Lees finishes sixth in PDQ / Philadelphia Runner Junior at Saucon Valley

   Agnes Irwin junior Kaitlyn Lees led the local contingent at the PDQ / Philadelphia Runner Junior at Saucon Valley Country Club’s Weyhill Course Wednesday as she wrapped up the 54-hole event with a final-round 77 to finish alone in sixth place at 10-over-par 226.

   Lees, who claimed her second straight Pennsylvania Junior Girls crown earlier this summer, had opened with rounds of 76 and 73 over the par-72 Weyhill Course, which measures 6,070 yards for the girls, in Tuesday’s double round. Lees, a Bryn Mawr resident who plays out of Philadelphia Country Club, has finished in the top three in the last four Inter-Ac League championships, including a victory as a seventh-grader in 2013.

   The PDQ / Philadelphia Runner Junior turned into a coming-out party for Alexa Pano of Lake Worth, Fla., who, in very impressive fashion, became, at age 12, the youngest winner in the history of the American Junior Golf Association.

   Pano’s 1-under 71 in the final round was her third sub-par round and enabled her to finish at 5-under 211, five shots clear of the field, in just her second AJGA appearance. She opened Tuesday with rounds of 71 and 69. Her 71 Wednesday was the low round of the day.

   Kyra Cox of South Salem, N.Y. carded a 2-over 74 to finish alone in second place at even-par 216. Komkamol Sukaree of Thailand was another shot back in third at 1-over 217 after a final-round 73.

Jessie Kweon of Little Neck, N.Y. finished fourth at 222 after posting a final-round 74. Madasyn Pettersen of Rockford Ill. finished fifth at 224 after a final-round 78.

   Jennifer Cleary of Wilmington, Del. finished a shot back of Lees in seventh place at 227 after a solid closing round of 1-over 73.

   Avondale’s Rylie Heflin, who won the Philadelphia Junior Girls title earlier this summer, had a final-round 79 to finish alone in 10^th place at 233. Gabby Kim, the 2015 PIAA Class AAA East Region champion as a junior at Radnor, finished 12^th at 235 with a final-round 81.

   Meghan Fahey, Lees’ classmate at Agnes Irwin, had a solid final-round 77 to finish in a tie for 13^th at 237. Fahey, who claimed the Inter-Ac title last spring while at Notre Dame, earned a trip to the U.S. Girls’ Junior at Ridgewood Country Club in Parmaus, N.J. earlier this summer.

   Cassidy Gavaghan of Ambler had a final-round 79 to finish alone in 16^th place at 240.

   On the boys side, Jacob Bayer, a Western Kentucky recruit from Lawrenceville, Ga., fired a 1-under 71 in the final round to finish at 3-under 213 and claim a one-shot victory.

   Bayer had opened with rounds of 73 and 69 in Tuesday’s double round over the Weyhill Course, which measures 6,980 yards for the boys. Bayer had five birdies in his final round, including one on the 16^th that proved to be the difference.

   Justin Lane of Woodstock, N.Y. and Alex Jamieson of Duxbury, Mass. finished a shot back of Bayer in a tie for second at 2-under 214. Lane had a 1-under 71 in the final round while Jamieson, who had shared the lead after 36 holes with Bayer, matched par in the final round with a 72.

   Viraj Garewal of Raleigh, N.C. finished alone in fourth place at 1-under 215 after posting a 1-under 71 in the final round. Frank Lindwall of Cedar Rapids, Iowa fired a 4-under 68, the low round of the day, to get a share of fifth place with Ben Sigel of Deephaven, Minn. at even-par 216. Sigel matched par in the final round with his 72.

   Conor McGrath of Huntingdon Valley led the local contingent teeing it up at Saucon Valley as he finished alone in seventh place at 1-over 217 following a final-round 72.

   Huntingdon Valley’s Brian Isztwan, a junior at Penn Charter, finished in a tie for 19^th at 223 after a final-round 78. Kevin Scherr of Nazareth also had a final-round 78 to finish in a tie for 27^th at 227.

Wayne’s John Updike, a Malvern Prep sophomore who won the Pennsylvania Junior Boys crown earlier this summer, had a final-round 74 to finish in a tie for 32^nd at 229. He was joined at that figure by Kennett senior Evan Brown of Chadds Ford, who had a final-round 79. Wills Montgomery of Exton finished in a tie for 36^th at 230 after a final-round 74.

   Malvern’s Cole Kemmerer, a junior at Episcopal Academy, and Villanova’s Max Siegfried, a recent Haverford School graduate, finished in a tie for 40^th at 233. Kemmerer had a final-round 80 while Siegfried carded a 76.

   Robert Beck of Allentown finished in a tie for 42^nd at 234 after a final-round 80, Newtown Square’s Matthew Davis, a junior at Malvern Prep, was alone in 47^th at 239 after an 83, Tyler Roland of Newtown Square finished in a tie for 49^th after a 78, and Alec Cwienkala of Allentown finished 51^st at 246 after a 78.

Lees in sixth place after two rounds of PDQ / Philadelphia Runner Junior

   Agnes Irwin junior Kaitlyn Lees, the reigning two-time Pennsylvania Junior Girls champion, headed the local contingent Tuesday after two rounds of the PDQ / Philadelphia Runner Junior, an American Junior Golf Association event being staged at Saucon Valley Country Club’s Weyhill Course in Bethlehem.

   Lees, a Bryn Mawr resident and Philadelphia Country Club member, had rounds of 76 and 73 over the par-72 Weyhill course, which measured 6,070 for the girls, and stands in sixth place at 5-over-par 149. After Tuesday’s grueling double round, the tournament concludes with 18 holes Wednesday.

   All the players in the girls division are chasing precocious Alexa Pano, a 12-year-old from Lake Worth, Fla. who had rounds of 71 and 69 to take a two-shot lead on the field at 4-under 140. Kyra Cox of South Salem, N.Y. is alone in second place with rounds of 70 and 72 for a 2-under 142 total.

Komkamol Sukaree (74-70) of Thailand is in third place at even-par 144, Madasyn Pettersen (72-74) of Rockford, Ill. is fourth at 2-over 146 and Jessie Kweon (76-72) of Little Neck, N.Y. is fifth at 4-over 148.

   Gabby Kim, who won the PIAA Class AAA East Regional title as a junior at Radnor last fall, heads a group of five players tied for seventh at 154. Kim, who helped the Raiders capture District One and PIAA team titles in Class AAA, had rounds of 80 and 74.

   Rylie Heflin, who captured the Philadelphia Junior Girls title earlier this summer, had a pair of 77s to join Kim in the tie for seventh at 154.

   Also at 154 were Jennifer Cleary (79-75) of Wilmington, Del., Allison Paik (78-76) of Providence, R.I. and Christine Shao (78-76) of Green Brook N.J.

   Meghan Fahey, who won the Inter-Ac League title with Notre Dame in the spring, but will join Lees as a junior at Agnes Irwin, is tied for 15^th at 160 after posting a pair of 80s. Fahey represented Overbrook Golf Club and Merion Golf Club in the U.S. Girls’ Junior at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. earlier this summer.

   Cassidy Gavaghan of Ambler is alone in 18^th place, a shot back of Fahey at 161 after rounds of 80 and 81.

   On the boys side, Huntingdon Valley’s Brian Isztwan and Conor McGrath headed up the local entrants as they are tied for ninth at 1-over 145. Isztwan, a junior at Penn Charter, had rounds of 73 and 72 over a Weyhill Course that measured 6,980 yards for the boys. McGrath added a 1-under 71 to his opening-round 74.

   Jacob Bayer, a Western Kentucky recruit out of Lawrenceville, Ga., and Alex Jamieson, a Notre Dame commit out of Duxbury, Mass, share the lead in the boys division at 2-under 142.

Bayer had the afternoon’s best round, a 3-under 69, after opening with a 73. Jamieson had a pair of 1-under 71s.

   The day’s best round belonged to Christian Chapman of Victor, N.Y., who lit up the Weyhill layout with a remarkable course-record 63 in the morning. He was unable to sustain that level of play in the afternoon as he carded an 80 that left him in a tie for third at 1-under 143. He was joined at that figure by Justin Lane of Woodstock, N.Y., who had rounds of 71 and 72.

   Four players – Ben Sigel (69-75) of Deephaven, Minn., Ben Smith (70-74) of Novi, Mich., Viraj Garewal (72-72) of Raleigh, N.C. and James McKee (73-71) of Windham, N.H. – are tied for fifth at even-par 144.

   Kennett senior Evan Brown is tied for 22^nd at 150 after rounds of 73 and 77. Episcopal Academy’s Cole Kemmerer (77-76) and Kevin Scherr (78-75) of Nazareth are tied for 32^nd at 153. Robert Beck (75-79) of Allentown is tied for 38^th at 154.

   Malvern Prep sophomore John Updike, who won the Pennsylvania Junior Boys title earlier this summer, is alone in 40^th place with rounds of 77 and 78 for a 155 total. His Malvern Prep teammate, junior Matthew Davis, is another shot back in a tie for 41^st with rounds of 77 and 79 and a 156 total.

   Max Siegfried, the former Haverford School standout, is tied for 44^th with rounds of 80 and 77 and a 157 total. Updike, Davis and Siegfried are all Aronimink Golf Club members.

   Tyler Roland (84-80) is in 50^th place at 164 and Alex Cwienkala (78-90) of Allentown is 51^st at 168.

Leroux fires 79 at Doylestown to claim Junior Tour victory

   James Leroux of Radnor was the only player to break 80 as he captured top honors in the 13-to-15 division when the Philadelphia Section PGA’s Junior Tour made Doylestown Country Club its final weekday stop of the summer Tuesday.

   Leroux had a birdie on each nine on his way to a 7-over-par 79 over the 6,452-yard, par-72 Doylestown layout. Dylan Gooneratne of Plymouth Meeting was the runnerup in the division with an 81.

   Kevin Motil of Sewell, N.J. finished third with an 82, Stephen Cain of Yardley took fourth with an 85, Jack Fialko of Berwyn was fifth with an 89 and Corey Haydu of Doylestown was sixth with a 90. Jack Davis of Newtown Square finished seventh with an 82, Andrew Lauerman of North Wales placed eighth with a 94 and Jarrod Matz of Fort Washington and Aiden Ehresman of Jamison rounded out the top 10 as they shared ninth place, each carding a 96.

   Andrew Wallace of Narberth took top honors in the 16-to-18 division with an 80 that included a birdie on the par-4 fourth hole. Shane Nocito of Levittown was the runnerup with an 81. Doylestown’s Brock Nestory and Charles Nestory held down the next two spots, finishing third and fourth with respective rounds of 83 and 85.

   Neel Vidwans of West Chester finished fifth with an 86, Nicholas Wert of Rosemont took sixth with an 88, Jonathon Tancredi of Lower Gwynedd was seventh with a 91, Colin Kear of Doylestown was eighth at 93 and Shane McCullough of Plymouth Meeting was ninth at 105.

   Yoojin Chun of Old Tappan, N.J. won the girls’ 16-to-18 division in a scorecard playoff after finishing in a tie atop the division with Marykate Chambers of Malvern, each carding a 97.

Amanda Schuebel won the battle of the Schuebels of King of Prussia as she took top honors in the 13-to-15 division with a 111 while Audrey Schuebel was the runnerup with a 120.

   Kristof Kopecky of Garnet Valley birdied his final hole for a 4-over 40 that gave him the top spot among the nine-holers. Win Thomas of Coatesville was a shot back in second with a 41.

   Willam Huntley of Lansdale finished third with a 49, Molly Gregor of North Wales took fourth with a 50, Charlie Hurchalla of Wallingford was fifth with a 54, Emma Reilly of Warrington was sixth with a 56, Sophia Branca of Warrington was seventh with a 58 and Matthew Hurchalla of Wallingford was eighth at 62.