Devon Prep's Curran the medalist in Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA qualifier with a 70 at Pine Meadows

 

   Last fall, John Curran was a key player as a junior in Devon Prep’s run to the PIAA Class AA team championship at Penn State.

   It’s almost mid-June, so I guess it’s time to start referring to the guys and girls competing on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour by the grade they’re headed into, which would make John Curran, a Malvern resident, a senior.

   Regardless of his class, John Curran was the best player on the golf course in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship qualifier June 2^nd at the Pine Meadows Golf Complex in Lebanon with a sparkling 2-under-par 70.

   John Curran headed a group of 23 boys who qualified for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, a one-day 36-hole tournament July 1 at Bellewood Country Club in North Coventry Township across the Schuylkill River from Pottstown.

   A couple of the top finishers at Bellewood will punch their ticket to the Boys Junior PGA Championship, one of the marquee national junior events which will tee off July 30 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

   The qualifiers came out of the overall 13-to-18 age group for the boys. The Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 divisions, so I’ll round them up while referring to the overall qualifying for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.

   John Curran went off to the tune of six birdies in his round at Pine Meadows, making birdies at the fifth, seventh, 11^th, 12^th, 17^th and 18^th holes with nine pars on his scorecard to get it into red figures. That gave John Curran the top spot in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring.

   John Curran had to be good because Malvern Prep senior Michael Henry also got it into red figures, finishing in second place in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring with a 1-under 71.

   The talented left-hander, the runnerup in the Bert Linton Invitational, the Inter-Ac League’s individual championship, last fall at Aronimink Golf Club, made birdies at the second, 10^th and 11^th holes. Henry, a Wayne resident, had 13 pars on his card, including seven straight pars to close out a sparkling 2-under 34 on the incoming nine at Pine Meadows.

   State College senior Chris Warner matched par with a 72 to finish in third place among the older guys and in the overall scoring. Warner had a steady round with birdies at the first and fourth holes and 14 pars on his card. Warner matched the card on the back nine with nine straight pars to close out his round.

   Gregor Weissenberger, a senior at The Haverford School and winner of the Bert Linton Invitational at his home course at Aronimink last fall, finished in fourth place in the 16-to-18 division and sixth overall with a 3-over 75. Weissenberger was a key contributor for the Fords in their run to an Inter-Ac championship last fall.

   York Suburban senior Andrew Ekstrom, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, and Boyertown senior Chase Dillman finished a shot behind Weissenberger in a tie for fifth place among the older guys and in a tie for seventh in the overall scoring as each recorded a 4-over 76.

   One of Weissenberger’s teammates on Haverford School’s Inter-Ac championship team, junior Sean Curran, finished in seventh place in the 16-to-18 division and ninth in the overall standings with a 5-over 77.

   Sean Curran, a Newtown Square resident, was coming off a seven-shot victory in the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour’s Philly Junior Open at Scotland Run Golf Club over the Memorial Day weekend.

   Justin Marcus, a junior at Downingtown West, finished a shot behind Sean Curran with a 6-over 78 to finish in eighth place in the 16-to-18 division and in a tie for 10^th in the overall scoring with three players from the 13-to-15 division.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was a foursome of players tied for ninth place at 80 that included Devon Prep junior Chris Pullano, one of John Curran’s teammates on the Tide’s state championship team last fall, Hershey junior Keegan Redmond, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, Tyler Kulick of Mount Royal, N.J. and Cedar Crest senior Isaac Wolfe.

   That foursome finished in a tie for 18^th place in the overall scoring with two players from the 13-to-15 division, including yet another member of Devon Prep’s Class AA state championship team, sophomore Andrew Carroccio. Those six players grabbed the final tickets to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood.

   Quin Zuegner of New Hope made birdies at the fourth, sixth, 15^th and 16^th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard as he finished atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division and fourth in the overall scoring with a solid 1-over 73.

   West Chester Henderson sophomore Charlie Isler made birdies at the fifth and 12^th holes and had 13 pars on his card, including six straight pars to close out his round, as he was the runnerup to Zuegner in the 13-to-15 division and fifth in the overall standings with a 2-over 74.

   Dover junior Lawson Leeper, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, Onyu Park of Blue Bell and Frederik Hartmann of Devon finished in a tie for third place among the younger guys and in a tie for 10^th in the overall standings with Downingtown West’s Marcus, each tallying a 6-over 78.

   Leeper made birdies at the fifth and 14^th holes and had 10 pars on his card, including six in a row from the sixth through the 11^th holes. Park made birdies at the 12^th and 16^th holes and had 10 pars on his card. Hartmann’s steady round featured 14 pars and he patiently grinded out 10 straight pars to open his round.

   Wissahickon sophomore Ty Sheftic, Ian Rotto of Kennett Square, Ryan Sun of Morganville, N.J. and Quinn Marshall of Wilmington, Del. each signed for a 7-over 79 that left them in a tie for sixth place in the 13-to-15 division and in a tie for 14^th in the overall standings.

   Devon Prep’s Carroccio, a Newtown Square resident, and Quinn Gallagher of Bryn Mawr rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each posting an 80.

   Carroccio and Gallagher joined the foursome from the 16-to-18 division in grabbing the final tickets to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship qualifier at Bellewood. Pretty impressive how many of the guys from the younger 13-to-15 division, 11 in all, who advanced out of the qualifier at Pine Meadows.

   The best score among the girls at Pine Meadows came out of the 13-to-15 division as Stella Bernardi of Sewell, N.J. made birdies at the 10^th and 14^th holes and had six pars on her scorecard on her way to an 87.

   Conestoga sophomore Corinne McReynolds and Marietta Hartmann, another member of Devon’s Team Hartmann, rounded out a short field in the 13-to-15 division as they finished in a tie for second place, each landing on 95.

   McReynolds, who helped the Pioneers capture the District One Class AAA team crown as a freshman last fall, made a birdie on the 16^th hole and had three pars on her card. Marietta Hartmann had five pars on her card.

   Hannah Kopac of State College was the lone entry in the girls 16-to-18 division and she had three pars on her scorecard in claiming a Philly Junior Tour victory with a 96.

   Taimoor Naseem of Sinking Spring and Drew Gebhard, playing close to his Lebanon home, shared the top spot among the nine-holers, each signing for a solid 2-over 38.

   Naseem made back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes and had five pars on his scorecard and Gebhard made birdies at the first, fourth and fifth holes and had three pars on his card.

   Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. and Jaxson Refold of Bryn Mawr finished in a tie for third place, each registering a 7-over 43. Wang closed out his round with a birdie at the ninth hole and had two pars on his card. Refold had four pars on his card.

   Cole Miller of York took fifth place with a 48 and Noah Howard of Lafayette Hill rounded out the field in the coed 12-and-under division as he finished sixth with a 57.