Beek claims a Junior Tour victory at Bala

   Elizabeth Beek, the reigning Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour 13-to-15 division Player of the Year, took top honors in the 13-to-15 division in a Junior Tour stop Sunday at Bala Golf Club, the William Flynn design just inside the confines of Philadelphia.

   Beek, who is wrapping up sixth grade at Wissahickon Middle School, carded a 13-over-par 81 over the short but challenging 5,366-yard, par-68 Bala layout, a round that included a birdie on the 13^th hole.

   The Junior Tour event was limited to two girls divisions and the coed nine-holers. The Junior Tour is sponsored by The Graham Company.

   Sunshine Gu of Yardley was a solid runnerup to Beek with an 84. Catherine Civitella of North Palm Beach, Fla. was third with a 90, Kayla Gutierrez of Little Egg Harbor, N.J. took fourth with a 92 and Claire Lu of Edison, N.J. was fifth with a 95.

   Grace Lu -- older sister of Claire, I’m guessing – also of Edison, N.J. and Gillyoung Koh of Broomall tied for sixth, each carding a 96. Olivia Strigh of Hammonton, N.J. and Riley Quartermain of Bryn Mawr shared eighth place at 98 and Eden Richmond of Princeton, N.J. rounded out the top 10 with a 102.

   Marykate Chambers, a Malvern resident and a member of the Episcopal Academy golf team, won the 16-to-18 division in a match of cards after finishing tied for the top spot with Olivia Patrow of East Stroudsburg, each posting a 92.

   Chambers’ back-nine 45 gave her the edge in the tiebreaker. Patrow’s round included a birdie at the sixth.

   Rose Litt of Moorestown, N.J. finished third with a 97, Olivia Wirsching of Blue Bell was fourth with a 98 and Elaina McGarrigle of Wernersville was fifth with a 101. Kiera McGrath took sixth with a 114 and Catherine Dare of Moorestown, N.J. was seventh with a 120.

   Matthew Normand of Lumberton, N.J. carded a solid 7-over 40 to best the field of nine-holers for his fifth Junior Tour win of the season. Nicholas Ciocca of Devon and Henry Stone of Kennett Square shared second place, each finishing a shot behind Normand at 41.

   Benjamin Saggers of West Chester finished fourth with a 43, Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel, N.J. was fifth with a 45, Sydney Yermish of Wynnewood was sixth with a 46 and Nicholas Gross of Downingtown was seventh with a 47.

   Jack Dare, not the only Dare to make the trip from Moorestown, N.J., finished eighth with a 49 and Michael Dignazio of Wilmington, Del. was ninth with a 50. Rounding out the top 10 were three players tied for 10^th at 53, including Nicole Yun of Limerick, Samuel Cottone of Wayne and Marshall Kain of Newtown Square.