Turner, Rotto match par in first Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship qualifier at Rock Manor

 

   Logan Turner of Berwyn and Ian Rotto, a freshman on the Kennett golf team, each matched par with a 71 while dodging the raindrops Saturday at Rock Manor Golf Club as they finished in a tie for first place in the 13-to-15 division in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop.

   There was a little added incentive for the boys who showed up at Rock Manor as the top 18 finishers among the overall 13-to-18 competitors secured a spot in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, which will be played July 1 at the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve.

   The top finishers at RiverCrest in July will earn a trip to the Boys Junior PGA Championship, one of the premier national events for junior golfers which will tee off July 29 at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

   Turner made birdies at the first and third holes and then ripped off consecutive birdies at nine, 10 and 11 before adding a sixth birdie at 17. Her had eight pars on his scorecard and toured the outgoing nine at Rock Manor in 2-under 34.

   Rotto made a birdie at the third hole and then had four more birdies on the incoming nine at Rock Manor at the 11^th, 13^th, 16^th and 17^th holes on his way to a 2-under 33 on the back. Rotto also had nine pars on his card.

   The Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship field will include players from ages 13 to 18. The Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 13-to-15 and 16-to-18 divisions, so I’ll break down those divisions and refer to the overall standings in the process.

   By matching par, Turner and Rotto shared the top spot in the overall scoring in the first of a series of qualifiers that will lead up to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.

   There was a four-way logjam behind Turner and Rotto in a tie for third place among the younger guys as Jackson Lane of Cinnaminson, N.J., Owen Gallagher of Bryn Mawr, Holden Sparks, a freshman on the Nazareth golf team, and Henry Sokol of Villanova each recorded a 6-over 77.

   That quartet finished in a tie for ninth place in the overall scoring with Tyler Baritz of Blue Bell and Jamie Ciesielka of Woolwich Township, N.J. from the 16-to-18 division.

   Lane made birdies at the ninth and 14^th holes and had nine pars on his card. Gallagher made a birdie on the 13^th hole and had 10 pars on his card, opening his round with five straight pars.

   Sparks made birdies at the fourth, 11^th and 14^th holes and had seven pars on his card. Henry Sokol’s steady round featured 12 pars, seven of them on Rock Manor’s incoming nine.

   Alex DiGiacinto, a freshman teammate of Sparks on the Nazareth golf team, was the last player from the 13-to-15 division to earn a spot in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship as he finished in seventh place among the younger guys with a 79 that left him in a tie for 15^th place with Zach Raihill, a junior on the West Chester Rustin golf team, from the 16-to-18 division, in the overall scoring.

   Jack Sokol, the twin brother of Henry Sokol, finished in eighth place in the 13-to-15 division as he signed for an 88.

   Pierce Drake, a sophomore on the Bishop Shanahan golf team, took ninth place with a 90 and Jack Gioffre of Newtown Square rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished 10^th with a 91.

   Luca Kleinschmidt, a junior on the Strath Haven golf team, and Daniel Herzchel of Linwood, N.J. shared the top spot on the 16-to-18 division leaderboard and finished in a tie for third place in the overall standings as each registered a 1-over 72.

   Kleinschmidt, a District One Class AAA qualifier last fall, went back-to-back with birdies at the third and fourth holes and again at 11 and 12 and also had birdies at nine and 14 and had six pars on his scorecard.

   Herzchel made birdies at the sixth, ninth and 11^th holes and had 11 pars on his card.

   Liam Crowley, a junior on the Episcopal Academy golf team, and P.J. Foley of Northfield, N.J. finished a shot behind Kleinschmidt and Herzchel in a tie for third place among the older guys and in a tie for fifth in the overall scoring as each posted a 2-over 73.

   Crowley made birdies on the fourth, fifth, 11^th and 15^th holes and had 10 pars on his card. Herzchel made back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes and again at 10 and 11, added a fifth birdie at 16 and had seven pars on his card.

   J.P. Hoban, a Havertown resident who helped The Haverford School capture the Inter-Ac League crown as a senior last fall, finished in fifth place in the 16-to-18 division and was seventh in the overall scoring with a 4-over 75.

   Landon Finsen of Westampton, N.J. finished a shot behind Hoban in sixth place among the older guys and in eighth place in the overall standings with a 5-over 76.

   Baritz and Ciesielka finished in a tie for seventh place in the 16-to-18 division and were part of the group of six players tied for ninth overall as each tallied a 77.

   West Chester Rustin’s Raihall finished alone in ninth place among the older guys and was tied with DiGiacinto from the 13-to-15 division for 15^th place in the overall scoring with a 79.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Harry Traynor, a junior on the Great Valley golf team, and Quinn Marshall of Wilmington, Del. as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each carding an 80.

   Traynor and Marshall were the last two players from the group of older guys to earn a spot in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship as they ended up in a tie for 17^th place in the overall standings.

   Anna Firko, a junior on the Mt. Pleasant golf team in Delaware, made a birdie on the ninth hole and had seven pars on her scorecard as she earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 16-to-18 division with an 81.

   Emily Stauffer, a junior on the Warwick golf team, had six pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors with a 93.

   Mariana Walker, a junior on the Council Rock North golf team, had two pars on her card as she finished a shot behind Stauffer in third place with a 94.

   Brooke Burge of Middletown, Del. took fourth place with a 98, Christina St. Pierre of Yardley was fifth with a 104 and Shloka Vishwanath, a sophomore on the Downingtown West golf team, rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as she finished sixth with a 115.

   Brody Rollins of Milton, Del. had seven pars on his scorecard, making five straight pars to open his round, as he bested the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with a solid 2-over 38.

   Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. made a birdie on the fifth hole and had four pars on his card as he finished two shots behind Rollins in second place with a 4-over 40.

   Benjamin Adkins of Lewes, Del. and James Wilson of Wilmington, Del. finished in a tie for third place, each landing on 42. Adkins made back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth holes and back-to-back pars at eight and nine. Wilson made a birdie on the fifth hole and had two pars on his card.

   Noah Howard of Lafayette Hill rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished in fifth place with a 48.

   Mia DeCarlo of Glen Mills was the lone entry in the girls 12-and-under division and she had three pars on her scorecard in a 46 over nine holes.