Gohel has the hot hand on his way to a Philly Junior Tour victory at Pennsauken

 

   Ravi Gohel of Mount Laurel, N.J. heated up at Pennsauken Country Club as he earned a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with a sizzling 3-under-par 67 July 15^th.

   Gohel made birdies at the first, fourth, eighth and 17^th holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard, including a string of eight straight pars from nine through 16. Gohel’s three birdies on the outgoing nine enabled him to tour Pennsauken’s front side in 2-under 33.

   David Watts of Haddonfield, N.J. made a birdie at the sixth hole and had 12 pars on his card, including a run of six straight pars from nine through 14, as he earned runnerup honors with a 4-over 74.

   Conor Coughlin of Haddon Township, N.J. and Benjamin Perticari of West Deptford, N.J. shared third place, each posting a 7-over 77.

   Coughlin had 11 pars on his card. Perticari also had 11 pars on his card, finishing up his round by making seven straight pars.

   Vaughn Smartt of Bryn Mawr and Anthony Beach of Westville, N.J. shared fifth place, each tallying a 78, David Dempsey of Franklinville, N.J. took seventh with a 79 and Logan Nye, a senior at Plymouth-Whitemarsh, and Bradford Bergstrom of Moorestown, N.J. finished in a tie for eighth, each recording an 82.

   Brayden Holland, another Haddon Township, N.J. entry, rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as he finished in 10^th place with an 84.

   The trio of Christian Speitel of Haddonfield, N.J., Thayer Boyd of Kennett Square and Jack Venne of Moorestown, N.J. finished in a tie atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division as each signed for a 7-over 77.

   Speitel made birdies at the third and 11^th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard, including five straight pars to finish up his round.

   Boyd’s steady round featured 11 pars. Jack Venne had bookend birdies on the outgoing nine at the first and ninth holes and had 10 pars on his card, including four straight pars to finish up his round.

   Roy Jackson of Medford, N.J. and Jonathan Thomas of Landenberg shared fourth place, each registering a 78, Max Charbonneau of Wayne was sixth with a 79, David Padgett of Barnegat, N.J. was seventh with an 81 and Thomas Holt IV of Haddonfield, N.J. was eighth with an 82.

   Luke George of Mullica Hill, N.J. took ninth place with an 83 and Dillon Tierney of Marlton, N.J. rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished 10^th with an 85.

   Christina St. Pierre, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Pennsbury last fall, had seven pars on her scorecard as she captured a Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 16-to-18 division with an 88.

   Morgan Tyhanic of Little Egg Harbor, N.J. also had seven pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors with a 92.

   Emily Renouf of Cinnaminson, N.J. had four pars on her card as she finished in third place with a 93.

   Madison Gibson, another Cinnaminson, N.J. gal, rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as she took fourth place with a 97.

   Mallie Heenan of Ocean City, N.J. made a birdie at the 14^th hole and had four pars on her scorecard as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 92.

   Emma Cowan of Moorestown, N.J. and Lanie Whitehead of Swedesboro, N.J. were right on Heenan’s heels as they finished in a tie for second place, each ending up a shot behind Heenan with a 93.

   Cowan and Whitehead each had four pars on their respective cards.

   Gigi Lake of Newtown took fourth place with a 98, Naaya Patel of Moorestown, N.J. was fifth with a 99, and Antonella Ferrer of Wynnewood was sixth with a 106.

   Hridya Shah of Downingtown rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished in seventh place with a 109.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr finished up his round with a birdie at the ninth hole and had six pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers for the third time in as many days with a 1-over 36.

   Muego had earned a Philly Junior Tour victory two days earlier at The Berkshire Country Club in Reading and followed that up by finishing in first place at the Cobbs Creek Q School Short Course.

   Damien Dollard of Cinnaminson, N.J., the Philly Junior Tour’s boys 12-and-under division Player of the Year in 2025, made birdies on the second and ninth holes and had four pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Muego in second place with a 2-over 37.

   Ryan Stefanski of Newtown Square had seven pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 40.

   Andrew DElia of Clarks Summit took fourth place with a 42 and the trio of Sid Joshi of Coopersburg, Chase Venne, another member of Team Venne out of Moorestown, N.J., and Nolan English of Villanova finished a shot behind DElia in a tie for fifth place, each signing for a 43.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division was the trio of Kamran Patel of Moorestown, N.J., Samuel Karas of Blue Bell and Jordan Chase of Philadelphia as they finished in a tie for eighth place, each tallying a 45.

 

Lane scorches the new Cobbs Creek Q School Short Course to earn a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Gavin Lane of Cinnaminson, N.J. blitzed the new Cobbs Creek Q School Short Course with a sizzling 4-under-par 23 to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division July 14^th.

   The Cobbs Creek Q School Short Course was one of the first parts of the transformation of the venerable public facility in West Philadelphia to be completed.

   Since then, a state-of-the-art driving range has arisen where the old driving range along City Line Avenue once stood. Ultimately, the original Hugh Wilson design will be updated and reopened sometime, I believe, in 2027.

   The ambitious plan is to turn Cobbs into the East Lake of Philadelphia. That would be quite an addition to the thriving golf scene in the Philadelphia area.

   Lane certainly had some fun on the Q School Short Course at Cobbs, opening his round with back-to-back birdies at the first and second holes, closing it with back-to-back birdies at eight and nine and rattling off pars from two through seven in between.

   Jason Leekley of Moorestown, N.J. made a birdie on the sixth hole and had seven pars on his scorecard, opening his round with five straight pars, as he earned runnerup honors with an even-par 27.

   Jackson Jones of Bryn Mawr had seven pars on his card, opening his round with four straight pars, as he finished in third place with a 2-over 29.

   The trio of Aidan Treshaj of Ambler, Shane McCollum of Newtown Square and Demetri Orloff of Springfield shared fourth place, each posting a 30 and James Park of Doylestown and Carter Hartz of Villanova finished in a tie for seventh, each tallying a 31.

   Nathan Barker of Malvern took ninth place with a 32 and Emerson Bofinger of Ocean View, Del. rounded out the top 10 as he finished 10^th with a 33.

   Robert Stout of Trenton, N.J. finished up his round with a birdie at the ninth hole and had six pars on his scorecard, including a string of four straight pars from two through five, as he earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with a 1-over 28.

   Caleb Wilson of Upper Darby made back-to-back pars on the fourth and fifth holes as he earned runnerup honors with an 8-over 35.

   Andrew Reardon of Villanova opened his round with four straight pars as he finished a shot behind Wilson in third place with a 36.

   Rounding out the field in the 16-to-18 division was Brayden Holland of Haddon Township, N.J. as he finished in fourth place with a 39.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr, coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory a day earlier at The Berkshire Country Club in Reading, finished up his round with a birdie on the ninth hole and had six pars on his scorecard, including a run of six straight pars from three through eight, as he bested the field of 12-and-under nine-holers by matching par with a 27.

   Connor Michaels of Lancaster made a birdie on the eighth hole and had six pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 2-over 29.

   Ethan Hong of Radnor and Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. finished in a tie for third place, each signing for a 32.

   Ethan Hong made birdies on the fourth and eighth holes and had two pars on his card. Wang had five pars on his card.

   Jordan Chase of Philadelphia took fifth place with a 33 and Kash Gray of Eagleville finished sixth with a 35.

   Rounding out the field in the boys 12-and-under division was a trio of players tied for seventh place at 42 that included Elliott Hong of Wayne, Andrew Paluszkiewicz of Cinnaminson, N.J. and Ryan Scully of Chesterbrook.

   Allison Hong, another member of Wayne’s Team Hong, was the lone entry in the girls 12-and-under division and she made a birdie at the third hole and a par at eight while registering a 35.

 

Zhang, Bodge prove they can take the heat with gritty performances in Girls Junior PGA Championship

 

   Alyssa Zhang, the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship winner earlier this summer, and Overbrook Golf Club’s Kiersten Bodge, winner of the Inter-Ac League and Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association crowns in the spring, battled hard in the Texas heat in last week’s Girls Junior PGA Championship at Fields Ranch at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas.

   The Junior PGA Championships for the girls and boys, one of the major tournaments for junior golfers, were staged simultaneously last week by the PGA of America at Fields Ranch at PGA Frisco at the organization’s headquarters.

   Alyssa Zhang, an Allison Park resident and a junior at Shady Side Academy who has back-to-back third-place finishes in her first two appearances in the PIAA Class AA Championship, and Bodge, a West Chester resident and a senior at Notre Dame Academy, were both coming off solid showings in the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship the previous week at Gulph Mills Golf Club.

   Alyssa Zhang, who ran away with the title in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship at Lebanon Country Club by 12 shots in June, struggled in Friday’s final round of the Girls Junior PGA Championship with an 82 at Fields Ranch East as she finished in a tie for 31^st place with an 11-over 299 total.

   But just teeing it up in the final round of this 72-hole test is an accomplishment in itself. Alyssa Zhang had to survive two cuts, one after Wednesday’s second round and another after Thursday’s third round.

   Alyssa Zhang was one of just 33 girls with a tee time for Friday’s final round.

   Alyssa Zhang had opened by matching par at Fields Ranch West with a 72 as her steady round included a birdie at the 15^th hole, a bogey at 18 and 16 pars.

   It was more of the same in Wednesday’s second round at Fields Ranch East as Alyssa Zhang, starting off the 10^th tee, made a birdie at 16 and a bogey at five, as she again matched par with a 72 and was tied for 27^th place with an even-par 144 total.

   Alyssa Zhang hung in there with a 1-over 73 at Fields Ranch East in Thursday’s third round as she survived the 54-hole cut with a 1-over 217 total that left her in a tie for 28^th place.

   Alyssa Zhang, playing out of Wildwood Golf Club, had finished alone in 12^th place in the Pennsylvania Women’s Am the previous week with an 8-over 230 total over a tough Gulph Mills Golf Club layout.

   Bodge, coming off a tie for 10^th place in the Pennsylvania Women’s Am at Gulph Mills, was unable to survive the 54-hole cut at Fields Ranch as a 2-over 74 at Fields Ranch East in Thursday’s third round left her just a couple of shots outside the cut line with a 5-over 221 total.

   Bodge did her best work in Tuesday’s opening round at Fields Ranch West as she rode a birdie burst on the incoming nine to a solid 2-under 70.

   After a couple of early bogeys at the first and third holes, Bodge really got it going on the back nine, rattling off four straight birdies at 12, 13, 14 and 15 to get it to 2-under for her round. A birdie at the 17^th hole got Bodge to 3-under for the day before a bogey at the finishing hole dropped her back to 2-under.

   Bodge struggled a little in her first crack at Fields Ranch East in Wednesday’s second round as she posted a 5-over 77, but her 3-over 147 total was still good enough to get her to Thursday’s third round.

   Bodge, who finished in sixth place behind Alyssa Zhang in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls at Lebanon in June, started off the 10^th tee in the second round and got an early birdie at the 15^th hole.

   But back-to-back double bogeys at the fourth and fifth holes halted her momentum and she added bogeys at the sixth and ninth holes.

   Bodge, who plans to join the program at Penn State in the Big Ten next summer, had punched her ticket to Fields Ranch at PGA Frisco with a runnerup finish in the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship July 6^th at DuPont Country Club’s Nemours Course behind recent Phoenixville graduate Kayley Roberts.

   It was the second straight appearance in the Girls Junior PGA Championship for Roberts, who capped her scholastic career with a runaway victory in the District One Class AAA Championship and a runnerup finish in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall.

   Roberts, coming off a seventh-place finish in the Pennsylvania Women’s Am at Gulph Mills, never got it going in the Texas heat as she opened with a 6-over 78 at Fields Ranch West and added a 4-over 76 in the second round at Fields Ranch East, failing to survive the 36-hole cut with a 10-over 154 total.

   Roberts will be joining her older sister Kate on the golf team at Delaware by the end of the month.

   Ellie Benson, who wrapped up her scholastic career by finishing in fourth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Peters Township last fall, also failed to survive the 36-hole cut.

   Benson, who will join the program at Gardner-Webb in the Big South Conference later this month, opened with a 3-over 75 at Fields Ranch West, but struggled to an 87 in the second round at Fields Ranch East.

   The Girls Junior PGA Championship title went to Aubrey Hilgers of Surprise, Ariz., who edged Yujie Liu, a 16-year-old from China who is No. 20 in the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking, on the third hole of a playoff after both players got hot down the stretch at Fields Ranch East to end up tied at the top of the leaderboard with a 6-under 282 total.

   Hilgers, who plans to join the program at Southeastern Conference power Auburn in the summer of 2028, made birdies at the 14^th, 15^th and 17^th holes to finish off a final round of 3-under 69 at Fields Ranch East.

   Hilgers had opened with a 2-under 70 at Fields Ranch West and added a 1-over 73 in the second round at Fields Ranch East before getting herself in the hunt with a 2-under 70 in Thursday’s third round at Fields Ranch East.

   Liu was spectacular on the incoming nine at Fields Ranch East in the final round, ripping off birdies at the 10^th, 12^th, 14^th, 15^th and 18^th holes, her back-nine 31 completing a 3-under 69 and enabling her to force a playoff with Hilgers at 6-under for the tournament.

   Liu had opened with a sparkling 4-under 68 at Fields Ranch West and added a 1-under 71 at Fields Ranch East in the second round before backing off a little in Thursday’s third round with a 1-over 73 at Fields Ranch East.

   Hilgers got it up and down from a bunker at the par-3 17^th hole, the third hole of the playoff, to seal the deal.

   Ava Zhang of St. Mary’s, Fla. closed with a 3-over 75 at Fields Ranch East to finish four shots behind Hilgers and Liu in third place with a 2-under 286 total.

   Ava Zhang, like Hilgers, a Class of 2028 entry, had opened with a sparkling 5-under 67 at Fields Ranch West and added a 1-under 71 in Wednesday’s second round at Fields Ranch East to get it to 6-under for the tournament.

   A 1-over 73 in Thursday’s third round at Fields Ranch East left Ava Zhang in a tie for the lead with three others players at 5-under going into the final round.

   On the boys side, Logan McGinn of South Williamsport and Declan Conner, a senior on the Ridley golf team, wrapped up a couple of pretty exciting weeks on the national stage in the Boys Junior PGA Championship.

   McGinn, who will be a freshman on the Williamsport High golf team, was unable to make the cut following 54 holes and Conner failed to survive the 36-hole cut, but both players had teed it up in the U.S. Junior Amateur a week earlier at Saucon Valley Country Club before heading to Frisco, Texas for the Boys Junior PGA Championship, gaining experience at a high level of competition that will only serve to make them better players in the future.

   McGinn had captured the title in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, beating a field of mostly older players in a one-day, 36-hole test at Bellewood Country Club across the Schuylkill River from Pottstown in June, to earn his spot in the field at Fields Ranch at PGA Frisco.

   After opening with a 3-over 75 at Fields Ranch East, McGinn delivered a clutch 3-under 69 at Fields Ranch West in Wednesday’s second round to survive the 36-hole cut with an even-par 144 total.

   McGinn made birdies at the third and ninth holes at Fields Ranch West before his only miscue of the day, a bogey at 13. He then made birdies at the 15^th and 17^th holes on his way to the clubhouse.

   A 5-over 77 back at Fields Ranch East in Thursday’s third round left McGinn outside the cut line with a 5-over 221 total.

   Conner, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a junior last fall, opened with a solid 2-over 74 at Fields Ranch East, but couldn’t solve the Fields Ranch West layout, tallying an 83 that left him outside the cut line with a 13-over 157 total.

   Conner, the runnerup to McGinn in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood, and McGinn had qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Saucon Valley’s Weyhill Course in June.

   Conner was the runnerup at the Weyhill Course and McGinn was an alternate and got a late call in the days before the U.S. Junior Amateur that he was in the field.

   Neither Conner nor McGinn was able to earn a spot in the match-play bracket in 36 holes of stroke play at Saucon Valley’s Old Course and Grace Course, but again there is nothing quite like the experience of playing in a national championship for a young golfer.

   In McGinn’s case, he played on the national stage twice this summer before ever hitting a shot as a scholastic golfer. For Conner, playing in two of the marquee events for junior golfers is going to make him one of the best players in the Central League in the upcoming season.

   Michael Quallich, a senior on the Baldwin golf team outside Pittsburgh, appeared in the Boys Junior PGA Championship for a second straight summer.

   Quallich, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore in the fall of 2024, had played four rounds a year ago at Purdue’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.

   Quallich couldn’t quite duplicate that feat this year, coming up just short of surviving the 54-hole cut with a 3-over 219 total. Quallich opened with a 3-over 75 at Fields Ranch East and added a solid 2-under 70 in Wednesday’s second round at Fields Ranch West.

   Quallich carded a 2-over 74 back at Fields Ranch East in Thursday’s third round, his 3-over total leaving him just outside the 54-hole cut line of 1-over 217.

   The Boys Junior PGA Championship title went to Jaden Soong, a Class of ’28 competitor from Burbank, Calif. who claimed a one-shot victory with a 7-under 281 total.

   A couple of late birdies at the 15^th and 17^th holes enabled Soong to match par in the final round with a 72 at Fields Ranch East and nail down the crown.

   Soong had matched par in the opening round with a 72 at Fields Ranch East and surged into contention on the strength of a 5-under 67 in Wednesday’s second round at Fields Ranch West.

   Soong registered a 3-under 69 in Thursday’s third round back at Fields Ranch East that gave him a two-shot lead going into Friday’s final round.

   Soong opened his final round with a bogey at the first hole. After making a birdie at the seventh hole, Soong stumbled briefly with a bogey at eight and a double bogey at nine. Soong made a birdie at the 10^th hole, but a bogey at 14 dropped him back to 5-under for the tournament.

   After getting it back to 6-under with his birdie at the 15^th hole, Soong delivered the clinching birdie at the par-3 17^th.

   Playing in the group ahead of Soong, Aadi Parmar, a Class of ’27 entry from Selma, Texas, and Chase Hughes, another Class of ’28 entry from Oklahoma City, Okla., shared second place, each ending up a shot behind Soong with a 6-under 282 total.

   Parmar and Hughes each closed with a 1-under 71 at Fields Ranch East to share runnerup honors.