Ciochetto gets it in red figures to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory at Raven's Claw

 

   The high school golf season is fast approaching and Bryce Ciochetto, a senior on the Haverford High golf team, showed his game is just about ready when he carded a sparkling 1-under-par 70 July 23^rd to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division at Raven’s Claw Golf Club, where Upper Pottsgrove meets Limerick along Ridge Pike.

   Raven’s Claw hosted some up-and-coming women pros for a couple of years as a stop on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA Tour’s developmental tour now known as the Epson Tour.

   Ciochetto got it going at Raven’s Claw as he made birdies on the first, third, eighth, 16^th and 18^th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard. He toured the outgoing nine at Raven’s Claw in 2-under 34.

   One of Ciochetto’s Central League rivals, Jack Ferm, a junior on the Garnet Valley golf team, and Pat Manion, a Villanova resident and a senior on the Devon Prep golf team, shared runnerup honors as each posted a 1-over 72 to finish two shots behind Ciochetto.

   Ferm made back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth holes, added a third birdie at 18 holes and had 11 pars on his card, including a string of six straight pars to open his round.

   Manion got it going on the outgoing nine at Raven’s Claw with birdies at the first, fourth, sixth and eighth holes and had nine pars on his card, including a run of five straight pars from nine through 13. Manion toured the front nine in 3-under 33.

   Some of the top returning players on the Souderton golf team accounted for the next three spots on the leaderboard as junior Chase Andrews finished in fourth place with a 2-over 73 and senior Brayden Schnabel and junior Landon Stern shared fifth, each signing for a 5-over 76.

   Jack Handling of Talleyville, Del. and Vykom Shukla of Berwyn shared seventh place, each tallying a 77 and Mason Stephan, a junior on the Malvern Prep golf team and a Collegeville resident, finished ninth with a 79.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was Sean Rogers of King of Prussia as he finished in 10^th place with an 82.

   William Quartermain of Bryn Mawr made birdies at the first, 12^th and 18^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard as he finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a solid 2-over 73.

   A couple of Wayne guys, John Peyton and Gavin Reger, accounted for the next two spots on the leaderboard as Peyton finished a shot behind Quartermain in second place with a 3-over 74 and Reger took third place with a 5-over 76.

   After making birdies at the eighth and 10^th holes, Peyton went back-to-back with birdies at 14 and 15, closed with another birdie at 18 and had seven pars on his card with six of them on the outgoing nine at Raven’s Claw.

   Reger made a birdie at the 16^th hole and had 11 pars on his card, including a string of five straight pars from six through 10.

   Mason Kim of Blue Bell took fourth place with a 6-over 77, Sebastian Leone, another Wayne entry, was fifth with a 79 and Thomas Manzi of Newtown Square and Steven Musacchio of Glenmoore finished in a tie for sixth, each registering an 84.

   Bret Wade of Pottstown took eighth place with an 85, Michael Manzi, like Thomas Manzi, a Newtown Square resident and a Class of 2029 competitor -- so possibly twins -- was ninth with an 86 and Ryan Vedock of Barto rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished 10^th with an 89.

   It was a second straight strong showing by Madison Cabot of Newtown as she had the low score among the girls by claiming a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with a sparkling 1-under 70.

   Cabot was coming off a victory in the Philly Junior Tour stop a day earlier at Ramblewood Country Club, where she carded a 2-over 74.

   Cabot made birdies at the second, fourth and eighth holes while touring the outgoing nine at Raven’s Claw in 3-under 33. She added another birdie at the 12^th hole and had 12 pars on her scorecard, including a run of five straight pars from 13 through 17.

   A couple of incoming Central League sophomores, Harriton’s Megan Choi, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman last fall, and Radnor sophomore Sarah Fanelli, accounted for the next two spots on the leaderboard, Choi earning runnerup honors with a solid 3-over 74 and Fanelli finishing in third place with a 76.

   Choi made birdies on the seventh and 15^th holes and had 11 pars on her card. Fanelli made birdies at the fourth, 14^th and 17^th holes and had eight pars on her card.

   Alexa Shure, a sophomore on the Great Valley golf team, took fourth place with an 85, Hannah LeGrow of Wilmington, Del. was fifth with a 97 and Kallista Spence of Phoenixville rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished sixth with a 107.

   Corinne McReynolds, a junior on the Conestoga golf team, made birdies on the second and seventh holes and had 12 pars on her scorecard, seven of them while touring the front nine in 2-under 34, as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division with a solid 4-over 76.

   Saloni Patel, a junior on the Perkiomen Valley golf team, made a birdie on the 18^th hole and had eight pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors with an 81.

   Elizabeth George of South Abington Township made a birdie at the seventh hole and had four pars on her card as she finished in third place with an 89.

   Rounding out the field in 16-to-18 division was Conestoga senior Suri Ahn as she finished in fourth place with a 94.

   McReynolds and Ahn helped the Pioneers finish in second place in the District One Class AAA team competition, held at Raven’s Claw, last fall. That earned them a wild card into the PIAA Class AAA team competition at Penn State, where Conestoga finished in fourth place.

   It was a valuable scouting mission for Choi and Fanelli from the 13-to-15 division as they figure to be teeing it up at Raven’s Claw in the opening round of the District One Class AAA Championship in October.

   Damien Dollard of Cinnaminson, N.J. claimed his third Philly Junior Tour victory among the boys 12-and-under nine-holers in as many days, again in impressive fashion with a sizzling 2-under 34.

   Dollard had opened the week by finishing first among the boys nine-holers with a 3-under 33 at Laurel Creek Country Club and won the next day with a 2-over 38 at Ramblewood. The kid, and he’s only 11-years old, is on a roll.

   Dollard made a birdie at the first hole, went back-to-back with birdies at six and seven and had five pars on his scorecard, including a run of four straight pars from two through five.

   Making Dollard’s hot streak even more impressive is that he’s doing it in a very competitive environment in the division. A bunch of these 12-and-under guys are playing some really solid golf.

   Rylan Foust of Exton made a birdie at the third hole and had seven pars on his card as he finished three shots behind Dollard in second place with a 1-over 37.

   Three other players, Connor Masulis of Pottstown, Baylor Keim of Blue Bell and Bobby Stefanski of Newtown Square, finished a shot behind Foust in a tie for third place, each signing for a 2-over 38.

   Masulis had seven pars on his card, Keim had seven pars on his card, including five straight pars to close out his round, and Stefanski made a birdie on the sixth hole and had six pars on his card.

   Jonathan Thomas of Landenberg took sixth place with a 39 and Samuel Karas of Blue Bell and a couple of Bryn Mawr guys, Jack Gilbert and Niko Muego, finished in a tie for seventh, each tallying a 40.

   Jack Kolmer of Wayne rounded out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished in 10^th place with a 41.