West Chester Rustin sophomore Ryan D’Ariano survived a
playoff with Garnet Valley senior Jake Sokalsky to capture the title in the
Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour Championship Monday at Coatesville Country
Club.
D’Ariano had birdies at the first and 15th holes
on his way to a 2-over-par 73 over the 6,117-yard, par-71 Coatesville layout.
Sokalsky came out firing with three birdies in his first eight holes and added
a fourth birdie to match D’Ariano’s 73.
D’Ariano defeated Sokalsky in a playoff for the overall
crown among boys ages 13 to 18. The playoff win also gave him the top spot in
the 16-to-18 division.
Episcopal Academy junior Lauren Jones captured the overall
girls crown as she had a run of six straight pars on her way to a 7-over 78
over a Coatesville layout that measured 5,742 yards for the gals. D’Ariano and
Jones received a push cart from BagBoy, one of the tournament sponsors, for
their wins.
Jones, who plays out of Merion Golf Club, represented the
Philadelphia area in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at SentryWorld in
Stevens Point, Wis. She was the runnerup in the Inter-Ac League Championship at
French Creek Golf Club in May after leading the Churchwomen to their second
straight perfect run through the league.
In the boys 16-to-18 division, Alec Stern of Bryn Mawr had
three birdies, two of them coming back-to-back on the back nine, on his way to
a 4-over 75 that left him in third place in the division and fifth in the
overall 13-to-18 scoring.
Devon Prep junior Ryan McCabe, who finished in a tie for
second in the PIAA Class AA Championship last fall, took fourth in the division
and in a tie for sixth overall with a 5-over 76. Jake Rotelle of Honey Brook
was another shot behind McCabe in fifth place in the division and in a tie for
ninth overall with a 77.
Brandywine Heights junior Elijah Ruppert, a PIAA Class AA
qualifier last fall, Unionville junior Roy Anderson, Pennsbury junior Chris
Myers and Christopher Waldmann of Malvern finished in a tie for sixth in the
division, each posting a 78.
Three players, Spring-Ford junior Luke Watson, a Class AAA
East Regional qualifier last fall, Shane Lawler of Malvern and Tyler Geatens of
Williamstown, N.J., rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for 10th,
each carding a 79.
Eli Shah of Newtown Square and John Olsen of Boalsburg
shared top honors in the 13-to-15 division and were very much in contention for
the overall title as they finished in a tie for third, a shot behind D’Ariano
and Sokalsky, at 3-over 74.
Shah had two birdies on the back nine and a stretch of five
straight pars in his round. Olsen lit up the Coatesville layout with five
birdies.
Wissahickon sophomore Christian Matt and Scott Hughes of
Ambler finished in a tie for third in the division and shared sixth place
overall with Devon Prep’s McCabe in the overall scoring as each carded a 76.
Matt and Hughes both had 13 pars on his scorecard.
Luke Corcoran of Lansdale finished fifth in the division and
got a share of ninth in the overall scoring with Rotelle of Honey Brook with a
solid 77.
Paul Brady of Schwenksville took sixth place with a 78, Ryan
Garvey of Media was seventh with a 79, Bobby Nicholson of York was eighth with
an 80 and Nicholas Ciocca of Berwyn was ninth with an 82. Rounding out the top
10 in the 13-to-15 division were Matthew Normand of Lumberton, N.J. and Tyler
Smith of Maple Shade, N.J. as they shared 10th place, each posting
an 83.
William Penn senior Christina Carroll and Hershey junior
Amanda Gerrish, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, shared second place in
the 16-to-18 division and overall as they were two shots behind Jones, each
carding an 80. Carroll had a birdie on the 12th hole and Gerrish had
11 pars.
Haverford High junior Riley Quartermain, a PIAA Class AAA
qualifier last fall, and Olivia Strigh of Hammonton, N.J. finished in a tie for
fourth in the division and in a tie for fifth overall as each posted an 88.
Jessica McClellan, a PIAA Class AA qualifier as a senior at
MMI Prep last fall, finished sixth in the division and ninth overall with a 91.
Gwendolyn Powell of Madison Township parred two of her first
three holes and finished with seven pars on her scorecard as she took top
honors in the 13-to-15 division and was fourth overall with an 85.
Stefania Fedun of Glenmoore was the runnerup in the division
and shared fifth place overall with Quartermain and Strigh with an 88 that was
highlighted by two birdies on the back nine.
Rhianna Goonerate of Plymouth Meeting was a shot behind
Fedun with an 89 that left her in third place in the division and ninth
overall. Gooneratne had four pars in her round.
Emma Reilly of Doylestown placed fourth in the division and
rounded out the top 10 overall by finishing alone in 10th place with
a 94.
Kayla Maletto of Sinking Spring took fifth in the division
with a 96. Maletto was coming off a sparkling 1-over 71 that gave her a victory
in the 13-to-15 division in a Junior Stop at Indian Spring Country Club in
Marlton, N.J. Friday.
Maletto’s showing at Indian Spring came on the heels of a
tie for 22nd in the American Junior Golf Association’s Golf
Performance Center Junior All-Star at The Redding Country Club in Redding,
Conn. Maletto got better in every round in Redding, opening with an 84 before
adding an 80 in the second round and finishing up with a 79.
Serena Bagga of Blue Bell finished sixth in the 13-to-15
division at Coatesville with a 98.
Reed Krosse of York opened with four straight pars as he
bested the field of nine-holers with a 4-over 39. Samuel Feeney of West Chester
was the runnerup, a shot behind Krosse with a 5-over 40 that featured a birdie
on the third hole.
Hank Kancher of Philadelphia and Ethan Martin of North Wales
shared third place as each carded a 42. Carson Holmes of Thorndale finished
alone in fifth place with a 43 and Sean Curran of Newtown Square and Lawson
Leeper of York shared sixth place, each signing for a 45.
Three players, including J.P. Hoban of Havertown, Jax Puskar
of Kennett Square and Hunter Probst of Bear Creek, finished in a tie for eighth
place, each posting a 46.
The Junior Tour Championship marked the end of the
wraparound 2018-’19 season and the new 2019-‘20 season will start right up
Wednesday.
The end of the season is a good opportunity to recognize The
Graham Company, the Junior Tour’s title sponsor. The Graham Company is helping
to put a golf club in the hands of youngsters, many of whom will still be
playing the game decades from now. Much is made of the effort to grow the game
and The Graham Company is walking the walk.
And kudos to the parents who do the driving to golf courses
all over the Philadelphia suburbs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
Maybe some of the older guys and girls can get themselves to some of the
tournaments, but I’m guessing, for the most part, mom and dad are the ones
battling the traffic to get their kids to the Junior Tour events.
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