Matt fires 72 at Middletown to claim a Junior Tour victory

   Christian Matt of Springhouse had four birdies on his card, two on each side, to post the best score of the day, a 3-over-par 72, and capture the top spot in the 13-to-15 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop Saturday at Middletown Country Club in Langhorne, Bucks County.

   Zachary Sandler of Gladwyne and Graham White of West Chester each carded a 10-over 79 over the 6,100-yard, par-69 Middletown layout with Sandler prevailing in a match of cards for second place. Sandler’s back-nine score of 40 gave him the edge in the tiebreaker. White had three birdies in a front-nine 36.

   Christian Deussing of Solebury and Alexander Feraco of Furlong shared fourth place, each posting an 82. Ajeet Bagga of Blue Bell finished sixth with an 84, Nicholas Ciocca of Berwyn was seventh with an 86, Charles Feraco, another member of Furlong’s Team Feraco, was eighth with an 88 and Kendell Gordon of Burlington Township, N.J. was ninth with an 89.

   Cole Apeldorn of Southampton, Sachin Blake of Berwyn and Noah Moelter of Doylestown rounded out the top 10 as they shared 10^th place, each carding a 94.

   Joshua Ryan, who capped his sophomore season representing Norristown High by qualifying for the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall for the second year in a row, topped a tough field in the 16-to-18 division with a 5-over 74. Ryan rattled off three straight 3s on holes six through eight, one of them a birdie, and added a birdie on the toughest hole on the course, the 16^th.

   Calen Sanderson of Newtown, who has come out of the gate playing some good golf this spring, had two birdies, one on each side, on his way to a 6-under 75 that gave him a runnerup finish, a shot behind Ryan.

   Dallas freshman Logan Paczewski, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, was another shot behind Sanderson in third with a 7-over 76. Paczewski had three birdies, two of them on the back nine. Auggie Reilly of Wayne took fourth with a 77 and Christopher Myers of Yardley was fifth with a 78.

   Adam MacMillan of Cranbury Township, N.J. and Plymouth-Whitemarsh sophomore Dylan Gooneratne finished in a tie for sixth, each posting a solid 79. Ryan Rearden of Yardley took eighth with an 83 and John Bradbeer of Bryn Mawr was ninth with an 84.

   Rounding out the top 10 were three players – a couple of Yardley guys, Joshua Cicco and Ethan Finkelstein, and Will Hage of Phoenixville – tied for 10^th, each carding an 88.

   The best score of day among the girls also came in the younger 13-to-15 division as Ellison Lindquist of Furlong had a birdie and eight pars in a solid 12-over 81 that gave her the top spot. Lundquist is listed as Class of 2025, so that makes her, what, a sixth-grader. And she already owns a win this spring in a Junior Tour stop at Vineyard National at the Jersey Shore. Keep an eye on this kid.

   Ayse Mumco of Princeton, N.J. was the runnerup with a 92, Elora Walker of Philadelphia took third with a 102 and Emma Reilly of Doylestown was fourth with a 106.

   Mount St. Joseph sophomore Clare Gimpel, who has reached the PIAA Class AAA East Regional in each of the first two years of her scholastic career, took top honors in the 16-to-18 division with a solid 87. Isabella McCloskey of Princeton Junction, N.J. was the runnerup with a 96.

   Kathleen Mark, a sophomore on the reigning Inter-Ac League champion Episcopal Academy team, finished third with a 97, Stefanie Bonini of Bryn Mawr was fouth with a 98 and Ashley Ea of Perkasie was fifth with a 106.

   Hunter Probst of Bear Creek has been on a roll this spring and he carded a 13-over 48 to top the field of nine-holers. Hank Kancher of Philadelphia finished a shot behind Probst in second with a 49.

   Alexander Gibbs of East Norriton was third with a round of 50 that included back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth holes. Austin Dostal of Harbeson, Del. took fourth with a 52, Clarissa Leung of Villanova was fifth with a 53 and Nicholas Armitage of Philadelphia was sixth with a 56.

   Avery O’Neill of Romansville finished seventh with a 57, Ronan Frawley of Washington Crossing was eighth with a 61 and Angelo Seravalli of Philadelphia was ninth with a 64.