Ciccarelli passes tough test at Great Bear to claim a Junior Tour victory

   James Ciccarelli of Danville, playing in the younger 13-to-15 division, had the day’s best score, an 8-over-par 79, as he claimed a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory Sunday at Great Bear Golf & Country Club in East Stroudsburg.

   Ciccarelli made a birdie on the fifth hole and had 10 pars on his scorecard on he was the only player to come in under 80 over the tough par-71 Jack Nicklaus-designed Great Bear layout.

   Yaejoon Wee of Chesterbrook closed his round with a birdie at the 18^th hole and had nine pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with an 84. Eddie Gebhardt of Swarthmore had six pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 91.

   Anderson Brexler of Doylestown took fourth place with a 93, James Schramek of Chalfont was fifth with a 96, Drake Brogan of Ocean View, Del. was sixth with a 105 and Chase Andrews of Harleysville rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as he finished seventh with a 116.

   Sam Wertmiller, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Selinsgrove a year ago, made birdies at the ninth and 15^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard as he finished atop the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division with an 81.

   Reilly McCullough of Covington Township made a birdie on the seventh hole and had six pars on his card as he finished in second place with a 90. Daniel McNavage of Perkasie made a par on the fourth hole as he ended up in third place with a 110.

   Hunter Banonis of Schuylkill Haven rounded out a small field in the 16-to-18 division as he finished in fourth place with a 128.

   It was a 1-2 finish, respectively, for a couple of Nazareth guys among the nine-holers as Dane Mohap, who has dominated a very competitive coed 12-and-under division in 2022, bested the field with a 2-over 38, and Alex DiGiacinto was the runnerup with a 41.

   Mohap, coming off a win in a Philly Junior Tour stop Saturday at Linfield National Golf Club, opened his round with a birdie at the first hole and had five pars on his scorecard in yet another first-place finish. DiGiacinto had five pars on his card as he finished in second place.

   Preston Minio of Lansdale took third place with a 49, Sebastian Meyer of Scranton was fourth with a 53 and Gavin Schraegle of Phoenixville was fifth with a 57.

   Rounding out the field in the coed 12-and-under division was Jaxson Refold of Bryn Mawr as he finished in sixth place with a 58.