Ventresca claims a Junior Tour victory with a 72 at Paxon Hollow

   Mario Ventresca III of Blue Bell made three early birdies in his round on his way to victory in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Paxon Hollow Country Club in Marple Township Wednesday.

   Ventresca and the rest of the field battled some occasional showers, but the fast start enabled him to card a 1-over-par 72 over the 5,709-yard, par-71 Paxon Hollow layout.

   Spring-Ford junior Luke Watson, a Class AAA East Regional qualifier last fall, had birdies on the third and 11^th holes and was even-par on the back nine as he earned runnerup honors, finishing a shot behind Ventresca at 2-over 73.

   Four players finished in a tie for third at 5-over 76, including Muhlenberg senior Tyler Kipp, a Class AAA East Regional qualifier last fall, Strath Haven senior Nick Cardow, Thomas Larkin of Drexel Hill and Rocco Sanfelice of Woolwich, N.J.

   Rounding out the top 10 were three players who shared eighth place, each posting a 6-over 77. The trio included Garnet Valley senior Jake Sokalsky, Auggie Reilly of Wayne and Benjamin Lee of Malvern.

   Eli Shah of Newtown Square made a birdie at the 10^th hole and parred out from there as he matched Ventresca’s 1-over 72 for the low round of the day, giving Shah the top spot in the 13-to-15 division.

   Nicholas Ciocca of Berwyn had birdies on the seventh, 10^th, 12^th and 13^th holes and also had eight pars on his scorecard as he earned runnerup honors with a 3-over 74. Watched Ciocca play the Old Course at Stonewall recently while I was looping for his grandparents and the kid’s got some game.

   Robert Dominy of Moorestown, N.J. birdied the fifth hole and had a string of seven straight pars on his scorecard as he finished third with a 4-over 75.

   Drew Clark of Kennett Square took fourth place with a 77, Scott Hughes of Ambler was fifth with a 79 and Michael Walz of Berwyn was sixth with an 80.

   Matthew Normand of Lamberton, N.J. and Brendan Meagher of Swedesboro, N.J. shared seventh place, each posting an 82.

   Rounding out the top 10 were three players who finished in a tie for ninth at 83, including Alec Plante of Glen Mills, Nathan Guertler of Merchantville, N.J. and Daniel Shin of Horsham.

   The best score of the day in the girls divisions came from the younger group as Suzie Ahn of Paoli won the 13-to-15 division with a 101 that included pars on the seventh and 14^th holes.

   Sophie Brubaker of Wayne was the runnerup with a 118 that featured a par ono the 13^th hole. Leah Armour of Doylestown made a par on the second hole on her way to a third-place finish with a 119.

   Madison Sauder of Pittsgrove, N.J. was the only entry in the 16-to-18 division and carded a 126.

   J.P. Hoban of Havertown had four pars on his way to a 5-over 40 that bested the field of nine-holers. Samuel Feeney of West Chester had pars on the third, fifth, sixth and ninth holes as he claimed runnerup honors with a 43.

   Nick Linkchorst of Glen Mills took third place with a 45 that included a par on the fifth hole. Mac Traynor of Villanova finished fourth with a 48 and Chris Stasen of Broomall was fifth with a 53.