Melendez sizzles with a 67 to top list of Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship qualifiers at Valleybrook

 

   Trebor Melendez of Vineland, N.J. made six birdies in a 5-under-par 67 June 12^th at Valleybrook Country Club in Blackwood, N.J. to claim medalist honors in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop that was a qualifier for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.

   Melendez headed a group of 19 players who earned a spot in the field for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, a 36-hole test which will be played July 1 at Bellewood Country Club in North Coventry Township just across the Schuylkill River from Pottstown.

   The top finisher at Bellewood, and a wild card or two, will earn a spot in the Boys Junior PGA Championship, one of the marquee national junior events each summer, which will tee off July 30 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

   The Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 divisions, but the overall qualifying was for players ages 13 to 18. I’ll wrap up the usual Philly Junior Tour divisions while referring to the 19 qualifiers in the overall scoring.

   The 11-year-old Melendez actually finished atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division as an increasingly talented and competitive younger group of guys accounted for 12 of the 19 players who qualified for the Philadelphia Junior Boys PGA Championship.

   Melendez made birdies at the sixth, seventh, ninth, 10^th, 15^th and 17^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard. Melendez toured the incoming nine at Valleybrook in 3-under 33.

   Melendez finished five shots clear of runnerup Hongtao Gu of China as he matched par with a 72 to finish at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division.

   Logan McGinn, a precocious 12-year-old from South Williamsport, made birdies at the 10^th and 16^th holes and had 14 pars on his card – he matched the card on the outgoing nine with nine straight pars – on his way to a 1-over 73 that left him in second place in the 13-to-15 division and in a tie for third place in the overall standings with Haverford School junior Nicky Nemo, the runnerup in the 16-to-18 division.

   Quin Zuegner, a sophomore at The Hill School, and Luke LaScala, a sophomore at Salesianum, finished in a tie for third place among the younger guys and in a tie for fifth place in the overall scoring, each tallying a 2-over 74.

   Zuegner rattled off three straight birdies at the eighth, ninth and 10^th holes, added a fourth birdie at 17 and had nine pars on his card. LaScala made birdies at the second, sixth and eighth holes and had 10 pars on his card, including five straight pars to finish out his round.

   Haverford School sophomore Jack Luterman finished in fifth place in the 13-to-15 division and seventh overall with a 3-over 75.

   Sebastian Park of Lansdale and Judd Fletcher of Moorestown, N.J. finished in a tie for sixth place in the 13-to-15 division and in a tie for eighth in the overall standings as each registered a 4-over 76.

   Logan Turner of Berwyn took eighth place among the younger guys and finished in a tie for 10^th in the overall scoring with Nathan Smith of Chestertown, Md. from the 16-to-18 division as each landed on 5-over 77.

   Episcopal Academy sophomore Liam Crowley, Quinn Gallagher of Bryn Mawr and Landon Finsen of Westampton, N.J. finished in a tie for ninth place in the 13-to-15 division and were part of a five-player logjam tied for 12^th in the overall scoring as each posted a 6-over 78.

   The final player from the 13-to-15 division to punch his ticket to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood was Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. as his 79 left him in 12^th place in the division and in a three-way tie for 17^th overall as he made the cut on the number.

   Sieben was coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory a day earlier at Rancocas Golf Club.

   Gu, the invader from China, made birdies at the second, 10^th and 13^th holes and had 12 pars on his scorecard, including six in a row from the third through the eighth holes, on his way to a 72 that gave him the top spot in the 16-to-18 division and a runnerup finish in the overall scoring.

   Nemo, who helped The Haverford School capture the Inter-Ac League title last fall, made birdies at the ninth, 13^th and 14^th holes and had 11 pars on his card as he registered a 1-over 73 that gave him a runnerup finish in the 16-to-18 division and left him tied for third with McGinn from the 13-to-15 division.

   Smith, coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory a day earlier at Rancocas Golf Club, made a birdie at the fourth hole and had 12 pars on his card, including five straight to finish his round, on his way to a 5-over 77 that left him in third place in the 16-to-18 division and in a tie for 10^th overall with Turner from the 13-to-15 division.

   A couple of Jersey guys, Tommy Marshall of Marlton and Luke Canino of Sewell, each signed for a 6-over 78 to finish in a tie for fourth place among the older guys and join Crowley, Gallagher and Finsen from the 13-to-15 division in a tie for 12^th in the overall standings.

   Abington Heights senior Robert Munley and Michael Reardon of Springfield made the cut to advance to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood on the number as they each carded a 7-over 79 to finish in a tie for sixth place in the 16-to-18 division and in a tie for 17^th overall with Sieben from the 13-to-15 division.

   P.J. Foley of Northfield, N.J. and Tre Lesperance of Chadds Ford finished in a tie for eighth place among the older guys, each recording an 80.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Boyertown senior Chase Dillman and Michael Acchione of Sewell, N.J. as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each tallying an 81.

   Xunnan Dang of Newtown Square bested the field of nine-holers as he made a birdie at the second hole, added an eagle at the par-4 sixth, and had four pars on his scorecard as he matched par with a 36.

   John (Jack) Shea of Harleysville closed out his round with a birdie at the ninth hole and had four pars on his card as he finished three shots behind Dang in second place with a 3-over 39.

   Ryan Comly of Newtown Square made a birdie on the sixth hole as he finished in third place with a 48.

   Another member of Newtown Square’s Team Comly, Stephen Comly III, took fourth place with a 51, Jamie Cahn of Penn Valley was fifth with a 58 and Madison Keeley of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. rounded out the field in the coed 12-and-under division as she finished sixth with a 65.