York Suburban's Ekstrom claims Philly Junior Tour win with sizzling 67 at Regents' Glen

 

   York Suburban junior Andrew Ekstrom, playing close to his York home at Regents’ Glen Country Club, put together a masterpiece with a 5-under-par 67 to capture a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 age group May 18^th.

   It wasn’t like Regents’ Glen was playing easy for anyone else as the next best score in either boys division was a 5-over 77.

   But Ekstrom went off on the outgoing nine at Regents’ Glen, ripping off birdies at the fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth holes in a scintillating front-nine 31. He added birdies at the 14^th and 17^th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard to win the division by 10 shots.

   Luke Canino of Sewell, N.J. made birdies at the first and 16^th holes and had four pars on his card as he claimed runnerup honors in the 16-to-18 division with a 5-over 77.

   Perkiomen Valley sophomore Alex Hall had a steady round as he had 13 pars on his card, finishing up with seven straight pars, as he took third place among the older guys with a 78, a shot behind Canino.

   Caiden Jordan of Rising Sun, Md. took fourth place with an 80, Archmere Academy sophomore Michael Liu was fifth with an 82, Brennan Dewitt, another York guy playing close to home, was sixth with an 88 and Michael Miller of Hershey was seventh with an 89.

   Boyertown sophomore Will Swartley took eighth place with a 92 and Mason Umbrell of Hershey rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division, finishing ninth with a 94.

   Ryan Sun of Morganville, N.J. had 13 pars on his scorecard, including nine pars in a row from the third through the 11^th holes, as his steady 5-over 77 left him atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division.

   Gus Stoltzfus of Lincoln University and Ty Sheftic, coming off a solid freshman season at Wissahickon last fall, shared runnerup honors as each ended up a shot behind Sun with a 78.

   Stoltzfus got off to a fast start with birdies at the first two holes, added another birdie at nine and had eight pars on his card. Sheftic made a birdie at the seventh hole and had 10 pars on his card.

   Michael Gravinese of Linfield took fourth place with a 79 and Wyatt Underwood of Telford and Pierce Drake of Glenmoore shared fifth place, each recording an 81.

   Tyler Myers of York and Mason Peart of Littlestown finished in a tie for seventh place, each posting an 83, and Anthony Gracey, another member of a big contingent of York players at Regents’ Glen, was ninth with an 84.

   Ian Rotto of Kennett Square rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished alone in 10^th place with an 87.

   Xinyuan Li of Pottstown made birdies at the seventh and 16^th holes and had 11 pars on her scorecard as she captured a Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 16-to-18 division with a solid 6-over 78.

   Central Bucks South junior Sophia Branca and Warwick sophomore Emily Stauffer shared runnerup honors in the 16-to-18 division, each landing on 90. Branca had five pars on her card and Stauffer made birdies at the seventh and ninth holes and had five pars on her card.

   Manheim Township junior Alana Cristino took fourth place with a 102 and Andi Jones of Glenside rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as she finished fifth with a 103.

   Jill Burks, who capped a solid freshman season at Conestoga by earning a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship, made birdies at the ninth, 11^th and 17^th holes and had eight pars on her scorecard as she topped the field in the 13-to-15 division with an 80.

   Burks led the Pioneers to the District One Class AAA team crown.

   Vidushi Gupta of Malvern made a birdie at the 10^th hole and had five pars on her card as she was the runnerup in the 13-to-15 division with an 88. Raegan Young of Middletown made a birdie at the 16^th hole and had four pars on her card as she finished in third place with a 96.

   Hadley Stetson of Newtown Square rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she took fourth place with a 119.

   Drew Gebhard of Lebanon had four pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 7-over 43.

  Jack Kolmer of Wayne had three pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 45. Preston Minio of Lansdale had a par on the fourth hole as he finished a shot behind Kolmer in third place with a 46.

   Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. took fourth place with a 47 and Benjamin Adkins of Lewes, Del. rounded out the field in the coed 12-and-under division as he finished fifth with a 48.