McDermott, Liu each post a 71 at Bensalem Township to share top spot in Philly Junior Tour stop

 

   Brad McDermott, who capped a solid sophomore season at Radnor by earning a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State, and Archmere Academy sophomore Michael Liu shared top honors, each carding a 5-over-par 71 on a cold and windy early spring Saturday in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Bensalem Township Country Club.

   Par was just 66 at the Bensalem Township layout as the 12^th hole was unplayable. The release from the Philly Junior Tour confirmed my suspicion that the relentless rains earlier in the week played a role in the decision not to play the 12^th hole.

   McDermott, the son of three-time BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion Michael McDermott, really came into his own late in last fall’s scholastic season. While McDermott punched his ticket to the state tournament he also helped the Raptors nearly steal a District One Class AAA team crown as they finished a shot out of a playoff for the title between Unionville, the ultimate winner, and Spring-Ford.

   McDermott made birdies at the seventh and 17 holes at Bensalem Township and had nine pars on his scorecard, including five straight to open his round, to get a share of first place in the 16-to-18 division.

   Michael Liu, whose scholastic season in Delaware is just getting under way, made birdies at the second, ninth and 15^th holes and had nine pars on his card to match McDermott and get his piece of the top spot.

   Justin Marcus, a sophomore on the Downingtown West golf team last fall, made a birdie on the third hole and had seven pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 10-over 76.

   Andrew Rendigan of Havertown and Brandon Harrigan of Warrington finished two shots behind Marcus in a tie for fourth place, each signing for a 78. Will Walsh, a junior at Radnor and a teammate of McDermott’s on the golf team, finished alone in sixth place with a 79.

   Mitchell Bromberg of Pipersville and Bowen Liu of Morganville, N.J. shared seventh place, each posting an 80 and Ethan Cenci of Furlong was two shots behind Bromberg and Bowen Liu in ninth place with an 82.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was Sullen Leon-Bromley of Wallingford as he finished in 10^th place with an 83.

   Haverford School freshman Jack Luterman, an Ardmore resident, made a birdie at the sixth hole and had eight pars on his scorecard as he finished atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with an 8-over 74.

   Chase Gillie of Newtown made a birdie on the third hole and had eight pars on his card, seven of them in a front nine of even-par 35 over the Bensalem Township layout, as he finished two shots behind Luterman in second place with a 76.

   Benjamin Robbins of Holland and Drake Brogan of Ocean View, N.J. shared third place, each landing on 78. Robbins was steady with eight pars on his card while Brogan made birdies at the third, seventh and 11^th holes and had three pars on his card.

   Quinn Gallagher of Bryn Mawr took fifth place with a 79, Wissahickon freshman Ty Sheftic was sixth with an 80, Julian Frustaci of Haverford was seventh with an 81 and Anthony Gracey of York was eighth with an 82.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. and Vyom Shukla of Berwyn as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each tallying an 83.

   Team Mehta of Newtown accounted for the winners of both girls divisions at Bensalem Township.

   Noor Mehta had nine pars on her scorecard as she had the best round among the girls, a 10-over 76, to claim a victory in the 13-to-15 division.

   Madison Cabot, another Newtown entry, had two pars on her card as she was the runnerup in the division with a 93. Isha Garg of Berlin, Md. made a par on the third hole on her way to a 97 that earned her a third-place finish.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division were Juliana Gatt of Newtown and Christina St. Pierre of Yardley as they finished in a tie for fourth place, each recording a 118.

Naas Mehta was nearly as solid as Noor Mehta was as Naas Mehta had seven pars on her scorecard to capture a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with a 78.

   Rounding out a short field of older girls was Daria Yohe of Willow Grove as she made a par on the eighth hole to claim runnerup honors with a 102.

  Adam Revness of Yardley had four pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 6-over 41.

   John (Jack) Shea of Harleysville and Ryan Dungan of Warrington finished in a tie for second place, each ending up four shots behind Adam Revness with a 45. A par on the eighth hole highlighted Shea’s round while Dungan had two pars on his card.

   There was a logjam of five players tied for fourth place at 47 that included Jaxson Refold of Bryn Mawr, Patrick Thomas of Hockessin, Del., Jack Kolmer of Wayne, Cole Miller of York and Nathan Lavin of Burlington, N.J.

   Ben Revness, another member of Yardley’s Team Revness, finished alone in ninth place with a 50.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division were David Gilman of Cape May Court House, N.J. and Matthew Bowman of Newtown as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each tallying a 51.