This is a couple of weeks old, but a Women’s Golf
Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls’ Championship is still a big deal in
this blogger’s view and, besides, there are many of the same names in this post
as regular followers of my blog are familiar with from the Philadelphia Section
PGA Junior Tour and the scholastic scene. And kudos to the WGAP for working
through the protocols and staging the event. I’m sure the kids appreciate any
opportunities they get to compete in this crazy coronavirus summer of 2020.
Wilmington Country Club’s Avery McCrery, who has been
playing some solid golf on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour once play
resumed from a coronavirus-enforced layoff, cruised to a five-shot victory in
the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Girls’ Championship,
which was held July 7 and 8 at Sandy Run Country Club in Oreland.
The WGAP teamed up with the Peggy Kirk Bell Junior Girls’
Tour for the first time this year in an attempt to attract some more players to
the WGAP Junior Girls.
McCrery grabbed the lead following the opening round with an
8-over-par 80. She had just one birdie at the 15th hole, but was
pretty steady with five bogeys and a pair of double bogeys.
There was nary a double bogey on the card in the second
round as McCrery had birdies at the fourth and 10th holes to offset
nine bogeys in a 7-over 79 that gave her a 15-over 159 total.
Whitemarsh Valley Country Club’s Caroline Gola, a member of
Mount St. Joseph’s PIAA Class AAA championship team as a sophomore last fall,
and Germantown Academy sophomore Serena Bagga finished in a tie for second
place at 164, five shots behind McCrery. Gola was awarded second place in a
match of scorecards.
Gola matched McCrery for the low round of the day with a
final-round 79 after opening with an 85. Bagga, who played with the boys team
at GA last fall and teed it up in the Inter-Ac League’s Bert Linton individual
championship at Gulph Mills Golf Club, only trailed McCrery by a shot after an
opening-round 81 before adding an 83 in the second round.
Gola’s Mount St. Joseph teammate and Whitemarsh Valley
clubmate, Clare Gimpel, finished alone in fourth place at 168, four shots
behind Gola and Bagga. Gimpel, who will be a senior with the Mount this fall,
added an 83 to her opening-round 85.
Kate Roberts and Rachel Joyce finished in a tie for fifth
place at 169, a shot behind Gimpel. They repeated top-five showings in the WGAP
Junior Girls from a year ago at Phoenixville Country Club, where Roberts
finished fourth and Joyce took fifth.
Roberts added an 85 to her opening-round 84 while Joyce
shaved four shots off her opening-round 86 with an 82 in the second round.
Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Molly Gregor had one of the
best scores in the final round, an 81, as she finished alone in seventh place
at 170. She had opened with an 89.
Rhianna Gooneratne, who got on roll on the Junior Tour in
the early portion of the wraparound 2019-2020 season, was a shot behind Gregor
in eighth place at 171. Gooneratne opened with a solid 83 before cooling off
with an 88.
I’m guessing we have sisters rounding out the top 10,
although I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that Lucy Barton finished in
ninth place at 174 and Chloe Barton was another four shots behind Lucy Barton
in 10th at 178. Lucy Barton improved by five shots from her
opening-round 90 with a final-round 85 while Chloe Barton posted a pair of 89s.
Jillian Burks finished in 11th place at 180, two
shots behind Chloe Barton. Burks was scheduled to represent the Philadelphia
area in the Girls 10-11 division of the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals
at Augusta National Golf Club in April, but was denied that opportunity by the
coronavirus pandemic.
Burks, who added a 94 to her opening-round 86 at Sandy Run,
will still get her shot to visit one of the meccas of golf in this country the
Sunday of Masters week next spring.
Kiran Bagga, likely Serena’s younger sibling, was a shot
behind Burks in 12th place at 181 after adding a 92 to her
opening-round 89.
White Manor Country Club’s Clarissa Leung was a runaway
winner of the Junior-Junior Girls’ Championship at Sandy Run as she added a 40
to her strong opening-round 38 for a 6-over 78 total.
Burlington Country Club’s Savannah Laverty finished 11 shots
behind Leung in second place with an 89. Laverty trailed Leung by five shots
after her opening-round 43 and closed with a 46 in the final round.
Talia Hoffner of Manufacturers Golf & Country Club, the
Junior-Junior winner a year ago at Phoenixville, finished in third place at 95.
Hoffner, the runnerup in the Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) Junior-Junior
Girls’ Championship last month at Lebanon Country Club, shaved three shots off
her opening-round 49 with a 46 in the second round.
Alaina Carson added a 54 to her opening-round 49 to finish
alone in fourth place at 103. Lily Kochersperger improved eight shots from her
opening-round 64 with a 56 to take fifth place at 103.
Giulia Weisser and Bryn Krosse shared sixth place as each
carded a pair of 61s to land on 122. Kyla Quimby rounded out the Junior-Junior
field as she finished in eighth place at 129. Quimby added a 65 to her
opening-round 64.
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