Charpentier, Gray share top spot in a Philly Junior Tour Nine-Hole Series stop at Manor

 

   Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville and Kash Gray of Eagleville have been appearing on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour leaderboards pretty regularly in the 12-and-under division in 2026.

   With the nine-holers having the stage to themselves in a Philly Junior Tour Nine-Hole Series event June 25^th at Manor Golf Club, Charpentier and Gray finished in a tie for first place, each finishing with a 3-over-par 39.

   Charpentier made a birdie on the third hole and had five pars on his scorecard, including four straight pars to close out his round. Gray made a birdie on the third hole and had five pars on his card.

   Andrew DElia of Clarks Summit made a birdie on the fourth hole and had two pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 5-over 41.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr took fourth place with a 42 and Andrew Herman of Telford and Grayson Wright of Philadelphia shared fifth, each signing for a 43.

   Samuel Karas of Blue Bell took seventh place with a 46, Nolan English of Villanova was eighth with a 48 and Smith Rawes of Elkins Park was ninth with a 49.

   Beau Townend of Devon took 10^th place with a 52 and Jaxon Price of York rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished 11^th with a 56.

   Arianna Testaiuti of Newtown Square bested a short field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 49.

   Julie Prickett of Ambler rounded out the field in the girls 12-and-under division as she earned runnerup honors with a 64.

Nelligan finishes in red figures at Berkleigh to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Sam Nelligan, an incoming freshman at Boyertown, had the best score of the day out of the 13-to-15 division as he claimed a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour with a 2-under-par 70 at Berkleigh Golf Club near Kutztown June 24^th.

   I mentioned I had a chance to caddy for Nelligan at Stonewall’s Old Course a couple of days before he had a runnerup finish in the 13-to-15 division in a Philly Junior Tour stop at Indian Valley Country Club earlier in June. You could tell the kid was starting to figure out this golf thing a little with some help from Stonewall head pro Megan Leineweber.

   Nelligan made birdies at the fifth, eighth and ninth holes while touring the outgoing nine at Berkleigh, home to an LPGA Tour stop hosted by the great Betsy King from 1996 to 2004, in 2-under 33.

   Nelligan added birdies at the 13^th and 16^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard.

   Carter Robbins of Warrington and Eli Barton, a junior on the Minersville golf team, shared runnerup honors, each ending up seven shots behind Nelligan with a 5-over 77.

   Robbins made birdies on the seventh and 16^th holes and had nine pars on his card. Barton made birdies at the fifth, ninth and 13^th holes before going back-to-back with birdies at 15 and 16 and had six pars on his card.

   Parker Grieve of Plymouth Meeting took fourth place with a 78, Peter Heilman of Mechanicsburg was fifth with a 79, Carson McNamee of Harleysville was sixth with an 80, Lucas Shank of West Chester was seventh with an 83 and James Lang of Haddon Township, N.J. was eighth with an 84.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Cole Jacobson of Phoenixville and Jesse Kanefsky, a Bryn Mawr resident and a sophomore at The Haverford School, as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each signing for an 85.

   Grady Rupe, a senior on the Perkiomen Valley golf team, made a birdie at the seventh hole, went back-to-back with birdies at 13 and 14 and had 12 pars on his scorecard, including a string of five straight pars from eight through 12, as he matched par at Berkleigh with a 72 to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division.

   Justin Marcus, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Downingtown West by qualifying for the District One Class AAA Championship last fall, made birdies at the fifth, seventh and ninth holes and had 11 pars on his card, including a run of four straight pars from 10 through 13, as he earned runnerup honors among the older guys with a 1-over 73.

   Marcus’ three birdies enabled him to tour the outgoing nine at Berkleigh in 1-under 34.

   Mason Matlack of Boyertown and Chris Cipollone, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Haverford High last fall, finished in a tie for third place, each tallying a 2-over 74.

   Matlack made birdies at the first and fifth holes and had 12 pars on his card, including a string of five straight pars from 13 through 17. Cipollone made birdies at the first and 17^th holes and had 13 pars on his card, twice rattling off streaks of six straight pars from four through nine and again from 11 through 16.

   John Thompson, a junior on the Phoenixville golf team, took fifth place with a 77 and Braydon Jakatt, a senior on the Coatesville golf team who was coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory two days earlier at Chapel Hill Golf Course, and Radek Remaley, a senior on the Nazareth golf team, finished in a tie for sixth place, each recording a 79.

   Anderson Tineo of Mount Royal, N.J. took eighth place with an 80, Brady Morris of Reading was ninth with an 81 and Logan Hyndman, a Newtown resident and a senior on the golf team at The Pennington School, rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as he finished 10^th with an 82.

   Molly Wagner, a junior on the St. Mark’s golf team, picked up her second straight Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 13-to-15 division with an 87 at Berkleigh.

   Wagner, who captured a Philly Junior Tour victory a day earlier at Inniscrone Golf Club, made a birdie at the 11^th hole and had six pars on her scorecard, including three straight pars to close out her round.

   Alexa Mcelwain of Schnecksville had four pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors with a 91.

   Two members of Nazareth’s Team Soporowski, Natalie Soporowski and Lindsay Soporowski – both Class of 2030 entries, so maybe twins – finished third and fourth, respectively, to round out the field in the 13-to-15 division.

   Natalie Soporowski had three pars on her card on her way to a 100 and Lindsay Soporowski made back-to-back pars at the ninth and 10^th holes as she recorded a 103.

   Mariana Walker, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Council Rock North last fall, had six pars on her scorecard as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division with an 89.

   Kallista Spence of Phoenixville made pars on the first and eighth holes as she earned runnerup honors with a 105.

   Rounding out the field in the 16-to-18 division was Faridah Ismaila, a junior on the Great Valley golf team, as she made pars on the 11^th and 16^th holes to finish in third place with a 109.

   Blake Shurman of Villanova and Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville shared the top spot among the boys 12-and-under nine-holers as each carded a 2-over 37.

   Charpentier and Shurman finished 1-2, respectively, two days earlier in the Philly Junior Tour stop at Chapel Hill.

   Shurman had bookend birdies at the first and ninth holes at Berkleigh and had three pars on his scorecard at the sixth, seventh and eighth holes. Charpentier also made a birdie at the ninth hole and had five pars on his card.

   Connor Michaels of Lancaster and Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr finished two shots behind Shurman and Charpentier in a tie for third place, each tallying a 4-over 39.

   Michaels made a birdie on the ninth hole and had five pars on his card, including three straight pars at three, four and five. Muego had five pars on his card.

   Andrew Herman of Telford took fifth place with a 40 and the trio of Grayson Wright of Philadelphia, Andrew DElia of Clarks Summit and Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. shared sixth, each registering a 41.

   Ryan Kaye of Lansdale took ninth place with a 43 and Mason Freeborn of Reading and Brady Fry of Pennsburg rounded out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division as they each recorded a 45.

   That’s eight shots separating the 11 players in the top 10, typical of the kind of competitive balance in this division.

   Strong showing by Claire Malbacho of Haverford as she made birdies at the second and seventh holes and had three pars on her scorecard to best the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 3-over 38.

   Lillian Fry, another member of Pennsburg’s Team Fry, had three pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors with a 46.

   Addison Sabatini of West Chester made a par on the fifth hole as she rounded out the field in the girls 12-and-under division by finishing in third place with a 48.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roberts will return to Girls Junior PGA Championship after repeat victory at DuPont

 

   Still playing catch-up in my reporting on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour results, but this one was too important to wait for …

   Kayley Roberts, who capped her outstanding scholastic career at Phoenixville with a runnerup finish in last fall’s PIAA Class AAA Championship, is heading for the Girls Junior PGA Championship, one of the major national events for juniors staged by the PGA of America each year, for a second straight summer.

   Roberts, who will join her older sister Kate at Delaware later this summer, was rock solid, adding a 4-under-par 68 in the afternoon to her opening round of 3-under 69 Monday at the Nemours Course at DuPont Country Club outside of Wilmington, Del. to capture the title in the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship for the second year in a row with a 7-under 137 total.

   Given the weather forecast, you’d have thought the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, which was running the event, would have felt fortunate to get in 18 holes Monday.

   Maybe Mother Nature felt we were due a break following a Fourth of July week that featured three straight days of 100-degree plus temperatures and a couple of heavy thunderstorms.

   The last of that weather broke early Monday morning and what followed was perfect weather for golf, maybe a little humid, but nothing compared to last week’s unrelenting heat. Turned out there was more than enough of a weather window for the one-day, 36-hole shootout that annually brings together the very best junior players from the region, and beyond.

   Only the winner is guaranteed a spot in the Girls Junior PGA Championship, which tees off July 28 at PGA Frisco’s Fields Ranch East and West Courses at the PGA of America’s national headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

   But Kiersten Bodge, a senior at Notre Dame Academy and winner of the Inter-Ac League and Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) individual crowns in the spring, claimed runnerup honors, ending up two shots behind Roberts with a 5-under 139 total and will likely get a wild card to the Junior Girls PGA Championship.

   As for any other wild cards out of the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship, we’ll see.

   Girls ages 13-to-18 are eligible for the Junior Girls PGA Championship. The Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 age groups, so I’ll round them up while referring to the overall scoring.

   Roberts and Kiersten Bodge were clearly the two best players in this field, although the two players who finished in a tie at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division and in a tie for third place in the overall scoring at 3-under 141, Valerie Danby, the precocious 12-year-old from Avondale, and Maddie Chang, an invader from New York City, weren’t too far behind.

   With Kiersten Bodge keeping the pressure on in front of her, Roberts made birdies on the first, third, eighth, ninth and 11^th holes in her afternoon round to get it 7-under for the tournament. Roberts stumbled briefly with back-to-back bogeys at the 13^th and 14^th holes, but a birdie at 18 gave her a final round of 4-under 68 and the top spot in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring.

   In the morning, Roberts made birdies at the eighth and 11^th holes, recorded the lone bogey on her scorecard at 12 and made birdies at 13 and 18 to record the only sub-70 round in the opening round with a 3-under 69.

   Roberts survived the 36-hole cut in last year’s Girls Junior PGA Championship with two solid rounds at Purdue’s Birck Boilermaker Complex in West Lafayette, Ind., but came up short of surviving the 54-hole cut.

   Playing on that final day this summer at PGA Frisco would be a likely goal for Roberts later this month.

   This will be the debut on a national stage for Kiersten Bodge, who plans to join the program at Penn State at the end of next summer, as far as I’m aware. She contended for the Inter-Ac title as far back as seventh grade and finally broke through in the spring, showing a lot of poise on a day when Sandy Run Country Club was buffeted by steady 20-to-30 mph winds with gusts that reached 40, at least.

   Chasing Roberts and starting off the 10^th tee in the afternoon, Kiersten Bodge rattled off seven straight pars. Birdies at the 17^th, first, third and seventh holes got Kiersten Bodge to 6-under for the tournament.

   A bogey at the eighth hole, the only blemish on her card, left her with a 3-under 69 and a 5-under total that was two shots behind Roberts.

   Starting off the 10^th tee in the morning, Kiersten Bodge made a birdie at the 10^th hole and gave a couple of shots back with bogeys at 11 and 16 before getting it back to even-par with a birdie at 18. Birdies at the third and fifth holes left her with a 2-under 70 and trailing Roberts by just a shot going into the second round.

   Roberts was coming off a fourth-place finish in last week’s Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship at Lebanon Country Club. Bodge finished in sixth place at Lebanon.

   Really solid showing by Harriton junior Megan Choi, who has reached the PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of her first two seasons of scholastic golf.

   Choi matched par in the afternoon with a 72 after opening with a 1-over 73 that left her in third place in the 16-to-18 division and fifth overall with a 1-over 145 total that was six shots behind Kiersten Bodge.

   After opening her second round with a bogey at the first hole, Choi rattled off birdies at two, three, five, seven and 11 to get it to 4-under for her round. After a bogey at the 15^th hole, Choi made a birdie at 16 to get it back to 4-under before stumbling at the finish with back-to-back double bogeys at 17 and 18 that dropped her back to even-par for the round.

   Choi was really steady in the morning, making a birdie at the second hole and bogeys at eight and 17 in her 1-over round.

   Nina Zhuang, an invader from Blairstown, N.J., was another shot behind Choi in fourth place among the older girls and sixth overall with a 2-over 146 total. Zhuang added a 1-under 71 in the afternoon to her opening round of 3-over 75.

   Cardinal O’Hara junior Alaina Carson, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in each of her first two scholastic seasons, and Exeter senior Giulia Weisser, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, finished in a tie for fifth place in the 16-to-18 division and in a tie for seventh in the overall scoring with Newtown phenom Myra Tomer and Athena Lin of Princeton Junction, N.J. out of the 13-to-15 division, the foursome all ending up at 3-over 147.

   Carson added a 1-over 73 in the afternoon after opening with a 2-over 74. Weisser bounced back from an opening round of 6-over 78 with a sparkling 3-under 69 in the afternoon.

   Stella Bernardi of Sewell, N.J. and Ephrata junior Makenna Heckman, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in each of her first two scholastic seasons, finished in a tie for seventh place in the 16-to-18 division with a 5-over 149 total.

   Bernardi added a 2-over 74 in the afternoon to her opening-round 75. Heckman posted a 1-over 73 in the afternoon after opening with a 4-over 76.

   Hannah Webb, a Woolwich, N.J. resident and a senior on the Archmere Academy golf team, finished alone in ninth place among the older girls with a 6-over 150 total.

   Webb also represented the Philly Section in the Girls Junior PGA Championship at Purdue a year ago after finishing as the runnerup to Roberts in the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship at DuPont.

   Webb, the runnerup in the girls division of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship at Baywood Greens in May, opened with a solid 2-over 74 before adding a 76 in the afternoon.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Conestoga senior Nicollette Bottos, who helped the Pioneers capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown last fall, and Piper Smith, who capped an outstanding scholastic career at Warwick by finishing right behind Roberts in third place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, as each ended up with a 7-over 151 total.

   Bottos, coming off a fifth-place finish in last week’s Pennsylvania Junior Girls at Lebanon, opened with a 3-over 75 before adding a 76 in the afternoon. Smith had the identical splits, adding a 76 in the afternoon to her opening round of 3-over 75.

   It’s no longer surprising to see Danby performing at a high level, despite not quite officially being a teen-ager.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Danby recorded a sparkling 3-under 69 in the afternoon to join New York City’s Chang in a tie for first place in the 13-to-15 division and in a tie for third in the overall chase at 3-under.

   Danby jump-started her afternoon round with an eagle at the par-5 third hole. She gave a shot back with a bogey at the fourth hole, made a birdie at six and a bogey at nine before making a couple more birdies at 11 and 14 to get it to 3-under for her round. Danby made a bogey at the 17^th hole, but got it to the clubhouse at 3-under with a birdie at the last.

   Danby was a little steadier in the morning, offsetting bogeys at the eighth and 13^th holes with birdies at 11 and 18.

   Chang was in red figures in both of her rounds as she added a 1-under 71 in the afternoon to her opening-round 70.

   Chang got her afternoon round off to a fast start with birdies at the third and fourth holes. After a bogey at the 10^th hole, Chang made a birdie at 14 and bogeys at 15 and 17 before closing with a birdie at the last that enabled her to join Danby at 3-under for the tournament.

   In the morning, Chang made a bogey at the second hole, but quickly recovered with birdies at three and six, an eagle at the par-4 eighth and another birdie at nine as she made the turn at 4-under.

   Chang fell back to 1-under with bogeys at the 13^th, 16^th and 17^th holes, but a birdie at 18 left her at 2-under, just a shot behind Roberts and tied with Bodge going into the second round.

   The 14-year-old Tomer and Lin finished seven shots behind Danby and Chang in a tie for third place in the 13-to-15 division and in a tie for seventh in the overall standings with Carson and Weisser from the 16-to-18 division at 3-over 147.

   Tomer, who finished in a tie for second place in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls at Lebanon last week, matched par in the opening round with a 72 before closing with a 3-over 75.

   Tomer started fast in the afternoon with birdies at the second and third holes. She struggled a little on the Nemours Course’s incoming nine with a bogey at the 12^th hole, a double bogey at 13 and bogeys at 16 and 18.

   Tomer got off to a great start in the morning with birdies at the third, fourth and sixth holes. After a bogey at the seventh hole, Toomer got it back to 3-under for the round with a birdie at 10 before stumbling a little down the stretch with bogeys at 11,14 and 17.

   After opening with a 1-over 73, Lin added a 74 in the afternoon to join Tomer at 3-over.

   In the afternoon, Lin, starting off the 10^th tee, made a birdie at the 10^th hole and bogeys at 13 and 16 and was 1-over heading to the front nine. After making a birdie at the first hole, Lin made bogeys at four and eight to finish at 1-over.

   Lin, again starting off the 10^th tee in the morning, made bogeys at the 13^th, 16^th and 17^th holes before embarking on an eventful tour of the Nemours Course’s outgoing nine.

   Lin made birdies at the second and third holes, a double bogey at four, a birdie at five and a bogey at seven before finishing up the front with back-to-back birdies at eight and nine.

   The foursome of Carson, Weisser, Toomer and Lin rounded out the top 10 in the overall scoring.

   Emilie Davoli, a 12-year-old from Ambler, tallied a pair of 79s to finish 11 shots behind Tomer and Lin in fifth place among the younger girls with a 158 total.

   Dahlia Garrick, coming off her freshman season at the Tower Hill School, and Katelyn Bodge, younger sister of Kiersten Bodge and a freshman at Notre Dame, finished in a tie for sixth place in the 13-to-15 division, each posting a 160 total.

   Garrick, who finished in a tie for fourth place in the DIAA Championship at Baywood Greens in May, bounced back from an opening-round 84 with a 4-over 76 in the afternoon.

   Katelyn Bodge, who finished in sixth place behind her older sister in the Inter-Ac League Championship at Sandy Run as an eighth-grader, added a 6-over 78 in the afternoon to her opening-round 82.

   Mia DeCarlo of Glen Mills, one of the top players in the Philly Junior Tour's 12-and-under division a year ago, finished a shot behind Garrick and Katelyn Bodge in eighth place in the 13-to-15 division as she added a 6-over 78 in the afternoon to her opening-round 83 for a 161 total.

   Trisha Lobo, the talented 11-year-old from Collegeville, tallied a pair of 81s to finish in ninth place among the younger girls with a 162 total. Lobo was the Player of the Year in 2025 among the Philly Junior Tour's 12-and-under nine-holers.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Stella Varano of Schwenksville and Chloe Pridie, a junior on the Oley golf team, as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each registering a 175 total.

   Varano added a 90 in the afternoon to her opening-round 85. Pridie had the opposite splits, adding an 85 in the afternoon to her opening-round 90.