Pace comes on strong to capture title in Philly Junior Tour's Girls' Summer Championship at Manufacturers

 

   It was probably a farewell to junior golf for Mia Pace, who capped an outstanding scholastic career at Downingtown East by finishing in fifth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, before she heads for Utah Valley and college golf.

   Pace made the most of the opportunity, taking the title in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s Girls’ Summer Championship July 29^th and 30^th at Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club, a William Flynn classic in Fort Washington, by two shots over a field filled with some outstanding young players.

   Pace, who helped the Cougars capture a PIAA Class AAA team crown in 2021, put together a solid final round of 1-under-par 73 to finish with a 1-under 147 total that left her atop the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall 13-to-18 scoring.

   Pace was the only player to finish under par for two rounds. Can’t specifically remember what the weather was for those two days, but most of July was uncomfortably hot, so I’m guessing that was the case for those two days at Manny’s.

   It was a Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) event with players earning points that can earn them status on some of the higher-profile junior circuits, most notably the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA). The Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 divisions, so I’ll wrap them up while referring to the overall 13-to-18 division.

   Archmere Academy junior Meredith Finger, winner of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls’ Championship last month at Phoenixville Country Club, had jumped out in front with a sizzling 6-under 68 in the opening round.

   Pace began the second round trailing Finger by six shots, but Pace made a birdie at the third hole, went back-to-back with birdies at 10 and 11, added a fourth birdie at 16 and had 11 pars on her scorecard in her final-round 73.

   Pace also had four birdies, at the third, ninth, 12^th and 16^th holes, and had 11 pars on her card, seven of them in an even-par 36 tour of the incoming nine at Manufacturers, as she matched par in the opening round with a 74.

   Germantown Academy senior Kiran Bagga had the best round of the day in the second round, a sparkling 3-under 71, that enabled her to earn runnerup honors among the older girls and in the overall scoring with a 1-over 149 total that left her two shots behind Pace.

   Bagga’s second round was highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 third hole. She added birdies at the seventh, ninth and 11^th holes and had 12 pars on her card, including five straight pars to close out her round.

   Bagga had opened with a 4-over 78 as she had 15 pars on her card, eight of them on the back nine at Manufacturers.

   Finger, who helped the Auks capture the team crown in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship in the spring, couldn’t sustain her momentum from that blazing start as she fell back with an 82 in the second round to finish in a tie for third place in the 16-to-18 division with Radnor junior Elayna Fanelli and one of Finger’s Delaware rivals, Polytech senior Kylie Yiengst, all of them landing on 2-over 150, a shot behind Bagga.

   Looks like Finger was the official third-place finisher in the overall standings with Elayna Fanelli and Yiengst ending up in a tie for fourth. Not sure if that was a playoff or a tiebreaker.

   Nobody was better for a single round at Manufacturers than Finger was in her opening round. After making a birdie at the third hole, Finger ripped off four straight birdies at six, seven, eight and nine. On the incoming nine, Finger made birdies at the 12^th and 15^th holes, an eagle at the par-5 16^th, and one last birdie, her eighth of the round, at the finishing hole. She also had six pars on her card.

   In the second round, Finger made birdies at the second, third, fifth and 18^th holes and had six pars on her card.

   Elayna Fanelli, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall and the medalist among the girls in the Central League Championship, also got off to a fast start with a sparkling 2-under 72 before adding a 4-over 78 in the second round.

   In the opening round, Elayna Fanelli made birdies at the fourth, sixth and 10^th holes, went back-to-back with birdies at 16 and 17 and had 10 pars on her card. In the second round, Elayna Fanelli made birdies at the second, sixth and 16^th holes and had nine pars on her card.

   Yiengst, who finished third in the individual chase at the DIAA Championship at Maple Dale Country Club in the spring, recorded a pair of 1-over 75s.

   Yiengst jump-started her second round with an eagle at the par-5 third hole. She made birdies at the eighth, 12^th, 15^th, 16^th and 18^th holes and had six pars on her card. In her opening round, Yiengst made birdies at the fifth and 10^th holes and had 13 pars on her card, finishing up her round by grinding out seven straight pars.

   Souderton senior Alli Engart, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, finished in sixth place in the 16-to-18 division with a 4-over 152 total as she tallied a 4-over 78 in the second round after matching par in the opening round with a 74.

   The results list Savannah Laverty of Moorestown, N.J. as finishing in a tie for sixth place with Engart in the 16-to-18 division at 152. But Laverty is also listed as the runnerup in the 13-to-15 division, a shot behind the top finisher among the younger girls, Alaina Carson of Broomall.

   I’m going to keep Laverty in the 13-to-15 division and wrap up her rounds when I get there. Either way, Laverty and Engart shared seventh place in the overall scoring.

   That bumps up recent Neshaminy graduate Sabrina Swope to seventh place in the 16-to-18 division with a 166 total. Swope, who will join the program at Millersville later this month, added an 84 in the second round to her opening-round 82.

   Looks like Rylee Delaney of West Deptford, N.J. is another player who belongs in the 13-to-15 division, but appears in the results in both divisions, so I’ll get to her splits in the roundup of the younger group.

   That moves Bryann O’Tinger of Guilford, Conn. up to eighth place at 182 as she added a 92 in the second round to her opening-round 90.

   Darla Yohe of Willow Grove took ninth place as she added a 93 in the second round to her opening-round 92 for a 185 total.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was Sammi Acuna of Blue Bell as she shaved five shots off an opening-round 102 with a 97 in the second round for a 199 total.

   Carson opened with a 1-under 73 before falling back a little in the second round with a 4-over 78 to finish at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division and in sixth place in the overall scoring with a 3-over 151 total.

   In her opening round, Carson got it going in the middle of the round with birdies at the eighth, 10^th and 11^th holes. She added birdies at the 16^th and 18^th holes and had 11 pars on her scorecard as she only trailed Finger by five shots in the overall standings going into the second round.

   In the second round, Carson made back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh holes, added birdies at 16 and 18 and had six pars on her card.

   Carson will be playing with the boys as a freshman at Cardinal O’Hara this season, but figures to be very competitive against the girls in the Catholic League and in District 12 when the postseason rolls around.

   A couple of products of a solid junior program in Moorestown, N.J., Laverty and Katherine Liu, were Carson’s closest pursuers in the 13-to-15 division, ending up in second and third place, respectively.

   Laverty posted a 4-over 78 in the second round after matching par in the opening round with a 74 to finish a shot behind Carson in the division and in a tie for seventh place in the overall standings with Engart from the 16-to-18 division at 4-over 152.

   Laverty was a par machine at Manufacturers. In her opening round, she made birdies at the third and 14^th holes and had 15 pars on her card, including a run of 10 straight pars from four through 13. In the final round, Laverty made a birdie at the 14^th hole and had 12 pars on her card.

   Liu added a 79 in the second round to her opening round of 2-over 76 to finish a shot behind Laverty and Engart in ninth place in the overall standings with a 7-over 155 total.

   In her opening round, Liu made birdies at the 12^th and 15^th holes and had 13 pars on her card, including six straight pars to open the round. In the second round, Liu made back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth holes, added birdies at 12 and 15 and had eight pars on her card.

   Megan Choi of Penn Valley took fourth place in the 13-to-15 division as she added an 80 in the second round to her opening round of 4-over 78 for a 10-over 158 total. Choi rounded out the top 10 in the overall scoring as she ended up in 10^th place, three shots behind Liu.

   Exeter sophomore Giulia Weisser, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, added an 83 in the second round to her opening-round 81 as she finished in fifth place in the 13-to-15 division with a 164 total.

   Chloe Donohue, another member of the Moorestown, N.J. contingent, finished a shot behind Weisser among the younger girls with a 165 total as she added an 81 in the second round to her opening-round 84.

   Isabelle Studli of Fairfield opened with a solid 4-over 78 before struggling a little in the second round with an 89 as she finished two shots behind Donohue in seventh place in the 13-to-15 division with a 167 total.

   Perkiomen Valley sophomore Saloni Patel was a shot behind Studli in eighth place in the division with a 168 total as she added an 83 in the second round to her opening-round 85.

   Delaney of West Deptford, N.J. opened with a solid 80, but struggled in the second round with a 99 as she finished in ninth place among the younger girls with a 179 total.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division was Sara Fanelli, another member of Villanova’s Team Fanelli, as she opened with an 87 and added a 98 in the second round to finish in 10^th place with a 185 total.

   Elyse Lackman of Wyndmoor bested a short field of nine-holers as she added a 51 in the second round to her opening-round 52 for a 103 total.

   Lackman had two pars in her final-round 51 and made a par on the seventh hole in her opening-round 52.

   Claire Malbacho of Haverford rounded out the 12-and-under division as she finished in second place with a 108 total. Malbacho made a par on the third hole on her way to a 51 in the second round. Malbacho matched Lackman’s par on the seventh hole on her way to an opening-round 57.