Finger, Carson shine brightly for Philly Junior Tour in its Pritsch Cup loss to the New Jersey Junior Tour at Somerset Hills

 

   Still have some catching up to do on the second half of August on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, but I wanted to get to the Jon M. Pritsch Memorial Cup because so many of the top players on the Philly Junior Tour were involved …

   The stars from the New Jersey Section PGA Junior Tour claimed an 11-7 victory over their counterparts from the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour in the Jon M. Pritsch Memorial Cup Aug. 23^rd at Somerset Hills Country Club in Bernardsville, N.J.

   The Pritsch Cup is a day of Ryder Cup-style matches pitting the top junior players from the two neighboring PGA Sections. The Jon M. Pritsch Memorial Fund honors the memory Jon M. Pritsch, who was one of the top junior golfers in the country when he tragically passed away at the age of 17 in 1991.

   The Jon M. Pritsch Memorial Fund has raised more than $200,000 and awarded more than 100 scholarships to junior golfers hoping to pursue a career in a golf-related field.

   The Philly Junior Tour got outstanding performances from the two girls on its team, Archmere Academy junior Meredith Finger and Cardinal O’Hara freshman Alaina Carson, at Somerset Hills, a classic layout designed by A.W. Tillinghast, one of the masters of golf course architecture.

   Finger, winner of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls’ Championship this summer at Phoenixville Country Club, cruised an 8 and 7 victory in her singles match against Gaby Becker of Franklin Lakes, N.J.

   Finger also helped the Auks capture the team crown in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship in the spring at Maple Dale Country Club.

   Carson claimed a 3 and 2 victory in her singles match against Sofia Myka Pangan, a junior at Passaic Tech from Clifton, N.J.

   In the simultaneous four-ball match, Finger and Carson earned another full point for the Philly Junior Tour stars with a 3 and 2 victory over Becker and Pangan.

   Boyertown senior Chase Dillman represented the Philly Junior Tour in the Pritsch Cup for the second straight summer and pulled out a 4 and 2 decision over Redhit Beri, a junior at Livingston High School, in their singles match.

   Lower Merion junior Seiji Sako suffered a 7 and 6 setback in his singles match at the hands of Mihir Roperia, a junior at Princeton Day School from Cranbury, N.J.

   Sako was the top finisher among the District One contingent in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State last fall, ending up in a tie for fourth place.

   Beri and Roperia teamed up to give the New Jersey Junior Tour a full point with a 4 and 2 victory over Dillman and Sako in their four-ball match.

   Perkiomen Valley junior Alex Hall and Andrew Rindgen of Havertown picked up the Philly Junior Tour’s only other point in the four-ball matches as they teamed up to claim a 4 and 3 decision over Dylan Mattessich of Manasquan, N.J. and Jake Aronson of Demarest, N.J.

   Hall, coming off co-medalist honors in the Junior Tour Championship at Chester Valley Golf Club, earned another full point for the Philly Junior Tour stars as he rolled to a 7 and 6 victory over Mattessich in their singles match.

   Aronson pulled out a 1-up verdict over Rindgen in their singles match to enable the New Jersey Junior Tour stars to salvage a point out of the foursome.

   Christopher Parrish of Woolwich Township, N.J. picked up a half a point for the Philly Junior Tour stars as he battled Ryan Hodgson, who is a freshman on the Rutgers roster from Montclair, N.J., to a draw in their singles match.

   Parrish was another of the four players, including Hall, who finished in a tie for the top spot in the Junior Tour Championship at Chester Valley.

   Roger Rice, a sophomore at Chatham High School, was a 6 and 5 winner over Trebor Melendez of Vineland, N.J. in their singles match and the duo of Rice and Hodgson earned a 3 and 2 victory over Parrish and Melendez in their four-ball match.

   Aaron Koo of Palisades Park, N.J. claimed a 4 and 2 decision over Trevor Sieben of Marlton, N.J. and the Philly Junior Tour’s 13-to-15 division’s Player of the Year in 2023. Justin Peck of Westwood, N.J. pulled out a 1-up decision in a hard-fought singles battle with Henry Sokol of Villanova.

   Koo and Peck made it a sweep of the foursome for the New Jersey Junior Tour as their four-ball match also went to the 18^th hole before Sieben and Sokol suffered a 2-up setback.

   Jack Luterman, a sophomore at The Haverford School from Ardmore, picked up a half a point as he battled Axel Brandes, playing not far from his Bernardsville, N.J. home, to a draw in their singles match.

   Ryan Sun of Morganville, N.J. captured a 5 and 3 victory over Wissahickon sophomore Ty Sheftic in their singles match and Brandes and Sun earned another full point for the New Jersey Junior Tour stars with a 2 and 1 verdict over Luterman and Sheftic in their four-ball match.