament, so there are no qualifiers. The top finishers at Commonwealth National will advance to the Girls Junior PGA Championship, which gets under way July 27 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

   Jason Mack of Delaware Water Gap claimed his second victory this week in the coed 12-and-under division as he had five pars, including three straight from the third to the fifth holes, in a 4-over 39. Mack, who has been playing well all spring, bested the field of nine-holers Sunday at the Pine Meadows Golf Complex in Lebanon.

   Anthony Proud of Stroudsburg, who took third place at Pine Meadows, was the runnerup to Mack at Skippack as he birdied the fourth hole and had three pars to finish two shots behind Mack with a 6-over 41. Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. had three pars as he claimed third place with a 43.

   Alaina Carson of Broomall finished a shot behind Sieben in fourth place with a 44 and Carter Hippauf of Quakertown was fifth with a 46.

   Eliza Meersman of Fort Washington, Alex DiGiacinto of Nazareth and Henry Sokol of Villanova ended up in a three-way tie for sixth place, each registering a 47. Jack Sokol, another member of Villanova’s Team Sokol, finished alone in ninth place with a 51.

   Ethan Meersman, another member of Fort Washington’s Team Meersman, and Grant MacColl of Haverford rounded out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each posting a 52.