Joiner goes low at DuPont to cruise to a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Quinten Joiner of Millington, Md. dominated the back nine at DuPont Country Club on the outskirts of Wilmington, Del. on his way to a sparkling 3-under-par 68 that enabled him to capture a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory Monday.

   Joiner, playing out of the younger 13-to-15 division, made a birdie at the seventh hole, went back-to-back with birdies at nine and 10, added another birdie at 14 and had 13 pars on his scorecard. Seven of those pars, along with the birdies at the 10^th and 14^th holes, came on the incoming nine as Joiner toured the back in 2-under 33.

   Joseph Kelly, a sophomore at Salesianum, made an eagle at the par-5 11^th hole, added a birdie at 13 and had 13 pars on his card, including six straight pars from the fifth through the 10^th holes as he earned runnerup honors in the division with a solid 1-over 72.

   Brooks McCall, like Kelly a Wilmington, Del. guy, made birdies at the first and seventh holes and had 12 pars on his card as he finished in third place among the younger guys with a 2-over 73. Seven of McCall’s pars came during a solid 2-under 34 tour of the outgoing nine at DuPont.

   There was another Philly Junior Tour stop Monday at Meadia Heights Golf Club near Lancaster. As you would expect, a lot of the Delaware youngsters came out for the event at DuPont.

   Henry Nowak, a junior at Archmere Academy, took fourth place with a 3-over 74, Jake Hollerback, a sophomore at Sussex Central, was fifth with a 75 and Chase Baker of Huntingdon Valley was sixth with a 76. Nowak helped the Auks capture the team crown in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship at Maple Dale Country Club in May.

   A couple more Wilmington, Del. guys, Luke LaScala and Brendan Schott, and Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. finished in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 6-over 77. LaScala, a sophomore, is a teammate of Kelly’s at Salesianum.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Landon Finsen of Westampton, N.J. and Connor Smolenski of West Chester as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each posting a 7-over 78.

   Yet another Salesianum guy, Anthony Manzi, a senior from just across the Pennsylvania border in Aston, made an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole, a birdie at 11 and had 11 pars on his scorecard, seven of them in a 1-under 35 on DuPont’s front nine, as he claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with a 2-over 73.

   Zachary Freed of Linwood, N.J. made birdies at the second, seventh and 13^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, finishing up his round with fourth straight pars, as he earned runnerup honors with a 3-over 74.

   Harry Traynor of Malvern, Trent Graci, a junior at Springfield High, and Joseph Gangemi Jr. of Downingtown finished in a tie for third place among the older guys, each signing for a 3-over 75.

   Traynor made birdies at the 11^th and 18^th holes and had 10 pars on his card. Graci made a birdie on the eighth hole and had 13 pars on his card, including a run of seven straight pars from the 11^th through the 17^th holes. Joseph Gangemi Jr. made a birdie on the 11^th hole and had 12 pars on his card, including eight straight pars to close out his front nine at DuPont.

   Evan Fulton of Exton and Lyle Petersen of Clarksboro, N.J. finished in a tie for sixth place, each registering a 77, Tyler Kulik of Mount Royal, N.J. was eighth with a 78 and Michael Dignazio, a recent Tower Hill School graduate and a Wilmington, Del. resident, was ninth with a 79.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was the trio of Chuck Hughey of Rehoboth Beach, Del., Michael Reardon of Springfield and Ryan DeLong of Allentown, each of whom tallied an 82 as they finished in a tie for 10^th place.

   One of Nowak’s teammates on Archmere’s Delaware state championship team, Hannah Webb of Woolwich, N.J.. was an impressive winner of the girls 13-to-15 division as she made birdies at the fourth, sixth, seventh and 18^th holes and had 10 pars on her scorecard on her way to a 1-over 73.

   Webb, a sophomore at Archmere, was coming off a solid showing in the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia (WGAP) Junior Girls’ Championship as she finished in a tie for fourth place in the Prep division at Phoenixville Country Club.

   Zuzu Connolly of Wilmington, Del. made an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole, added birdies at nine and 12 and had six pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors with a solid 6-over 78 that left her five shots behind Webb. The par at DuPont for the girls is 72.

   Alaina Carson, who will join the team at Cardinal O’Hara this fall, was another two shots behind Connolly in third place as she made birdies at the seventh and 18^th holes and had eight pars on her card on her way to an 80.

   Carson, a Broomall resident, also had a solid showing in the WGAP Junior Girls as she claimed the top spot in the Futures division at Phoenixville.

   Emily Maurer of Mount Laurel, N.J. finished a shot behind Carson in fourth place with an 81 and Anna Firko, a Wilmington, Del. resident who is a junior at Concord High, ended up fifth with an 84.

   A couple of Downingtown girls, Macyn Linsley and Emma Gangemi, another member of Team Gangemi, accounted for the next two spots on the leaderboard as Linsley took sixth place with an 89 and Emma Gangemi was seventh with a 98.

   Miranda Post of Lincoln University took eighth place with a 99, Molly Wagner of Newark, Del. was ninth with a 101 and Alexa Shure of Malvern rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished in 10^th place with a 104.

   Xunnan Dang of Newtown Square made a birdie on the seventh hole and had seven pars on his scorecard, making pars on the first six holes of his round, as he bested the field of nine-holers with a solid even-par 37.

   Patrick Thomas of Hockessin, Del. made birdies at the third and seventh holes and had two pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 5-over 42 that left him five shots behind Dang.

   Theodore Diamond of Lutherville-Timonium, Md. closed out his round with a birdie at the ninth hole and had three pars on his card as he finished in third place, a shot behind Patrick Thomas with a 43.

   Carter Bove of Kennett Square and Jonathan Thomas of Landenberg ended up in a tie for fourth place, each landing on 44, and Connor Michaels of Lancaster was sixth with a 45.

   Carter Tracy of Smyrna, Del. and Kaycen Subbio of Blue Bell finished in a tie for seventh place, each posting a 46.

   Benjamin Adkins of Lewes, Del. and Michael Perry of Wilmington, Del. rounded out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each recording a 47.