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.