It’s been quite a summer for Kayley Roberts, a senior at Phoenixville, and Valerie Danby, an 11-year-old phenom from Avondale.
Roberts, who has been a contender in the PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of her first three seasons of scholastic golf, elevated her game, twice appearing on a national stage at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga. and again in the Girls Junior PGA Championship at Purdue’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.
Meanwhile, it’s been a coming-out party for Danby, who has won at least five times while competing against older girls in the 13-to-15 division on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour circuit.
Roberts and Danby represented the Philly Junior Tour in the 19th Under Armour Jon M. Pritsch Memorial Cup against top players from the New Jersey Section PGA Junior Tour Aug. 15th at Medford Village Country Club in Medford, N.J.
Between them, Roberts and Danby accounted for three of the Philly Junior Tour’s eight points in the Ryder Cup-style competition as the Philly Junior Tour dropped a 10-8 decision to the New Jersey Junior Tour stars.
It was the eighth straight victory in the series for the New Jersey kids, but the Pritsch Cup is about more than just wins and losses. It is a celebration of junior golf that brings together the top players from the two tours to honor the memory of Jon M. Pritsch, an outstanding junior golfer who was taken too soon at age 17 in May of 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 rosters for both teams were comprised of the top 10 point-getters from events on their respective tours during the season. There are two wild-card selections to fill out each team’s 12-player roster.
Roberts cruised to a 5 and 4 decision over Sofia Myka Pangan of Clifton, N.J. while Danby claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Anna Park of Martinsville, N.J.
In the simultaneous four-ball match, Roberts and Danby teamed up to earn a third point for the Philly Junior Tour stars with a 4 and 3 verdict over Pangan and Park.
The other top performer for the Philly Junior Tour was Henry Sokol, the reigning Graham Company Player of the Year in the 13-to-15 division and a Villanova resident.
Henry Sokol cruised to a 6 and 5 victory over Lukas Devries of Summit, N.J. in his singles match.
Henry Sokol then teamed with Trebor Melendez, the 12-year-old standout from Vineland, N.J., to pull out a 1-up decision over Devries and Maxwell Cohen of Franklin Lakes, N.J. in their four-ball match. Melendez and Cohen battled to a draw in their singles match, each earning a half a point for their respective teams.
The only other full point in singles for the Philly Junior Tour came from Gregory Kriz, a junior on the St. Joseph’s Prep golf team and an Oreland resident, as he claimed a 3 and 1 decision over Derek Czepiel of Pompton Plains, N.J.
Kriz teamed with Thomas Carpenter, a junior at Holy Ghost Prep and a Bristol resident, to earn a full point for the Philly Junior Tour as they pulled out a 1-up victory over Czepiel and Brandon Apilado of Green Brook, N.J.
Apilado claimed a full point for the New Jersey Junior Tour by earning a 4 and 2 victory over Carpenter in their singles match.
Logan Turner of Berwyn, who has had a really solid summer, battled the New Jersey Junior Tour’s Dave Mohap of Nazareth to a draw in their singles match. Mohap teamed up with Arvin Bajwa of Basking Ridge, N.J. to hand Turner and Owen Ciesielka, a freshman on the Malvern Prep golf team and a West Chester resident, a 4 and 3 setback in their four-ball match.
Bajwa cruised to a 7 and 5 victory over Ciesielka in their singles match.
The New Jersey Junior Tour got really strong showings from the duos of Mihir Roperia of Cranbury, N.J. and Justin Hsieh of East Brunswick, N.J. and Ridhit Beri of Livingston, N.J. and Robert Smith of Basking Ridge, N.J.
Roperia claimed a 5 and 3 victory over Chris Parrish, a senior on the Kingsway golf team, and Hsieh rolled to a 6 and 5 decision over Jack Ferm, a junior on the Garnet Valley golf team.
Roperia and Hsieh then swept to the third available point in the foursome with a 3 and 2 verdict over Parrish and Ferm, two of the top performers in the 16-to-18 division on the Philly Junior Tour this summer, in their four-ball match.
Beri pulled out a 2 and 1 victory over Brayden Tritsch, playing close to his Medford, N.J. home, and Smith cruised to a 6 and 5 decision over Jack Sokol, the twin brother of Henry Sokol, in singles matches.
Beri and Smith then teamed up to grab the third available point in the foursome with a 2 and 1 victory over Tritsch and Jack Sokol in their four-ball match.
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