Solt feels right at home on his way to a Philly Junior Tour victory at Woodstone

 

   Joey Solt, a junior on the Palmerton golf team, matched par with a 72 at Woodstone Country Club in Danielsville, Northampton County to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division July 9^th.

   It was basically a home game for Solt, a Kunkletown resident, and he put together a really solid round, opening with a birdie at the first hole and finishing up with a birdie at 18. In between he had 14 pars on his scorecard, rattling off 13 straight pars from the second through the 14^th holes.

   Solt toured the outgoing nine at Woodstone in 1-under 35.

   Joey Bilotta, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Boyertown last fall, got off to a fast start with back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes, added birdies at 14 and 17 and had eight pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 3-over 75.

   Charles Ball of West Chester made a birdie on the ninth hole and had 12 pars on his card, including a string of seven pars in a row from two through eight, as he finished in third place with a 4-over 76.

   Mason Matlack of Boyertown, Tucker Dempsey, a Philadelphia resident and a junior on the Episcopal Academy golf team, and Cooper Aspen, a senior on the Southern Lehigh golf team, shared fourth place, each posting a 77.

   Jack Ferm, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Garnet Valley finished alone in seventh place with a 78.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was the trio of Braydon Dolan, a senior on the Springfield golf team, Brayden Hughes of Hockessin, Del. and Ty Miller, a senior on the State College golf team, all of whom signed for a 79.

   Brody Campell, a Plymouth Meeting resident and a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team, matched Solt’s even-par 72 to earn a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division.

   Campbell made a birdie on the sixth hole and then really got it going on the incoming nine with birdies at 12, 14 and 17. He also had 10 pars on his scorecard, finishing his round with five straight pars while touring the back at Woodstone in 1-under 35.

   Sam Whitehouse of Pottstown opened his round with a birdie at the first hole and finished up the front nine with another birdie at nine. He had 11 pars on his card, rattling off eight straight pars from the 10^th through the 17^th holes, as he earned runnerup honors among the younger guys with a solid 4-over 76.

   Mason Kim of Blue Bell had 11 pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 79.

   Henry Small of Berwyn took fourth place with an 80, Benjamin Lear of West Chester was fifth with an 81 and the foursome of M.J. Nestor of Greenville, Del., Jonah Lowenberg of Villanova, Chase Schmidt of Waterford, N.J. and Sam Nelligan, an incoming freshman at Boyertown, finished in a tie for sixth, each signing for an 82.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Thomas Airoldi of Bryn Mawr and Lucas Shank of West Chester as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each recording an 83.

   The best score of the day among the girls came out of the 13-to-15 division as Alexa Mcelwain of Schnecksville had three pars on Woodstone’s incoming nine on her way to a Philly Junior Tour victory with a 95.

   Mae Racowski of Newtown Square rounded out a short field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished in second place with a 116.

   Kallista Spence of Phoenixville was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and she finished up her round with a par at the 18^th hole to register a 110.

   A red-hot Kash Gray of Eagleville bested the field of 12-and-under nine-holers for the third time in four days as he made a birdie at the seventh hole and had four pars on his scorecard on his way to a 3-over 39.

   Gray had claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory a day earlier at Medford Lakes Country Club and was the winner July 6^th in a Nine-Hole Series event at DuPont Country Club’s Montchanin nine.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr had four pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 42.

   Sid Joshi of Coopersburg finished up his round with a birdie at the ninth hole and had two pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 45.

   Leonardo Rossi of Ambler took fourth place with a 49, Andrew Winkler of Macungie was fifth with a 51 and Mason Freeborn of Reading rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished sixth with a 55.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salesianum's Rittereiser puts together steady round at Medford Lakes to claim Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Robert Rittereiser, coming off his freshman season on the Salesianum golf team in the spring, carded a solid 1-over-par 72 at Medford Lakes Country Club to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division July 8^th.

   Rittereiser made birdies at the fifth and eighth holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard, twice rattling off four straight pars from one through four and again from 10 through 13. He toured the outgoing nine at Medford Lakes in 1-under 34.

   Ravi Gohel of Mount Laurel, N.J. finished up his round with a birdie at the 18^th hole and had 13 pars on his card, including a string of eight straight pars from eight through 15, as he earned runnerup honors with a 3-over 74.

   David Watts of Haddonfield, N.J. made a birdie on the seventh hole and had 11 pars on his card, including a run of five straight pars from 11 through 15, as he finished in third place with a 5-over 76.

   Benjamin Perticari of West Deptford, N.J. took fourth place with a 77, Vaughn Smartt of Bryn Mawr and John Hoffman of Marlton, N.J. shared fifth, each tallying a 79, and Connor Holland of Churchville was seventh with an 80.

   Max Petrakis, another Marlton, N.J. guy, and Sy Kavitsky, a junior on the Neshaminy golf team, shared eighth place, each signing for an 81, and Jack Forstein of Moorestown, N.J. rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as he finished 10^th with an 83.

   Bobby Stefanski of Newtown Square and Rayan Shah, a Newtown resident who helped George School capture the Friends Schools League crown as a sophomore in the spring, shared the top spot in the 13-to-15 division, each registering a 2-over 73.

   Stefanski made back-to-back birdies at the 12^th and 13^th holes and had 12 pars on his scorecard, stringing together eight straight pars from four through 11. Shah made a birdie at the 12^th hole and had 14 pars in his steady round, including a run of seven straight pars from three through nine.

   Sam Whitehouse of Pottstown and Lucas Solano of Vineland, N.J. finished two shots behind Stefanski and Shah in a tie for third place, each posting a 4-over 75.

   Whitehouse made birdies at the first, third, ninth and 18^th holes and had seven pars on his card. After making a birdie at the eighth hole, Lucas Solano went back-to-back with birdies at 11 and 12 and had eight pars on his card with a pair of streaks of four straight pars from four through seven and again from 14 through 17.

   Jack Gilbert of Bryn Mawr took fifth place with a 76, Brooks Buerhaus of Bel Air, Md. and Gavin McLane of Wyncote shared sixth, each carding a 77, and David Padgett of Barnegat, N.J. and Parker Kriews of Manahawkin, N.J. finished in a tie for eighth, each recording a 79.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division was Dean Matta of West Grove as he finished in 10^th place with an 80.

   The best score of the day among the girls came out of the 13-to-15 division as Emma Cowan of Moorestown, N.J. had nine pars on her scorecard on her way to a Philly Junior Tour victory with an 86.

   Hailey Cousins of Port Republic, N.J. went back-to-back with birdies at the 15^th and 16^th holes and had six pars on her card as she finished a shot behind Cowan in second place with an 87.

   Naaya Patel, another Moorestown, N.J. entry, made pars on the third and 11^th holes as she finished in third place with a 99.

   Gigi Lake of Newtown took fourth place with a 103, Mackenzie Lim of Harleysville was fifth with a 108, and Kyla Fuente of Medford, N.J. and Sonia Rosenman, another Moorestown, N.J. entry, rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as they finished in a tie for sixth, each tallying a 112.

   Morgan Tyhanic of Little Egg Harbor, N.J. finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division as she had nine pars on her scorecard on her way to an 87.

   Madison Gibson of Cinnaminson, N.J. and Christina St. Pierre, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Pennsbury last fall, finished in a tie for second place, each signing for a 97.

   Gibson made a birdie on the 17^th hole and had three pars on her card. St. Pierre made a birdie on the sixth hole and a par at 13.

   Rounding out the field in the 16-to-18 division was Emily Renouf, another Cinnaminson, N.J. gal, as she finished in fourth place with a 106.

   Kash Gray of Eagleville, coming off a victory in a Nine-Hole Series event two days earlier at DuPont Country Club’s Montchanin nine, made birdies at the fourth, sixth and seventh holes and had four pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of 12-and-under nine-holers with a sparkling 1-under 34.

   Chase Venne of Moorestown, N.J. had six pars on his card, including three straight pars at the first, second and third holes to open his round, as he earned runnerup honors with a 3-over 38.

   Damien Dollard of Cinnaminson, N.J., the Philly Junior Tour’s Player of the Year in the boys 12-and-under division in 2025, had five pars on his card as he finished in third place, a shot behind Venne with a 39.

   Caleb Solano, another member of Team Solano out of Vineland, N.J., took fourth place with a 44, Crew Schiemer of Ocean View, N.J. was fifth with a 49 and Kamran Patel, another member of Team Patel out of Moorestown, N.J., rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished in sixth place with a 52.

   Sydney Lim, another member of Harleysville’s Team Lim, was the lone entry in the girls 12-and-under division and posted a 58.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brexler, Moyer team up to finish strong and capture title in Francis X. Hussey at Rolling Green

 

   Andy Brexler, a senior on the Central Bucks West golf team, willed his 20-foot birdie putt at Rolling Green Golf Club’s 501-yard, par-5 18^th hole into the bottom of the cup Monday to lift him and John Moyer, a senior on the Central Bucks South golf team, to victory in the 40th Francis X. Hussey Memorial, a Golf Association of Philadelphia better-ball tournament for junior players.

   The two 17-year-olds had played in the Hussey a year ago and left feeling like they had left a lot on the golf course in carding a 3-under-par 68.

   They were back with a purpose this year and Brexler’s birdie putt completed a 7-under 64 tour of the 6,860-yard, par-71 William Flynn gem in the heart of Springfield, Delaware County that gave them a one-shot victory over Ryan McNett, a USGA/GAP entry and Kingston Davis of Kings Creek Country Club.

   Brexler, a Doylestown resident, plays out of Commonwealth National Golf Club in Horsham and Moyer, a Warrington resident, was representing Greate Bay Country Club at the Jersey Shore. Both were District One Class AAA qualifiers as juniors a year ago with Brexler advancing out of districts to the state tournament at Penn State.

   Francis X. Hussey, in whose memory the tournament is played, was an active junior golfer at Rolling Green and a student in the Haverford Township school district who suffered from congenital heart disease and died at age 13 while undergoing major heart surgery in December of 1983.

   It has become a very popular event among the region’s junior players with nearly 70 teams comprising the Junior Boys’ division this year.

   Brexler got his team off to a good start at Rolling Green’s 432-yard, par-4 first hole when he stuck an 8-iron from 165 yards to six feet and rolled in his birdie try.

   Moyer made a birdie at the fourth hole and then went back-to-back at the tough 248-yard, par-3 10^th and the 356-yard, par-4 11^th.

   Moyer hit a 6-iron to 10 feet at the 10^th hole and drained the birdie putt and dropped an eight-footer for birdie at 11.

   Brexler started the team’s closing kick when his 50-footer for birdie at the 146-yard, par-3 16^th hole fell to get Brexler and Moyer to 5-under for the round.

   It was Moyer doing the honors at the 510-yard, par-5 17^th hole as he holed a 20-footer for birdie.

   It was left to Brexler to finish the job by dropping his 20-foot birdie putt at the last.

   “We definitely made a lot of putts,” Moyer told the GAP website. “I felt like we didn’t hit the ball extraordinarily well. Our short games were working really well and being able to convert a lot of putts helped us feel confident when we had some pressure.”

   McNett and Davis finished a shot behind Brexler and Moyer in second place with a sparkling 6-under 65.

   Three teams finished two shots behind McNett and Davis in a tie for third place at 4-under 67, including Calvin Pace of Whitford Country Club and Ian Larsen of Honeybrook Golf Club and a senior on the Downingtown West golf team, Cedarbrook Country Club’s John Gavaghan and Tristan Smith, who were seniors on a La Salle team that finished in fifth place in the PIAA Class AAA team chase last fall, and the Haverford High duo of Kieran Gillespie, a GAP Youth on Course entry, and Charlie Robinson, a USGA/GAP entry and a District One Class AAA qualifier last fall.

   The Radnor High duo of Sebastian Leone, playing out of Radnor Valley Country Club, and Gavin Reger, a Waynesborough Country Club entry, headed a group of four teams tied for sixth place at 3-under 68.

   Leone and Reger were freshmen on a Radnor team that finished in a tie for second place in the PIAA Class AAA team standings last fall, a shot behind state champion Unionville.

   The duo of White Manor Country Club’s Logan Turner and Overbrook Golf Club’s Lannon Boyd were also among the four teams tied at 3-under.

   Turner finished in a tie for 15^th place in the PIAA Class AA Championship as a freshman at Devon Prep last fall. Boyd, who will join the program at Saint Joseph’s later this summer, was the co-medalist in the Central League Championship last fall for the second time in his career with the Raptors and was a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a senior.

   RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve’s Colby Komancheck teamed with The Springhaven Club’s Luca Kleinschmidt to join the group at 3-under.

   Komancheck, whose parents Jamie and Kelly are the husband-wife team of PGA professionals in charge of the pro shop at RiverCrest, capped his junior season at Malvern Prep last fall by capturing the individual title in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association Championship at Radley Run Country Club.

   Kleinschmidt, a recent graduate of Strath Haven who will join the program at PSAC power Millersville later this summer, reached the final of the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship at Chester Valley Golf Club earlier this summer before falling to Riverton Country Club’s Jackson Lane.

   Rounding out the group of four duos tied at 3-under was the Jersey Shore pair of Keller Tannehill of Atlantic City Country Club and Paul Reilly, who plays out of Galloway National Golf Club.

   Christos Bottos of host Rolling Green partnered with Eric Cunningham of St. Davids Golf Club as they headed a trio of players tied for 10^th place at 2-under 69.

   Logan Cassidy of the Union League Golf Club Torresdale, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep last fall, and his fellow Firebird Jake Smaron, playing out of the John F. Byrne Golf Club, were also in the group at 2-under.

   Rounding out the trio tied at 2-under was the tandem of Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Jake Yerkes and Philmont Country Club’s Ben Robbins, teammates on Catholic League power La Salle.

   The Brookside Country Club pair of Rayna Maguire and Anastasia Schell was the only entry in the Junior Girls’ division and recorded a 116.

   The team of Helmut Dang of White Manor Country Club, a fixture on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour boys 13-to-15 division leaderboards this year, and Jack Gilbert of Gulph Mills Golf Club captured the title in the Junior-Junior Boys’ division on the second hole of a playoff.

   Dang and Gilbert, the son of Gulph Mills head pro Tom Gilbert, had finished in a tie atop the leaderboard with the Waynesborough Country Club pair of Jackson Ehrlich and Jack Kolmer, each touring the outgoing nine at Rolling Green in 1-over 37.

   The duo of Llanerch Country Club’s Ryan Comly and Overbrook’s Bobby Stefanski shared third place with the North Hills pair of Samuel Karas and Jackson Jones, each ending up with a 2-over 38.

   Three teams finished in a tie for fifth place at 5-over 41, including the Overbrook duo of Nolan English and Ryan Stefanski, the Whitemarsh Valley Country Club pair of Finnegan Kelly and Finn Funston and the Aronimink Golf Club tandem of Luke McDermott and Brendan McDermott.