Big week for Team Burks: A Junior Tour win for Jillian and a berth in Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals for Katelyn

    Jillian Burks of Paoli capped a pretty nice week for Team Burks Saturday as she captured the top spot in the girls 13-to-15 division with an 88 in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Tanglewood Manor Golf Club in Quarryville, Lancaster County.

   The week began last Sunday with Katelyn Burks following in her big sister’s footsteps by punching her ticket to the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals as she won the Girls 7-9 Division in a regional qualifier held at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.

   Jillian Burks advanced to the Drive, Chip & National Finals in the Girls 10-11 Division in the summer of 2019, but had to wait until this past spring to compete at Augusta National Golf Club the Sunday of Masters week as the coronavirus pandemic forced the postponement of the 2020 competition. After the long wait, Jillian Burks took fifth place.

   With her victory at Oak Hill, Katelyn Burks will be on hand at Augusta National for the 2022 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals. She’ll have the advantage of having a big sister to give her some advice on the whole scene, including how to deal with the nerves that come from the realization that you’re competing with The Golf Channel’s cameras rolling.

  Jillian Burks made seven pars over the par-72 Tanglewood Manor layout on her way to a victory Saturday. Jillian Burks finished strong, going 1-over on her last five holes to edge Sophia Branca of Warrington by a shot. Branca birdied the seventh hole and had  six pars on her scorecard as she signed for an 89.

   Katherine Liu of Moorestown, N.J. moved up from the ranks of the nine-holers and put together a solid 91 that featured a birdie at the 15^th hole and four birdies to finish alone in third place.

   Kaitlyn Hummers of Bethlehem was another two shots behind Liu in fourth place with a 93 and Charlotte Anstine of Chester Springs rounded out the 13-to-15 division field as she finished in fifth place with a 117.

   Colin Keiser of West Chester blitzed the Tanglewood Manor layout for four birdies to land atop the boys 16-to-18 division with a 6-over 78. Keiser recorded birdies at the second, fifth, 16^th and 18^th holes and had five pars on his scorecard.

   Cole Hamon of Ridgewood, N.J. made a birdie on the 14^th hole and had six pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with an 86. Grey Conta of Hummelstown and Jack Brady of Newark, Del. shared third place as each posted an 89. Both Conta and Brody had six pars on their card.

   Nathan Souder of Pittsgrove, N.J. rounded out the field of older guys as he finished in fifth place with a 91.

   Michael Liu of Garnet Valley made a birdie at the 15^th hole and had nine pars on his card, including six straight pars from the sixth to the 11^th holes, as he claimed the top spot in the 13-to-15 division with an 8-over 80.

   Brent Glah of Ambler made birdies at the sixth and 15^th holes and had six pars as he earned runnerup honors with an 86. Ian Larsen of Glenmoore, another player moving up from the ranks of the nine-holers, also had six pars on his scorecard as he finished alone in third place with an 87.

   Owen Grimes of Malvern took fourth place with a 90 and Alec Hamilton of Clarks Summit and Nevin Nardo of York shared fifth, each signing for a 90.

   Callahan Harrell of York took seventh place with a 91, Trey Barkman of West Chester was eighth with a 94 and Daniel Cantwell of Moorestown, N.J. rounded out the field of younger guys as he finished ninth with a 98.

   Colby Komancheck of Royersford made back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes and had two pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 3-over 39.

   Komancheck is the son of the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve pro shop team of Jamie and Kelly Komancheck. I caught a loop on a slow Tuesday at Stonewall with Colby and his mom two summers ago. For a 9-year-old kid playing a big-boy golf course, Colby was pretty fearless. I’m not surprised to see him continue to take strides forward on the golf course.

   Lawson Leeper of York had five pars, including four straight from the second through the fifth holes, as he claimed runnerup honors with a 4-over 40.

   Holden Sparks of Nazareth and Quinten Joiner of Millington, Md. finished in a tie for third place, each posting a 6-over 42. Sparks had four pars on his scorecard and Joiner closed his round with a birdie at the ninth hole and had three pars on his card.

   Benjamin Mayer of Garnet Valley took fifth place with a 47, Vyom Shukla of Berwyn was sixth with a 48, Gus Wolfe of Downingtown was seventh with a 59 and Chase Dizel of Gap was eighth with a 50.

   Tara Griscavage of Mechanicsburg took ninth place with a 51 and Rayan Shah of Newtown rounded out the top in the coed 12-and-under division by finishing 10^th with a 52.