McGrath, Snyder share a Junior Tour victory with solid showings at Kimberton

 

   Brett McGrath of Huntingdon Valley and Luke Snyder of Exton each carded a solid 3-over-par 73 Sunday at Kimberton Golf Club on Route 23 west of Phoenixville as they shared medalist honors in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop.

   McGrath was steady all day with 13 pars and a birdie on the 17^th hole over the 6,304-yard, par-70 Kimberton layout. Snyder rattled off three straight birdies at the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th holes on his way to the clubhouse and had four birdies overall on his scorecard.

   Bishop Shanahan sophomore Benjamin Saggers had three birdies on the back nine on his way to a 6-over 76 that left him alone third place. Saggers and some of his Ches-Mont League peers might have to turn to the Philly Junior Tour’s weekend events to keep their games sharp with the league having chosen to not have fall sports due to the coronavirus pandemic.

   Owen Wisner of Reading and Downingtown East junior Jake Leon finished in a tie for fourth place, each posting a 77. Connor Gherghel of Orwigsburg was alone in sixth place with a 78.

   Rounding out the top 10 among the older guys were four players tied for seventh place, each landing on 79. Included in that foursome were Malvern Prep senior Dimitri Collias, Ryan Horenci of Collegeville, Victor Mominey of Spring City and Adam Skii of West Chester.

   Noah Moelter of Doylestown also had a run of three straight birdies at the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th holes as he carded a 6-over 76 to finish atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division. Moelter opened his round with a birdie and finished with five overall on his scorecard.

   Quinton Heljenek of Glenside, Kevin Zheng of Warren, N.J. and Evan Rosenstein of Plymouth Meeting shared runnerup honors as each signed for a 78. Heljenek and Zheng each had a birdie and Rosenstein made three birdies during his round. Thomas Wen of Basking Ridge, N.J. finished alone in fifth place with a 79.

   Sachin Blake of Berwyn and Luke Fazio of Schwenksville shared sixth place, each registering an 80 and Alistair Demko of Hershey and Ethan Martin of North Wales ended up in a tie for eighth place, each carding an 81.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division was Jake Blackmore of Pottstown as he finished alone in 10^th place with an 82.

   The best scores of the day among the girls came out of the 13-to-15 age group, led by the winner, Kayley Roberts of Phoenixville as she made 11 pars and birdied the par-3 fourth hole on her way to a solid 8-over 78.

   Jillian Burks of Paoli finished a shot behind Kayley Roberts in second place with a 79 as she matched Kayley Roberts’ birdied on the fourth hole and also made a birdie on a back-nine par-3, the 14^th.

   Pretty impressive showings by the top two as Kayley Roberts is a Class of 2026 competitor, which makes her, what, a seventh-grader, and Burks, a Class of 2027 entry, which makes her, what, a sixth-grader.

   Burks still has a date for Augusta National Golf Club next April for the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals she qualified for a year ago, but which was postponed due to the pandemic. Looks like in the meantime, she’s getting better at golf and fast.

   Another member of Phoenixville’s Team Roberts, Kate Roberts, finished alone in third place with a solid 81. Kate Roberts had a run of three straight pars on the front nine and rattled off four straight pars on the back nine. Alexandra Engart of Harleysville took fourth place with a solid 82.

   Sophia Branca of Warrington finished in fourth place with a 96 and Sophia DeSantis of Glen Mills rounded out the 13-to-15 field as she took sixth with a 97.

   Springside Chestnut Hill Academy senior Emma Schotsch claimed a victory in the 16-to-18 division with an 84 that featured 10 pars and a solid front nine of 5-over.

   Conestoga junior Sophia Brubaker, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, was the runnerup to Schotsch with a 92 that included four pars.

   It looks like Brubaker won’t get the opportunity to get back to the District One Championship this fall. Although the Central League has decided not to play fall sports, it appears the PIAA plans to go ahead with its normal postseason schedule this fall.

   Some of the leagues who have announced there won’t be golf this fall have floated the possibility of playing a spring campaign, but there won’t be a state championship to compete for.

   Charlie Barrickman of West Chester made his Junior Tour debut a winning one as he carded a 5-over 39 to top the field of nine-holers at Kimberton. Barrickman had three pars on his scorecard.

   Colby Komancheck of Royersford and Quin Zuegner of New Hope finished a shot behind Barrickman in a tie for second place, each posting a 40. Komancheck gets some guidance out of the pro shop at the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve.

   Ian Larsen of Glenmoore and Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. shared fourth place, each signing for a 41. Cameron Peffel of Fleetwood finished alone in sixth place with a 42.

   William Shuford of Wayne took seventh place with a 43, Jason Mack of Delaware Water Gap was eighth with a 44 and Daniel Rozinsky of Newtown was ninth with a 45.

   Rounding out the top 10 were Daniel Zimmerman of Phoenixville and Chase Mitstifer of Sinking Spring, both of whom carded a 47 to finish in a tie for 10^th place.

   Gus Stoltzfus of Lincoln University took 12^th place with a 48 and Jesse Shurman of Villanova made it 13 players in the coed 12-and-under division who broke 50 as he finished in 13^th place with a 49. That’s a lot of young kids playing some pretty good golf in tournament conditions.