Ethan Legarda of Voorhees, N.J. and Justin Forman of Sewell, N.J. had the best rounds of the day as each carded a 4-over 75 to share the top spot in the 16-to-18 division as the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour made a stop at Laurel Creek Country Club in Mount Laurel, N.J. July 18th.
The stop at Laurel Creek brought out a very competitive field with a lot of South Jersey’s top junior players obviously making it a point to include this date on their schedule.
Legarda made birdies at the eighth, 16th and 18th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard. Forman made birdies at the first, fifth and 13th holes and had nine pars on his card, including a streak of seven in a row from the sixth through the 12th holes.
Matthew Normand of Lumberton, N.J., playing on his home course at Laurel Creek, headed a group of three more players tied for third place at 5-over 76 that also included Brady Geatens of Williamstown, N.J. and Brian Cotter of Cherry Hill, N.J. as only one shot separated the top five finishers among the older guys.
Normand, who won the Philly Junior Tour stop at Laurel Creek with a sizzling 63 two summers ago, made a birdie at the 15th hole and had 11 pars on his card. Normand will join the program at Drexel later this summer.
Cotter had a similar round to Normand’s as he made a birdie at the 15th hole and had 11 pars on his card. Geatens was steady with 13 pars on his card, running off a string of eight straight pars from the ninth through the 16th holes.
Teddy Davy of Bryn Mawr and Alex Topping of Philadelphia finished in a tie for sixth place, each posting a 78. Trevor Dendler of Yardley ended up alone in eighth place with a 79.
Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Isaiah Garcia of Runnemede, N.J. and a couple of Medford, N.J. guys, Connor Breen and Brayden Tritsch, as they each recorded an 85 to finish in a tie for ninth place.
There was a crowd at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division as well as Drake Brogan of Ocean View, N.J. and P.J. Foley of Northfield, N.J. shared first place as each carded a 5-over 76.
Brogan made birdies at the ninth and 14th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard, touring the incoming nine at Laurel Creek in even-par 35. Foley had birdies at the fifth, eighth, 14th and 15th holes and had seven pars on his card.
Much like the older group, there was a three-way tie for third place in the 13-to-15 division as Patrick Hiltner, another Northfield, N.J. entry, Jackson Lane of Cinnaminson, N.J. and Paul Reilly of West Creek, N.J. each carded a 77 that left them just a shot behind Brogan and Foley.
Hiltner made a birdie on the 17th hole and had 10 pars on his card, Lane matched Hiltner’s birdie at 17 and also had 10 pars on his card and Reilly made birdies at the fifth and ninth holes and had nine pars on his card.
Radnor sophomore Brad McDermott and Jackson Bodony of Stafford Township, N.J. finished in a tie for sixth place, each registering a 79.
Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were three players – Christopher Mark Parrish of Woolwich Township, N.J., Benjamin Robbins of Holland and Jason Piccoli of Berlin, N.J. – who finished in a tie for eighth place, each carding an 82.
Parrish was coming off a victory a day earlier in a Philly Junior Tour stop at Berkleigh Golf Club in Kutztown, Berks County.
The best score in the girls divisions at Laurel Creek came out of the 13-to-15 division as Macai Klein of Moorestown, N.J. had five pars on her scorecard while posting an 88 to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory.
Amita Oberoi of Cherry Hill, N.J. had two pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors among the younger girls with a 100. Maya Kuminka of Mickleton, N.J. made three straight pars at the 13th, 14th and 15th holes to take third place with a 102.
Nicole Tarquinio of Bridgeton, N.J. landed in fourth place with a 112 and Masey Heenan of Ocean City, N.J. rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished a shot behind Tarquinio in fifth with a 113.
Katherine Lee, playing close to her Mount Laurel, N.J. home, made a par on the 15th hole on her way to a 98 that gave her a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division.
Carly Kuminka, another member of Team Kuminka out of Mickleton, N.J., rounded out a short field of older girls as she had three pars on her scorecard to earn runnerup honors with a 101.
Logan Turner of Berwyn has been near the top of the leaderboard a lot lately and he made four pars to best the field of nine-holers with a 6-over 41 over Laurel Creek’s back nine.
Jason Leekley of Moorestown, N.J. made birdies on the 14th and 15th holes and had a par at 12 as he finished a shot behind Turner in second place with a 7-over 42.
Gavin Lane, another member of Team Lane out of Cinnaminson, N.J., and Rayan Shah of Newtown were two shots behind Leekley in a tie for third place, each registering a 44.
Gavin Lane made a birdie on the 17th hole and had a par at 12. Shah, who has been playing solid golf all spring and summer, had five pars on his scorecard.
Max Davis of Newtown Square and Grayson McCann of Downingtown shared fifth place, each recording a 45.
Ethan Meersman of Fort Washington took seventh place with a 46, Bobby Stefanski, another Newtown Square entry, was eighth with a 47 and David Gilman of Cape May Court House, N.J. was ninth with a 50.
Rounding out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division was Kunai Khandhar of Moorestown, N.J. as he finished alone in 10th place with a 51.
