Saggers goes low at Pine Meadows in first qualifier for Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship

   After a break for the Memorial Day weekend, the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour got back in action Sunday with the first of a series of four qualifiers for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, which will be held July 11 at Bellewood Country Club.

   Bishop Shanahan junior Ben Saggers, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, earned himself a spot in the field at Bellewood as he carded a sparkling 2-under-par 70 at the Pine Meadows Golf Complex in Lebanon.

   Saggers made birdies at the fifth, sixth, 16^th and 18^th holes and had 12 pars on his scorecard to top the overall scoring for ages 13-to-18 and the older 16-to-18 division. The top 21 finishers in the overall  scoring advanced to the Philadelphia Boys Junior Championship at Bellewood with the cut falling at 8-over 80.

   Saggers finished in fifth place in the District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Course last fall to punch his ticket to the state championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort.

   The top finishers in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood will earn a trip to the Boys Junior PGA Championship, one of the top national events for junior golfers, which will be held Aug. 2 to 5 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, Ill. Both the boys and girls championships, conducted by the PGA of America, will be held simultaneously at Cog Hill in that first week of August.

   Thomas Lynch, a senior at Scranton Prep from Dunmore, also finished in red figures as he made five birdies in a 1-under 71 that enabled him to finish a shot behind Saggers in second place in the overall 13-to-18 scoring.

   Starting off the 10^th tee, Thomas Lynch made birdies at the 10^th, 11^th, 18^th, first and fifth holes and had nine pars on his scorecard. For some reason, Thomas Lynch was not included in the 16-to-18 scoring.

   Quakertown sophomore Nick Joyce, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, also started off the back nine at Pine Meadows and made birdies at 12^th, 15^th, second, fourth and eighth holes and had nine pars on his card as he matched par with a 72 to finish in third place in the overall scoring and in second place among the older guys.

   Joyce finished strong, touring the outgoing nine at Pine Meadows, his back nine, in 1-under 35.

   The two top finishers in the younger 13-to-15 division, John Curran of Malvern and Dylan Ramsey, playing close to his Lebanon home, finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the overall scoring. Curran recorded a solid 1-over 73 while Ramsey carded a 2-over 74.

   Logan Wagner, a Solanco junior who earned a trip to last summer’s U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at the Country Club of North Carolina, Jaden Minter, a junior on Spring-Ford’s Pioneer Athletic Conference championship team and Downingtown West junior Brady Manning finished in a three-way tie for sixth place in the overall scoring, each landing on 3-over 75. The trio also finished in a tie for third place in the 16-to-18 division.

   Wagner, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, made birdies at the second, sixth, eighth, 12^th and 16^th holes and had seven pars on his scorecard. Minter made birdies at the fifth, eighth and 12^th holes and registered nine pars in his steady round. Manning made birdies at the first, eighth, 10^th, 16^th and 18^th holes and had eight pars on his card.

   Spring-Ford junior Luke Fazio, the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s individual champion and a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in a strong fall campaign, headed a group of five players tied for ninth place in the overall scoring with a 76. Fazio did not appear on the 16-to-18 division list.

   Scranton Prep senior Michael Lynch III of Dunmore’s Team Lynch, a PIAA Class AA qualifier last fall, and Lane Krosse of York were also part of the large group tied for ninth place in the overall scoring, each carding a 76, and they finished in a tie for sixth place in the 16-to-18 division.

   Rounding out the quintet tied for ninth place in the overall scoring at 76 were Mason Tucker of York and Quin Zuegner of New Hope. They also finished in a tie for third place in the 13-to-15 division.

   Jarred Berish of Pottstown and Luke Evans of Bryn Mawr finished in eighth and ninth place, respectively, in the 16-to-18 division and 14^th and 15^th place, respectively, in the overall scoring as Berish carded a 77 and Evans registered a 78.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Garnet Valley senior Matt Pulcinella, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, Maxwell Wager of State College and Andrew Bilson of Lititz, each of whom carded a 79 to finish in a tie for 10^th place. They were part of a five-way tie for 16^th place in the overall scoring, earning them a spot in the field at Bellewood next month.

   Michael Felty of Selinsgrove finished in 13^th place in the 16-to-18 division with an 80 that enabled him to finish alone in 21^st place in the overall scoring and grab the last berth available to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.

   The 1-over 73 posted by Malvern’s Curran also gave him the top spot in the 13-to-15 division. After making a birdie on the fifth hole, Curran eagled the par-5 10^th hole and birdied the 17^th hole. He also had 11 pars on his scorecard.

   The 2-over 74 recorded by Lebanon’s Ramsey enabled him to take second place in the 13-to-15 division. Ramsey made birdies at fifth, 10^th and 11^th holes and had 11 pars on his card.

   York’s Tucker started on the back nine, making birdies at the 14^th, 15^th, 18^th, first and fifth holes and had seven pars on his scorecard and New Hope’s Zuegner made birdies at the ninth, 11^th and 15^th holes and had seven of his 10 pars in a front nine of even-par 36 as they shared third place among the younger guys and joined Fazio, Michael Lynch III and Lane Krosse in a tie for ninth place in the overall scoring at 4-over 76.

   Michael Liu of Garnet Valley and Reed Krosse of York’s Team Krosse and a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman at Dallastown last fall, each posted a 79 to finish in a tie for fifth place in the 13-to-15 division and were the last of the younger guys to punch their ticket to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship. They shared 16^th place in the overall scoring with Pulcinella, Wager and Bilson.

   Kaden Heckman of Stevens finished alone in seventh place in the 13-to-15 division with an 83.

   Austin Zweizig of Mohrsville and Carson Jakuc of Newtown Square shared eighth place among the younger guys, each finishing a shot behind Heckman with an 84.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 13-to-15 were Colton Orris of Hershey and Christopher Sung of Paoli as each carded an 85 to finish in a tie for 10^th place.

   It was a regular Philly Junior Tour stop for the girls. The Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship will also be held July 11 at Laurel Creek Country Club and will be open to any girls in the 13-to-18 age group in the Philly Junior Tour area.

   The best score among the girls at Pine Meadows came out of the younger 13-to-15 age group as Jillian Burks of Paoli edged Sarah Stumacher of Gladwyne by a shot with a solid 82. Burks’ round featured 11 pars, including six straight from the eighth through the 13^th holes.

   Stumacher finished a shot behind Burks with an 83 that included a birdie at the 16^th hole and seven pars. Giula Weisser of Reading took third place as she made seven pars on her way to a solid 89.

   Naaz Mehta of Newtown took fourth place with a 93 and Makenna Heckman of Stevens’ Team Heckman rounded out the scoring in the 13-to-15 division as she finished in fifth place with a 97.

   Oley Valley junior Heidi Wegscheider was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and she claimed the victory with a 99 that was highlighted by a birdie at the 18^th hole and a pair of pars.

   Winston Chew of Exton easily bested the field of nine-holers with a 3-over 39 that included a birdie at the ninth hole and five pars.

   Ethan Clouser of Newtown and Isabelle Studli of Fairfax shared runnerup honors as each landed on 48. Clouser made a par on the third hole and Studli had three pars on her scorecard.

   Dane Mohap of Nazareth took fourth place with a 50, Noor Mehta of Newtown’s Team Mehta was fifth with a 52 and Tara Griscavage of Mechanicsburg rounded out the field in the coed 12-and-under division as she finished alone in sixth with a 55.