Luke Watson has already had a solid scholastic career as he
prepares for his senior season at Spring-Ford, a perennial contender in the
Pioneer Athletic Conference.
Back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes
at Scotland Run Golf Club in Williamstown, N.J. Monday helped Watson card a
3-over-par 74 that gave him the top spot in the 16-to-18 division in a
Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop that doubled as a qualifier for next
Monday’s Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.
Watson headed a group of 11 players in the overall 13-to-18
age group that punched their tickets to Bellewood Country Club in Pottstown for
what would normally be the Junior Tour qualifier for the national Boys Junior
PGA Championship, but that event, scheduled to be played July 13 to 16 at the
PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., has been cancelled due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
Not everybody in the field was committed to the Philadelphia
Boys Junior PGA Championship and others had already earned a spot in the field.
Kevin Deng of Newtown Square was the runnerup to Watson in
the 16-to-18 division with a 76. Like Watson, Deng made a birdie on the 13th
hole. Ryan Horenci of Lansdale took third place with a 77 that included three
birdies. It looks like Deng and Horenci were not among the qualifiers for
Bellewood.
La Salle sophomore Kevin Lafond was another shot behind
Horenci with a 78 to take fourth place among the older guys and he was second
among those looking for a spot in the field at Bellewood.
Owen Fahs of Nazareth and Dylan Gute of Chester Springs each
posted an 81 and shared fifth place in the 16-to-18 division and both earned
spots in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA field.
Episcopal Academy senior Shane Lawler and Ethan Kuhlkin of
New York, N.Y. finished in a tie for seventh place, each signing for an 82.
Lawler, who helped the Churchmen claim the team title in the PAISSA
Championship last fall, had already secured a berth in the Philadelphia Boys
Junior PGA and Kuhlkin was seventh among those seeking a ticket to Bellewood.
Darren Nolan, who played a key role as a sophomore on a La
Salle team that didn’t lose a match, won the Catholic League crown and finished
third in the PIAA Class AAA team chase last fall, and John Bradbeer of Rosemont
finished in a tie for ninth place in the 16-to-18 division, each posting an 83.
Bradbeer assured himself a trip to the Philadelphia Boys
Junior PGA and Nolan was in via his tie for second in a very competitive
qualifier held last week at Wild Quail Golf & Country Club.
Matt Zerfass, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore at
Emmaus last fall, and Luke Turse of Hainesport, N.J. each carded an 84 to land
in a tie for 11th place in the 16-to-18 division. They were two of
the three players who earned the final spots available to Bellewood.
Jake Micewski of Broomall birdied the second hole on his way
to a solid 2-over 37 on the outgoing nine as he claimed the top spot in the
13-to-15 division with a 79. It appears Micewski wasn’t looking for a spot in
the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.
Evan Eichenlaub of Bethlehem finished a shot behind Micewski
in second place in the division with an 80 and he did punch his ticket to
Bellewood. Eichenlaub had three birdies in a seven-hole stretch. Noah Moeller
of Doylestown took third place in the division with an 81, but was not in the
hunt for a Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship berth. Moeller also had
three birdies on his scorecard.
The final ticket to Bellewood out of the 13-to-15 division
went to Strath Haven sophomore Tyler Debusschere, who helped the Panthers claim
their first Central League title last fall. Debusschere carded an 84 to finish
fourth in the division and qualified on the number, along with Zerfass and
Turse, for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.
James DeRoncini of West Deptford, N.J. finished in fifth place
in the 13-to-15 division with an 85 and Scott Hughes of Ambler and Nathan
Guertler of Merchantville, N.J. were another shot behind DeRoncini in a tie for
sixth, each posting an 86.
Thomas DiGuilio of Sicklerville, N.J. took eighth place with
an 87, Will Huntley of Lansdale was ninth with an 88 and Justin Forman of
Sewell, N.J. rounded out the top 10 as he posted a 90 to finish alone in 10th
place.
The best score of the day among the girls came from Mount
St. Joseph senior Clare Gimpel, whose 79 featured 10 pars and eight bogeys and
gave her the victory in the 16-to-18 division. Gimpel helped the Mount capture
the PIAA Class AAA team crown last fall.
Paige Cerminaro of Farmingdale, N.J. was the runnerup to
Gimpel with an 84 that included seven pars in a solid front-nine 41. Katrina
Cubinian of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. finished third with an 87.
Grace Flocco of Haddonfield, N.J. took fourth place with a
121 and Annalyse Dickinson of Mullica Hill, N.J. was fifth with a 126.
Alexandea Schaul of Holmdel, N.J. birdied the third hole on
her way to an 87 that gave her the top spot in tightly contested 13-to-15
division in which the top six finishers were separated by only four shots.
Three players – Curstan Bunch of Wilmington, Del., Hannah
Puc of Marlton, N.J. and Hayley Ekert of Fairview Village – finished in a tie
for second place, a shot behind Schaul.
Mount St. Joseph junior Caroline Gola, a teammate of Gimpel’s
in the Mount’s run to the state championship last fall, finished alone in fifth
place with an 89. Peyton Cerminaro of Team Cerminaro out of Farmingdale, N.J.
was two shots behind Gola in sixth place with a 91.
Rounding out the 13-to-15 field was Emma Li of Newtown, who
finished in seventh place with a 97.
Davis Conaway of West Chester continued his recent domination
of the nine-holers as he carded a 3-over 38 that included a birdie at the
second hole to take top honors in the coed 12-and-under division. Trevor Sieben
of Medford, N.J. was the runnerup with a 40.
Daniel Herzchel of Linwood, N.J. parred both par-3s on
Scotland Run’s front nine on his way to a 44 that gave him third place.
Hank Kancher of Philadelphia and Jackson Lane of
Cinnaminson, N.J. finished in a tie for fourth place, each posting a 47, Ravi
Khanna of Bryn Mawr was sixth with a 48 and Juliana Duggan of Egg Harbor
Township, N.J. was seventh with a 50.
Thomas Hayes of Mullica Hill, N.J. ended up in eighth place
with a 60 and Tyler Gerard of Philadelphia rounded out the field of nine-holers
as he was ninth with a 65.
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