Smith's eagle at Wild Quail helps him capture a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Evan Smith of Elkton, Md. made an eagle on the par-5 15^th hole at Wild Quail Golf & Country Club in Wyoming, Del. on his way to a 1-over-par 73 that earned him a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division Oct. 11^th.

   Smith also made birdies on the first, 11^th and 18^th holes and had eight pars on his scorecard to record the best score of the day among the guys.

   John Peyton of Wayne made birdies on the fifth, 11^th and 17^th holes and had nine pars on his card, including four straight pars to open his round, as he finished two shots behind Smith in second place with a 3-over 75.

   It was another three shots back to Ben Nowland, a sophomore on the Avon Grove golf team who also made an eagle, this one at the par-5 fifth hole, in third place with a 78. Nowland also made a birdie at the 15^th hole and had 11 pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from the eighth through the 11^th holes.

   Noah Gates of Ardmore took fourth place with an 82, Brayden Hughes of Hockessin, Del. was fifth with an 84, Luke Peyton of Frankford, Del. was sixth with an 87 and a couple of Wilmington, Del. guys, Beck Jafarieh and Ben Meixell, shared seventh, each signing for an 89.

   Rounding out the top 10 was the duo of Lucas Shank of West Chester and Emerson Bofinger of Ocean View, Del. as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each tallying a 92.

   Chris Parrish, a senior on the Kingsway golf team and winner of the Delaware Junior Boys’ Championship in the summer, made birdies on the eighth and 18^th holes and had 12 pars on his scorecard as he finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division with a 2-over 74.

   The steady Parrish had three separate runs of four straight pars from the second through the fifth holes, from eight through 12 and again from 14 through 17.

   Jack Ferm, a junior on the Garnet Valley golf team who was tuning up for the District One Class AAA Championship, went back-to-back with birdies at the seventh and eighth holes, added another birdie at 12 and had 10 pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors among the older guys with a 3-over 75.

   Ryan Mcnett of Lewes, Del. opened his round with a birdie at the first hole and had 12 pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 4-over 76.

   Quinn Marshall of Wilmington, Del. took fourth place with an 80, Max Silvestri of Haddon Heights, N.J. was fifth with an 85, James Henry of Wilmington, Del. was sixth with an 88 and Brad Hughley of Rehoboth Beach, Del. was seventh with a 90.

   Nathaniel Clark of Dover, Del. and Matthew Hoopes of Wilmington, Del. shared eighth place, each carding a 92 and David Dempsey of Franklinville, N.J. rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as he finished 10^th with a 93.

   Valerie Danby, a talented 12-year-old from Avon Grove, continued to impress as the lone entry in the girls 13-to-15 division.

   The precocious Danby made a birdie on the 12^th hole and had nine pars on her scorecard while fashioning a solid 8-over 80.

   Brooke Burge of Middletown, Del. was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and she made three straight pars at the 12^th, 13^th and 14^th holes on her way to a 102.

   Damien Dollard of Cinnaminson, N.J. has been living at or near the top of the leaderboard among the boys 12-and-under nine-holers recently and he was there again at Wild Quail as he shared first place with Preston Minio of Lansdale, each carding a 1-over 37.

   Dollard made birdies at the first and fifth holes and had four pars on his scorecard. He had claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory a week earlier at Berkleigh Golf Club.

   Minio made birdies at the first, fourth and eighth holes and had two pars on his card to get a share of first place with Dollard at 2-over.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr made a birdie at the fifth hole and had five pars on his card, including four straight pars to open his round, as he finished a shot behind Dollard and Minio in third place with a 2-over 38.

   Brody Rollins of Milton, Del. and James Wilson of Wilmington, Del. shared fourth place as each signed for a 3-over 39, Michael Perry, another Wilmington, Del. guy, was sixth with a 40 and Carter Bove of Kennett Square and Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. finished in a tie for seventh, each recording a 44.

   Charlie Sears of Wilmington, Del. took ninth place with a 47 and the duo of Noah Howard of Lafayette Hill and Alex Cheng of Wilmington, Del. – pretty strong group of youngsters from Wilmington made it out to Wild Quail for this Philly Junior Tour stop – rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for 10^th, each registering a 49.