I have every intention of clearing up my backlog of Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour events, but I wanted to get to the Junior Tour Championship because it is really one of the highlights of a busy summer of junior golf in this area.
Downingtown West junior Ian Larsen appears to be ready for the coming scholastic golf season.
Larsen, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier a year ago, carded a solid 1-under-par 69 at Chester Valley Golf Club, once the home to a stop on what then was known as the PGA Senior Tour, and then defeated State College junior Luke McGraw in a playoff to capture the title in the 47th Junior Tour Championship on a sun-splashed summer Monday.
Pretty sure the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour Championship was a Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) event, offering points to top finishers that can earn them some status on the higher-profile junior circuits, most notably the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).
The JGS scoring is for boys and girls ages 13 to 18. The Philly Junior Tour broke its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 divisions, so I’ll round them up while referring to the overall standings.
Phoenixville senior Kayley Roberts, who teed it up in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga. and in the Girls Junior PGA Championship at Purdue’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. this summer, captured the overall girls title with an 8-over 78.
Larsen made birdies at the second, 13th and 15th holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard, including a run of five straight pars from eight through 12.
McGraw, like Larsen a PIAA Class AAA qualifier a year ago, got his round off to a great start with back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes. He added a third birdie at the 14th hole and had 13 pars on his card, including a string of six straight pars from eight through 13.
Larsen’s playoff victory gave him the top spot in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring. McGraw was the runnerup among the older guys and in the overall standings.
Larsen and McGraw both earned spots in the match-play bracket in the Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Boys’ Championship at Merion Golf Club’s West Course in June, McGraw reaching the semifinals.
Dover senior Lawson Leeper, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, matched par at Chester Valley with a 70 to finish in third place in the 16-to-18 division and share third place in the overall standings with Logan McGinn, the talented 13-year-old from South Williamsport who captured top honors in the 13-to-15 division.
Leeper made a birdie at the 10th hole and then finished strong with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18. He had 12 pars on his card, opening his round with eight straight pars.
Harry Traynor, a senior on the Great Valley golf team, took fourth place in the 16-to-18 division with a 1-over 71, Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. was fifth with a 3-over 73 and Freddy Hartmann, a junior on the Episcopal Academy golf team, and Kieren Gillespie, a senior on the Haverford High golf team, finished in a tie for sixth, each posting a 4-over 74.
Traynor finished alone in fifth place in the overall standings, Whitney ended up in a tie for eighth in the overall scoring with Taimoor Naseem of Sinking Spring from the 13-to-15 division and Hartmann and Gillespie rounded out the top 10 on the overall leaderboard as they finished in a tie for 10th.
Rider Nicholl, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Avon Grove last fall, and Tyler Harris of Cinnaminson, N.J. finished in a tie for eighth place among the older guys, each signing for a 75.
Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Matthew Smith of Hammonton, N.J. and Chris Parrish, a senior on the Kingsway golf team and a Woolwich Township, N.J. resident, as each tallied a 76.
Two days earlier, Parrish, playing out of Running Deer Golf Club, had won a playoff with Unionville senior Charlie Barrickman, representing Radley Run Country Club, at DuPont Country Club’s Nemours Course to capture the title in the Delaware Junior Boys’ Championship.
The playoff came nine days after the conclusion of regulation play as Parrish and Barrickman were tied at Kings Creek Country Club when stormy weather July 31st prevented the duo from conducting the playoff that day.
The playoff, held at DuPont as a convenient midpoint for the two participants, only lasted one hole as Parrish dropped a 10-foot putt for par on the Nemours Course’s 10th hole to secure the championship.
McGinn took another road trip from upstate and, as he often is, was right in the middle of things.
After making a birdie at the fifth hole, McGinn added birdies at 13 and 16 while touring the incoming nine at Chester Valley in 2-under 33. The kid had 12 pars on his scorecard, including a string of five straight pars from the eighth through the 12th holes.
McGinn’s even-par 70 left him at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division and in a tie for third in the overall scoring with Leeper from the 16-to-18 division.
Jason Leekley of Moorestown, N.J. and Sebastian Leone of Wayne finished in a tie for second place in the 13-to-15 division and were tied for sixth in the overall standings as each recorded a solid 2-over 72.
Leekley started fast with back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes, added another birdie at seven and had 10 pars on his card.
Leone had just one birdie, at the 11th, but had 15 pars on his card, including seven straight pars to finish off his round in a 1-under 34 tour of Chester Valley’s incoming nine.
Naseem is just a 12-year-old, but he finished in fourth place among the younger guys and was the last player out of the 13-to-15 division to land among the top 10 in the overall scoring as he carded a 3-over 73. Naseem shared eighth place in the overall standings with Whitney from the 16-to-18 division.
Four players finished in a tie for fifth place in the 13-to-15 division, two shots behind Naseem with 5-over 75s, including Bryce Bussom of Lewisburg, Evan Smith of Elkton, Md., Holden Sparks, a sophomore on the Nazareth golf team, and Quinn Gallagher, a junior on The Haverford School’s reigning Inter-Ac League championship team and a Bryn Mawr resident.
Frank Kunze, a sophomore on the Garnet Valley golf team, took ninth place among the younger guys with a 77 and William Quartermain of Bryn Mawr and Trebor Melendez, the talented 13-year-old from Vineland, N.J., rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as they finished in a tie for 10th, each registering a 78.
With all that experience on a couple of national stages this summer, Phoenixville’s Roberts is looking forward to a big senior year of high school golf. She is a three-time PIAA Class AAA Championship qualifier, never finishing worse than fourth place.
Roberts had 11 pars, including six straight pars to close out her round, as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall girls standings with a solid 8-over 78 over the challenging Chester Valley layout.
Conestoga junior Jill Burks, the girls medalist in the Central League Championship last fall and a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, also had 11 pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors among the older girls and in the overall scoring with an 82.
Anna Firko, a senior on the Concord golf team and a Wilmington, Del. resident, was another shot behind Jill Burks in third place in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring as Firko made a birdie on the ninth hole and had five pars on her card while posting an 83.
Meredith Finger, who helped Archmere Academy capture the team title in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship as a junior in the spring, finished a shot behind Firko in fourth place in the 16-to-18 division while sharing fourth in the overall scoring with Myra Tomer of Newtown, the top finisher in the 13-to-15 division, as Finger tallied an 84.
Finger finished in fourth place in the individual girls standings in the DIAA Championship at St. Anne’s Golf Links in Middletown, Del. to cap her spring scholastic season.
Emma Liu of Moorestown, N.J. finished in fifth place among the older girls and eighth in the overall scoring with an 89 and Nicole Tarquinio of Bridgeton, N.J. was another shot behind Liu in sixth in the 16-to-18 division and ninth overall with an 89.
Meredith Post of Lincoln University took seventh place among the older girls with a 101, Anna Rufo, a junior on the Agnes Irwin golf team and a Gladwyne resident, was eighth with a 104, and Masey Heenan of Ocean City, N.J. rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as she finished ninth with a 115.
Tomer, a rapidly improving13-year-old, made a birdie on the 10th hole and had five pars on her scorecard as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division and shared fourth in the overall scoring with Finger from the 16-to-18 division with an 84.
Tomer had a runnerup finish in the Philly Junior Tour’s Girls’ Summer Championship two weeks earlier, a 36-hole event at Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club.
Kiera Post, another member of Team Post out of Lincoln University, made a birdie on the 12th hole and had five pars on her card as she finished a shot behind Tomer in second place in the 13-to-15 division and was alone in sixth in the overall standings with an 85.
Kiera Post and Melinda Post from the 16-to-18 division are the daughters of the husband-wife team that runs the golf program at Delaware, Brendon and Patty Post. Patty Post is the director of both the men’s and women’s teams and Brendon Post coaches the men’s team.
Ellie Walls of Millsboro, Del. had five pars on her card as she tallied an 88 that left her in third place in the 13-to-15 division and seventh in the overall scoring.
Mallie Heenan, another member of Team Heenan out of Ocean City, N.J., took fourth place with a 91 and was the last player among the younger girls to earn a spot in the top 10 in the overall standings as she finished alone in 10th.
Alexa Shure of Malvern took fifth place with a 93 and Lila Collingwood of Collegeville rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished sixth with a 101.
No big surprise to see a three-way playoff for the victory among the contentious group of boys 12-and-under nine-holers.
Helmut Dang of Newtown Square emerged from the playoff with the win after he finished in a tie at the top of the division with Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr and Joe Bowers of Lewsburg as each carded a 2-over 37.
Dang got off to a great start with back-to-back birdies at the first and second holes and made four straight pars from three through six.
Muego made a birdie at the fourth hole and had five pars on his scorecard as he ended up in second place as a result of the playoff.
Bowers settled for third place despite making birdies at the first and fifth holes and having three pars on his card.
Jack Gilbert, another Bryn Mawr guy, finished a shot out of the playoff with a solid 3-over 38 that left him in fourth place.
Gilbert had shared first place with Bobby Stefanski of Newtown Square in a Philly Junior Tour 9-Hole Series event at Phoenixville Country Club July 28th.
The next day Gilbert, the son of Gulph Mills Golf Club head pro Tom Gilbert, captured the title in GAP’s 75th Junior-Junior Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s St. Martins Course with Stefanski among a trio of players tied for second place.
Stefanski finished among a trio of players tied for sixth place at Chester Valley with a 5-over 40.
James Wilson of Wilmington, Del. finished a shot behind Gilbert in fifth place with a 4-over 39 and Brody Rollins of Milton, Del. and Preston Minio of Lansdale joined Stefanski in the trio tied for sixth, each recording a 40.
Minio had finished in a tie for first place among the boys in a weather-shortened 12-and-under Championship July 31st as the nine-holers had the stage to themselves at McCall Golf & Country Club in Upper Darby. I’ll get around to rounding that up in the next week or so.
Michael Perry, another Wilmington, Del. guy, took ninth place with a 43 and Damien Dollard of Cinnaminson, N.J. rounded out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished 10th with a 44.
That’s just seven shots separating the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division and that kind of competitiveness has been a regular occurrence this summer.
Mia DeCarlo of Glen Mills had six pars on her scorecard, including a string of four straight pars from the third through the sixth holes, as she bested the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 4-over 39.
A couple of 11-year-olds, Emilie Davoli of Ambler and Katelyn Burks, another member of Team Burks from Paoli, finished in second and third place, respectively.
Davoli made a birdie on the second hole and had three pars on her card on her way to a 42. Katelyn Burks had three pars on her card as she finished a shot behind Davoli with a 43.
Trisha Lobo, the talented 10-year-old from Collegeville, took fourth place with a 49. Lobo was the winner on the girls side in that weather-shortened 12-and-under Championship at McCall on the last day of July.
Eleanor Brillman of Elkins Park and Alexa Mcelwain of Schnecksville shared fifth place, each signing for a 50, Lillian Fry of Pennsburg was seventh with a 55 and Aashi Chakraborty of Kennett Square finished eighth with a 56.
Skylar Crutchfield, another Elkins Park entry, rounded out the field in the girls 12-and-under division as she finished in ninth place with a 59.
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