Episcopal Academy junior Hunter Stetson has been one of the Inter-Ac League’s best players the last two falls.
As a sophomore, Stetson, a product of the junior program at Aronimink Golf Club, won the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual championship at Bluestone Country Club. Last fall, after finishing second in the Inter-Ac’s regular-season individual points standings, Stetson finished in third place in the Bert Linton in a tense three-way battle with eventual winner Davis Conaway of Malvern Prep and Germantown Academy standout Ajeet Bagga.
Stetson’s obvious talent was on display in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop Saturday at Landis Creek Golf Club in Limerick as he carded a sparkling 2-under-par 68 to cruise to a five-shot victory in the 16-to-18 division.
The April 1st weather was something of an April Fool’s joke as cool and rainy conditions prevailed through late morning until a little after noon when the skies suddenly parted and the temperature surged to the low 70s. Play at Landis Creek was long completed when the skies suddenly darkened and severe storms blasted through the region.
Stetson was unbothered by the changing conditions as he made a birdie at the third hole before adding an eagle at the par-5 seventh. He added two more birdies on the incoming nine at Landis Creek at the 12th and 15th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard in finishing in red figures for the day.
Central Dauphin junior Joey Sembrot and Ken Fernandes, again invading the Philly Junior Tour from Chappaqua, N.Y., finished in a tie for second place, each landing on 3-over 73, five shots behind Stetson.
Sembrot ripped off three straight birdies at the fifth, sixth and seventh holes and had 10 pars on his card. Fernandes had birdies on the seventh and 17th holes and had 12 pars on his card.
Radnor junior Shaun Mazzalupi, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, headed a group of three players tied for fourth place at 6-over 76, three shots behind Sembrot and Fernandes. Mazzalupi was joined at 6-over by Joshua Freeman of Middletown, Del. and Luke Tappeiner of Northfield, N.J.
Liam Shearn of Ardmore registered a 77 to finish alone in seventh place.
Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was a quartet of four players who finished in a tie for eighth place at 79, including Boyertown sophomore Chase Dillman, Twin Valley junior Shayne O’Doherty, Perkiomen Valley junior Ayush Patel and Souderton junior Shane Callahan.
Seiji Sako, who capped his freshman season at Lower Merion last fall by earning a spot in the District One Class AAA Championship, finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 5-over 75.
Sako made birdies on the fifth, 15th, 17th and 18th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard. The kid took a 9 on the par-4 14th hole, but bounced right back with those three birdies on his last four holes.
Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. made a birdie at the 17th hole and had 10 pars on his scorecard, including a run of six straight from the sixth through the 11th holes, to earn runnerup honors with a 77.
Jackson Lane of Cinnaminson, N.J. made a birdie on the fifth hole and had eight pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 79.
Colby Komancheck of Royersford took fourth place with an 80, Benjamin Boyanoski of Scranton was fifth with an 81 and Colin McAskin of New York City and Avery O’Neill of Romansville finished in a tie for sixth, each posting an 83.
Collin Schreiber of Kunkletown and Jake Luterman of Ardmore finished in a tie for eighth place, each landing on 84, and Chase Gillie of Newtown rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he ended up alone in 10th with an 85.
The best score among the girls emerged from the 13-to-15 division as Meredith Finger of Wilmington, Del. made a birdie at the seventh hole and had 10 pars on her scorecard on her way to a solid 8-over 78.
Finger already has a nice Junior Tour win under her belt this spring as she was the overall girls winner in last month’s two-day event in difficult conditions at Seaview Golf Club at the Jersey Shore.
Hannah Webb of Woolwich, N.J. earned runnerup honors among the younger girls as she had six pars on her card, five of them on Landis Creek’s outgoing nine, to record an 85. Megan Choi of Penn Valley made a par on the seventh hole as she finished in third place with a 96.
Zuzu Connolly of Wilmington, Del. took fourth place with a 97, Giulia Weisser of Reading was fifth with a 99 and Saloni Patel, another member of Collegeville’s Team Patel, rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished sixth with a 104.
Myra Glass of Camden Wyoming, Del. made a par on the sixth hole as she captured top honors in the 16-to-18 division with a 97.
Central Bucks South sophomore Sophia Branca had three pars as she finished just a shot behind Glass in second place with a 98. Annabel Willenbecher of Collegeville rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as she finished in third place with a 129.
Rayan Shah of Newtown bested the field of nine-holers as he had five pars on his scorecard while posting a 5-over 41,
Preston Mino of Lansdale and Ben Meixell of Wilmington, Del. shared runnerup honors as they finished two shots behind Shah, each carding a 43. Minio made back-to-back pars on the fourth and fifth holes while Meixell made back-to-back birdies at five and six after making a par at four.
Taimoor Naseem of Sinking Spring finished alone in fourth place with a 45 and Henry Sokol of Villanova and Joseph Aronson of Souderton finished in a tie for fifth, each recording a 46.
Nathan Levin of Burlington, N.J. took seventh place with a 47, Jason Leekley of Moorestown, N.J. was eighth with a 49 and Nathan Lobo of Collegeville was ninth with a 50.
Rounding out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division field was the trio of Samuel Karas of Blue Bell, Landon Chung of Garnet Valley and Jack Sokol, another member of Villanova’s Team Sokol, all of whom came in with a 52 to finish in a tie for 10th place.
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