Vital's steady 72 at Avalon earns him a ticket to Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship

   Matt Vital, who made such a big splash on The Golf Channel with his victory in the Boys 12-13 division in last spring’s Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals, carded a solid 1-over-par 72 at Avalon Golf Club Tuesday to capture top honors in the 13-to-15 age group and earn a ticket to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.

   The Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Avalon was the second in a series of qualifiers for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA, which will be held June 22 at Bellewood Country Club in Pottstown. The Boys Junior PGA Championship, for which the event at Bellewood would normally be a qualifier, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

   Vital, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman at Bethlehem Liberty last fall, had a steady round on the par-71 Avalon layout on what I’m sure was a glorious day at the Jersey Shore. Vital had just one birdie, at the 10^th hole, but registered 15 pars and two bogeys.

   Vital led a group of 13 players who earned themselves a spot in the field at Bellewood, nine of them from the 16-to-18 division and four from the younger 13-to-15 division.

   Henry Stone, a sophomore at Tower Hill out of Kennett Square, was the runnerup to Vital in the 13-to-15 division with a 77. Daniel Donnelly of Coatesville and Nathan Guertler of Merchantville, N.J. each carded an 80 and shared third place in the division. They were the final two of the younger guys to qualify for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.

   Jake Micewski of Broomall finished in fifth place in the 13-to-15 division with an 82, Matthew Normand of Lumberton, N.J. was sixth with an 83, Tyler Leyden of Glenside was seventh with an 84 and Kevin Zheng of Warren, N.J. was eighth with an 85.

   Michael Henry of Wayne took ninth place with a 91 and Brady Manning of Downingtown rounded out the top 10 among the younger group with a 93 that left him alone in 10^th place.

   Devon Prep senior Ryan McCabe, who has been a contender for a PIAA Class AA crown each of the last two falls, matched Vital’s 1-over 72 to lead the way in the 16-to-18 division.

   McCabe was not listed among the qualifiers for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, which probably means he has a scheduling conflict with another event. But with the pandemic limiting competitive opportunities for junior players for the last 10 weeks or so, no one wants to pass up a chance to tee it up in an event in which the scores count.

   McCabe, who has finished 15^th, tied for second and tied for third in his first three cracks at a state championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort, birdied the last two holes at Avalon, giving him four for his round as finished at 1-over.

   The rest of the top-10 finishers in the 16-to-18 division earned tickets to Bellewood, although I’m pretty sure a couple of them had already done so in Sunday’s qualifier at the Pine Meadows Golf Complex in Lebanon County.

   Shane Lawler, coming off a solid junior season at Episcopal Academy, was the runnerup to McCabe in the division and overall with a 76.

   Elijah Ruppert, who, like McCabe, finished in a tie for third in the PIAA Class AA Championship as a junior at Brandywine Heights last fall, was another shot behind Lawler in third place in the 16-to-18 division and shared third place with Stone in the overall scoring with a 77.

   Benjamin Griffaton of Pottstown, Thomas Lynch of Dunmore and Jack Ross of Medford Lakes, N.J. each carded a 78 to finish in a tie for fourth place in the division and tied for fifth place overall.

Three more players, Malvern Prep senior James Gradisek, Adam MacMillan of Cranbury, N.J. and Jack Davis of Newtown Square, each posted a 79 and finished in a tie for seventh place in the division and tied for eighth overall.

   Grabbing the final berth to Bellewood was Michael Tallarida of Philadelphia as his 81 left him in 10^th place in the 16-to-18 division and 13^th overall.

   Ruppert and Gradisek had earned their way to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship with their showings Sunday at Pine Meadows.

   Pretty sure the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship, which tees off July 6 at Old York Road Country Club, is an open event, so there’s no need for qualifiers.

   Katrina Cabinian of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. took a ride down the South Jersey coastline and captured top honors in the girls 16-to-18 division at Avalon with an 85.

   Molly Gregor of North Wales was the runnerup with a 91, Sophia Brubaker, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore at Conestoga, took third place with a 93 and Skye Mada of Cherry Hill, N.J. finished fourth with a 109.

   Savannah Thompson of Seaville, N.J. led the way in the 13-to-15 division with a 96. Olivia Kury of York was the runnerup with a 101 and Emily Mayo of Boothwyn finished third with a 105.

Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. topped the field of nine-holers with a solid 3-over 39. Savannah Laverty of Moorestown, N.J. was the runnerup with a 41.

   Davis Conaway of West Chester, coming off a victory Sunday at Pine Meadows, was a shot behind Laverty in third place with a 42. Paul Reilly of West Creek, N.J. took fourth place with a 44, Kiersten Bodge of West Chester was fifth with a 48 and Daniel Herzchel of Linwood, N.J. was sixth with a 49.

   Thomas Hayes of Mullica Hill, N.J., J.P. Klock of Oreland and Benjamin Robbins of Holland finished in a tie for seventh place, each carding a 51. Liam Crowley of Wayne rounded out the top 10 as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 56.