Laverty holds off Tomer by two shots to claim title in Girls Summer Championship at Manufacturers

 

   Savannah Laverty, a junior at Moorestown High in South Jersey, continued her strong play this summer with a two-shot victory in the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s Girls Summer Championship, a two-day event July 28^th and 29^th at Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club, the challenging William Flynn design in Fort Washington.

   Mother Nature turned up the heat for the event, but Laverty never wilted, opening with a 4-under-par 70 to take a two-shot lead and then coming back with a 1-under 73 to finish two shots clear of Myra Tomer, a precocious 13-year-old from Newtown, in the overall scoring with a 5-under 143 total.

   The Girls Summer Championship was a Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) event, awarding points that can earn players some status on some of the higher-profile junior circuits, most notably the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).

   The JGS scoring was for players ages 13 to 18. The Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 age groups, so I’ll wrap them up while referring to the overall standings.

   Nobody was better than Laverty.

   She capped her opening-round 70 with an eagle at the par-5 16^th hole. She made birdies at the third, fifth, 10^th and 15^th holes and had 11 pars on her scorecard.

   Playing with the lead in the second round, Laverty remained aggressive, making birdies at the third, 10^th, 12^th, 15^th and 16^th holes and recording 10 pars, eight of them during a 1-under 35 tour of the outgoing nine at Manny’s, as she closed with a 73 to finish at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall strandings.

   Giulia Weisser, a junior at Exeter and a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, was Laverty’s closest pursuer among the older girls as she earned runnerup honors with a 1-over 149 total that left her in third place in the overall scoring, four shots behind Tomer.

   Weisser got it going on the outgoing nine in the second round as she made birdies at the third, fifth, sixth and eighth holes in a sizzling 4-under 32. She went back-to-back again with birdies at the 15^th and 16^th holes and finished with 10 pars on her card on her way to a sparkling 3-under 71.

   In the opening round, Weisser made a birdie at the 16^th hole and had 12 pars on her card, including a string of eight straight pars from five through 12 as she posted a 4-over 78.

   Anna Firko, a senior on the Concord golf team in Delaware, finished 10 shots behind Weisser in third place in the 16-to-18 division and in a tie for sixth in the overall scoring with Emily Mauer of Mount Laurel, N.J. out of the 13-to-15 division with a 159 total.

   Firko made birdies on the third, 10^th and 12^th holes and had nine pars on her card as she closed with a 79 in the second round. Firko made birdies at the sixth and 16^th holes and had 10 pars on her card in an opening-round 80.

   Alexis Miller, a junior on the Southern Lehigh golf team, opened with a solid 2-over 76, but struggled to an 85 in the second round as she finished in fourth place in the 16-to-18 division and ninth in the overall scoring with a 161 total.

   Adriana Seravalli, a junior on the Nazareth Academy golf team and the reigning Catholic League individual champion, and Saloni Patel, a junior on the Perkiomen Valley golf team, shared fifth place among the older girls and rounded out the top 10 in the overall standings as they finished in a tie for 10th, each landing on 162.

   Seravalli bounced back from an opening-round 87 with a solid 1-over 75 in the second round while Patel signed for a pair of 81s.

   Lydia Bernardi of Sewell, N.J. finished in seventh place in the 16-to-18 division as she added an 85 in the second round to her opening-round 81 for a 166 total.

   Another member of Team Bernardi out of Sewell, N.J., Stella Bernardi, and Freja Jensen, a junior on The Peddie School golf team and a Solebury resident, finished in a tie for eighth place among the older girls as each finished with a 168 total.

   Stella Bernardi closed with an 82 after opening with an 86 while Jensen bounced back from an opening-round 87 with an 81 in the second round.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was Rylee Delaney of West Deptford, N.J. as she added an 83 in the second round to her opening-round 86 for a 169 total that left her in 10^th place.

   Really strong showing for Tomer as she matched Weisser for the second round’s low round, a 3-under 71 that left her with a 3-under 145 total that was the best in the 13-to-15 division and two shots behind Laverty in the overall standings.

   Tomer made birdies on the 10^th, 13^th, 16^th and 18^th holes in a sizzling 4-under 34 tour of the incoming nine at Manufacturers in the second round. She had 13 pars on her scorecard, including a run of eight straight pars from the second through the 10^th holes.

   In the opening round, Tomer made a birdie at the 15^th hole and then an eagle at the par-5 16^th hole as she matched par with a 74. Tomer had 13 pars on her card, including a string of seven straight pars from the second through the eighth holes.

   Tomer had a strong showing in the AJGA Junior All-Star at York last month, finishing in 14^th place at Regents’ Glen Country Club. A Class of 2030 competitor, Tomer is still a year away from competing at the scholastic level.

   Zihan Cai was visiting Manufacturers from China and in her opening round she made birdies at the third, fourth, seventh, 11^th and 12^th holes before capping the round with an eagle at 16 as she signed for a 1-under 73 that left her atop the 13-to-15 division and trailing Laverty by three shots in the overall scoring.

   Cai also had seven pars on her card in that strong start.

   Cai made birdies on the third, sixth and 17^th holes and had eight pars on her card as she closed with a 79 for a 4-over 152 total that left her in second place among the younger girls and fourth in the overall scoring.

   Vivienne Powers, a junior on the York Suburban golf team and a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, made a birdie on the 16^th hole and had 13 pars on her card on her way to a 3-over 77 in the second round that left her in third place in the 13-to-15 division and fifth in the overall scoring with an 8-over 156 total.

   Powers made birdies on the third and 15^th holes and had nine pars on her card as she opened with a 5-over 79.

   Mount Laurel’s Mauer added a 4-over 78 in the second round to her opening-round 81 as she finished in fourth place in the 13-to-15 division and in a tie for sixth in the overall scoring with Firko from the 16-to-18 division with a 159 total.

   Dahlia Garnick of Wilmington, Del. added a 79 in the second round to her opening-round 81 as she finished in fifth place in the 13-to-15 division and was alone in ninth in the overall scoring with a 160 total.

   Chloe Pridie, a sophomore on the Oley golf team, added an 83 in the second round to her opening-round 87 as she finished in sixth place in the 13-to-15 division with a 170 total.

   Gabrielle Kim of Ambler recorded a pair of 86s as she finished in seventh place among the younger girls with a 172 total.

   Sara Fanelli, a sophomore on the Radnor golf team, bounced back from an opening-round 93 with an 87 in the second round to take eighth place in the 13-to-15 division with a 180 total.

   Siena Cohen of Marlton, N.J. added a 92 in the second round to her opening-round 93 to finish in ninth place among the younger girls with a 185 total.

   Ella Bloszinsky of Allentown rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as she shaved five shots off an opening-round 96 with a 91 in the second round to finish in 10^th place with a 187 total.