Fassnacht leads the way in first step of Junior PGA Championship qualifying at Bent Creek

   The Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stopped at Bent Creek Country Club in Lititz Monday in the first step toward a possible berth in the Junior PGA Championship.

   Among the guys ages 13 to 18, 22 players advanced and three players among the nine-holers moved on to one of two Philadelphia Junior Tour qualifiers in July for the national event. The Girls Junior PGA Championship and the Junior PGA Championship have expanded this year. In the past, each of the 41 PGA sections sent one boy and one girl to the national event, but this year each section will send two boys and two girls.

   The Country Club of St. Albans in St. Albans, Mo. will host the Girls Junior PGA Championship July 18 to 21 and the Junior PGA Championship from July 31 to Aug. 1.

   Brock Fassnacht of Lititz carded a solid even-par 70 over the 6,368-yard, par-70 Bent Creek layout to capture the 16-to-18 division. Fassnacht’s sparkling round included a birdie on the ninth.

   Alex VanScoy of Newark, Del. was the runnerup with a 2-over 72. William Gekas of York took third with a 74 and Cole Shew of West Chester was fourth with a 75.

   Vincent Bender of Watsontown and Tyler Wassell of Lancaster shared fifth place, each posting a 77. Jack Murray of Pottstown, Logan Snyder of Denver and Caleb Clements finished tied for seventh at 78. Mason Wills rounded out the top 10 with a 79.

   Simon Asadoorian of Richboro and Samuel Beauregard of Lancaster shared 11^th place, each carding an 81 and were the last two of the 16-to-18 competitors to nail down spots in the next round of qualifying.

   Luke Thompson of Palmyra topped the 13-to-15 division with a 2-over 72. Carson Bacha, who finished fifth in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a Central York freshman last fall, was the runnerup with a 75.

   Jake Maddaloni of Newtown Square, Matthew Weaver of York, John Wang of Wilmington, Del. and Jun Lee of York finished tied for third, each posting a 77. Karl Frisk of Spring Grove and Graham Calhoun of Lititz finished tied for seventh at 79.

   Derek McGlaughlin of Elizabethtown finished ninth with an 80 and Nick Hooper of Hellam rounded out the top 10 with an 81. Hooper was the last of the 13-to-15 competitors to advance to the next round of qualifying.

   Julianne Lee, who placed third in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a Central York junior last fall, fired a solid 7-over 77 to top the girls 16-to-18 division. Jessica McClellan of Freeland was the runnerup with a 91.

   Maya Trujillo of Philadelphia and Elaina McGarrigle of Wernersville shared third place, each posting a 92. Kiera McGrath of Denver took fifth with a 96 and Anne Shand of Lancaster was sixth with a 114.

   Amanda Gerrish of Hummelstown carded an 85 that included a birdie at the ninth hole to claim top honors in the 13-to-15 division. Clare Gimpel of Lafayette Hill was the runnerup with a 91.

McKylie Boreman of New Cumberland took third with a 99 and Paige Richter of Camp Hill was fourth with a 106.

   Among the nine-holers, Nicholas Ciocca of Devon claimed the victory with a 4-over 39. Nicholas Joyce finished second with a 42 and Daniel Shin of Horsham was third with a 44. Ciocca, Joyce and Shin make up the trio that advanced to the next round of qualifying among the nine-holers.

   Connor Gherghel of Orwigsburg finished fourth with a 46 and Megan Adelman of Bryn Mawr and Ben Wilson of Lancaster shared fifth place, each carding a 47.

   Evan Jozwiak of Sinking Spring took seventh with a 48, Ethan Martin of Quakertown was eighth with a 50 and Rachel Joyce of Quakertown, younger sister of Nicholas I’m going to guess, was ninth at 54.