Mazzalupi, Sieben head list of 2023 Philly Junior Tour award winners

 

   Shaun Mazzalupi was a consistent performer for head coach Andy Achenbach’s Radnor golf team the last three years.

   Mazzalupi finished up his scholastic career this fall by earning a third straight trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship. Mazzalupi finished in a tie for 20^th place with a 2-over-par 146 total at Penn State’s Blue Course in his final appearance in the state tournament.

   Mazzalupi showed that same kind of consistency on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour in 2023 and his effort was rewarded this week when he was named the Player of the Year in the 16-to-18 division.

   Mazzalupi teed it up 16 times in Philly Junior Tour events and won four times. The wins, combined with typically high finishes in other events, enabled Mazzalupi to pile up 1,158 points.

   Mazzalupi lost in a playoff for the overall title in a two-day Philly Junior Tour event at Hickory Valley in June, a stop that always draws one of the most competitive fields of the summer. Mazzalupi finished with a 15-over 158 total over Hickory Valley’s challenging Ambassador and Presidential layouts.

   Mazzalupi also had a strong showing in the Christman Cup, one of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s major championships for junior players, finishing in fourth place with a 2-under 140 total in brutally hot conditions at Gulph Mills Golf Club, a classic Donald Ross design.

   While many of the junior players wilted in the heat in the second round in the one-day 36-hole test, Mazzalupi, playing out of Philadelphia Cricket Club, had the best round of the afternoon with a 3-under 68.

   The Philly Junior Tour had been going with wraparound seasons with the points race starting in the fall and running through the end of the summer. But the PJT reverted to a calendar-year season in determining the winners of the Player of the Year and Sam Penecale Scoring Average awards in 2023.

   Penecale was the longtime head pro at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club who was a big advocate for junior golf in the region.

   The Scoring Average award in the 16-to-18 division went to Ethan Legarda of Voorhees, N.J. as he put together a solid 75.91 average. Legarda averaged 39 on the front nine and 36.8 on the back nine and had 16 holes of par or better this season.

   Legarda was at his best in the Philly Junior Tour’s biggest event of the summer, the Tour Championship, as he was the top finisher among the older guys and in second place overall with a solid 1-over 71 over a tough Chester Valley Golf Club layout in East Whiteland, Chester County.

   Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. displayed the same kind of consistency Mazzalupi showed as Sieben captured Player of the Year honors in the 13-to-15 division.

   Sieben won four times in 20 Philly Junior Tour starts and was nearly always in contention as he ended up with 15 top-10 finishes. Sieben piled up 1,498.67 points to lead the group of younger guys.

   Downingtown West freshman Ian Larsen captured the Scoring Average award in the 13-to-15 division with a solid 75.2 average. Larsen averaged 38.1 on the front nine and 37.6 on the back nine and had 28 holes of birdie or better during the season.

   Larsen had a bustout performance in the Philly Junior Tour Championship at Chester Valley as he claimed the overall title, beating a field that included a lot of talented older players, with a sparkling 1-under 69.

   In the other three Philly Junior Tour divisions, a single player swept the Player of the Year and the Scoring Average awards.

   In the case of the 16-to-18 girls that was Kiran Bagga, a junior at Germantown Academy from Blue Bell. Bagga teed it up in four Philly Junior Tour events and won twice, piling up 142 points in the process.

   Bagga also won the Scoring Average award among the older gals with an 82.57 average. Bagga’s average on the front nine was 41.6 and 41.5 on the back nine and she had six birdies or better during the season.

   Bagga was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and finished second in the overall scoring in the two-day Philly Junior Tour stop at Hickory Valley with a 169 total.

   Archmere Academy sophomore Meredith Finger was the Player of the Year in the 13-to-15 division as she entered four tournaments and finished first in all four while piling up 258 points.

   Finger, the runnerup in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association championship as a freshman last spring at Baywood Greens in Long Neck, Del., made it a sweep in the division as she took the Scoring Average award among the younger gals with a 79.6 average.

   Finger averaged 40.0 on the front nine and 39.6 on the back nine and had four birdies or better for the season. Finger’s solid 78 in the Philly Junior Tour Championship at Chester Valley earned her the top spot in the 13-to-15 division and she finished in second place in the overall scoring.

   Finger also claimed a runnerup finish in the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls’ Championship at the Moorestown Field Club.

   Rayan Shah of Newtown dominated the coed 12-and-under division as he won 21 times in 43 starts while ending up with a whopping 2,354 points.

   Even more impressive was that Shah’s 21 wins came against a group of nine-holers that flashed plenty of talent. You’re going to be hearing more from a bunch of the guys who were competing in the Philly Junior Tour’s coed 12-and-under division for years to come.

   One of Shah’s biggest wins came at the showcase Philly Junior Tour Championship as he carded a solid 3-over 38 at Chester Valley.

   Shah made it a sweep in the coed 12-and-under division as he captured the Scoring Average award with a 40.26 average. Shah had 24 birdies and two eagles during the season.

   Another big win for Shah came at the Philly Junior Tour two-day event at Turtle Creek Golf Course in Limerick as he finished with a 7-over 79.

   With the Philly Junior Tour dishing out its awards for the 2023 season, it’s always a good opportunity to give a shout-out to all the parents who put some miles on their vehicles driving to every imaginable golf course in the tri-state area to give their youngsters a chance to compete. I’m guessing some car-pooling goes on, too.

   The effort to get your kids to the golf course keeps paying off with improvement that is all too obvious just by looking at scores that keep going lower.

   The Player of the Year and Sam Penecale Scoring Average award winners were honored at a season-ending Philly Junior Awards Banquet at Fairways & Dreams Indoor Golf in Conshohocken Monday.

   After the awards were handed out, there was time to get on a simulator for a winter practice session. After all, the 2024 season will be here before you know it.