There was a lot of frustration for Strath Haven’s Team Debusschere this fall.
Jackson Debusschere, a senior, and Tyler Debusschere, a sophomore, could only look on helplessly as their chance to tee it up in the high school postseason slipped away when the powers-that-be in the Central League could not get it together in time to stage a District One qualifier. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s been that kind of year.
But give the Debusschere brothers credit. They have made the most of the competitive opportunities that were presented to them. When the Central League put together a league championship tournament a few weeks ago at Downingtown Country Club, Tyler Debusschere finished in fourth place and Jackson Debusschere ended up in a tie for fifth.
More importantly, the Debusscheres led the 2019 Central League and District One Class AAA team champion Panthers to the tournament team crown at Downingtown. Conestoga would win the Central League title in the usual dual-match format, but the league decided to recognize the tournament team champion as well and Strath Haven edged the Pioneers by five shots at Downingtown.
The Debusschere brothers have also teed it up in a few more Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour events than they probably would have had the pandemic not thrown the planet a gigantic curveball in 2020. And they’ve been consistently at or near the top of the leaderboard in their respective age groups.
In Saturday’s next-to-the-last stop on the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-2021 season at Pitman Golf Course in Sewell, N.J. there was Tyler Debusschere finishing atop the 13-to-15 leaderboard with the best score of the day, a 3-over-par 73, and Jackson Debusschere landing on top of the 16-to-18 leaderboard with a 7-over 77. That gave Tyler Debusschere the all-important low-Debusschere prize for the day while Team Debusschere departed Pitman with a pair of gold medals.
Tyler Debusschere had a pair of birdies, one on each side, and matched par on the outgoing nine at Pitman in fashioning his 73. It wasn’t quite the September-like conditions the Philly Junior Tour had been experiencing lately, but with temperatures hovering in the low 50s and plenty of sunshine, it was certainly still golf weather.
Tyler Debusschere needed to be good to claim the victory in the 13-to-15 division because William Irons of Blue Bell had four birdies and finished a shot behind Tyler Debusschere in second place with a 4-over 74. Noah Wallace of Elkton, Md. and Anthony Carson of Broomall shared third place, each registering a 79.
Conestoga sophomore Sachin Blake and Jamie Ciesielak of Woolwich Township, N.J. shared fifth place, each posting an 83. Blake also had a strong showing in the Central Championship, finishing in a tie for seventh place.
A.J. Mulnar of Jamison took seventh place with an 85 and Justin Forman of Sewell, N.J., Shane McSorley of Atco, N.J. and Ryan Quinn, another Jamison entry, rounded out the top 10 among the younger guys as they finished in a tie for eighth, each signing for an 88.
Jackson Debusschere opened his round with four straight pars and had two birdies and six more pars on his scorecard in his 77 that earned him the victory in the 16-to-18 division.
Jackson Debusschere’s Central League rival, Garnet Valley junior Matt Pulcinella, finished three shots behind him in claiming runnerup honors with an 80. Pulcinella, who finished in a tie for 13th place in the Central Championship, opened his round with five straight pars, birdied the seventh hole and sprinkled five more pars throughout the rest of his round.
Kole Washleski of Douglassville had eight pars as he took third place with an 82. Nick DiPietro of Swedesboro, N.J. finished in fourth place with an 85, Jackson Ward of Middletown, Del. was fifth with an 87, Noah Petracci of Atco, N.J. was sixth with an 88 and Tyler Myers of Eastampton, N.J. rounded out the 16-to-18 field as he took seventh with a 105.
Just as with the boys, the low score among the girls emerged from the younger 13-to-15 age group as talented Paoli sixth-grader Jillian Burks birdied the first hole and had six pars on her scorecard on her way to an 83. Burks could watch this weekend’s Masters armed with the knowledge that she’ll be at Augusta National in April of next year to compete in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals, an opportunity she was denied by the pandemic this year.
Rounding out the 13-to-15 field was runnerup Ajuni Oberoi of Cherry Hill, N.J., whose 98 was highlighted by a birdie at the par-3 17th hole.
West Chester Rustin’s Mary Emma Guldi made a par on the par-3 third hole as she captured top honors in the 16-to-18 division with a 95. It was Guldi’s fourth win of the Philly Junior Tour’s fall campaign.
Annalyse Dickinson of Mullica Hill, N.J. had two pars while posting a 125 that earned her runnerup honors. Alyssa Campanella of Williamston, N.J. took third place with a 129 and Mia Moretto of Hockessin, Del. rounded out the 16-to-18 field as she was fourth with a 155.
Ian Larsen of Glenmoore opened his round and finished it with pars and had four others on his scorecard as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 3-over 38. Jason Mack of Delaware Water Gap and Quin Zuegner of New Hope shared second place, each carding an 8-over 43.
Lily Kochersperger of Kennett Square and Declan Conner of Swarthmore shared fourth place, each landing on 44. Alaina Carson of Broomall’s Team Carson finished alone in sixth place with a 45.
Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. took seventh place with a 46 and Benjamin Mayer of Garnet Valley made it eight players in the coed 12-and-under division breaking 50 as he finished eighth with a 49. Rounding out the top 10 among the nine-holers were Kyle Citro of Doylestown and Dylan Michels of Newark, Del., both of whom posted a 54 to finish in a tie for ninth place.
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