Gooneratne returns to Junior Tour in style with a victory at Middletown

    She’s ba-a-a-a-a-ack.

   Rhianna Gooneratne of Plymouth Meeting was so good in the fall of 2019 that even though an injury kept her from competing in 2020, she still earned the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s Morgan Company Player of the Year honor in the 13-to-15 division for the wraparound 2019-2020 season.

   From the time that season teed off in late August until November, Gooneratne won eight times and she was doing it against some tough competition because she just kept shooting good scores.

   Gooneratne is a Class of 2025 competitor which makes her an eighth-grader. Pretty sure she could still compete in the 13-to-15 division if she chose to, but when she finally returned to the Philly Junior Tour on a chilly Saturday at Middletown Country Club in Bucks County, Gooneratne teed it up in the older 16-to-18 division.

   And she picked up right where she left off in the fall of 2019, firing a 6-over-par 75 over the par-69 Middletown layout to claim a seven-shot victory. Gooneratne made birdies on the fourth, 13^th and 17^th holes and had eight pars on her scorecard.

   Phoenixville freshman Kate Roberts has been playing some pretty good golf this spring. Roberts made birdies at the 13^th and 16^th holes on her way to an 82 as she earned runnerup honors behind Gooneratne with an 82. Roberts has teed it up in five Philly Junior Tour events since the wraparound 2020-’21 season resumed this spring and she has finished among the top three all five  times.

   West Chester Rustin senior Mary Emma Guldi had six pars as she finished in third place with a 93. Kate Roberts and Guldi were both District One Class AAA qualifiers last fall.

   Leah Armour of Doylestown finished in fourth place with a 105 and Ella Miller of Lumberton, N.J. rounded out the 16-to-18 division field as she took fifth place with a 147.

   Savannah Laverty of Moorestown, N.J. birdied the ninth hole and had seven pars on her scorecard as she landed at the top of the 13-to-15 division leaderboard with an 80.

   Kayley Roberts of Phoenixville’s Team Roberts had seven pars, finishing up her round with four straight pars, as she ended up a shot behind Laverty in second place with an 81. Kayley Roberts did, however, earn low-Roberts honors by a shot. Season Wei of Warren, N.J. was another three shots behind Kayley Roberts in third place as Wei had seven pars on her way to an 84.

   Ysabel Liu of Millburn, N.J. took fourth place with an 87, Clarissa Leung of Villanova was fifth with a 90 and Alexandra Engart of Harleysville was sixth with a 93.

   Brynne Mushlin of Berwyn landed in seventh place with a 106, Elayne Fanelli of Villanova was eighth with a 107 and Casey Baltzer of Langhorne rounded out the 13-to-15 division field as she finished ninth with a 119.

   The best score of the day at Middletown was turned in by James Vinson of Princeton, N.J. as he ripped off birdies at the 11^th, 16^th and 18^th holes in a 2-under 34 on the incoming nine and carded a 2-over 71 to claim a victory in the boys 16-to-18 division.

   Owen J. Roberts junior Victor Mominey and Cole Apeldorn of Southampton shared runnerup honors as they finished six shots behind Vinson, each landing on 8-over 77. Mominey birdied the 16^th hole and had eight pars on his scorecard while Apeldorn had birdies at the ninth and 17^th holes.

   Downingtown East senior Dylan Gute finished three shots behind Mominey and Apeldorn as he ended up in fourth place with an 80. Liberty sophomore Matt Vital, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman in 2019, shared fifth place with Luke Turse of Hainesport, N.J., each posting an 81. Matt Vital probably watched Sunday’s Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals from Augusta National Golf Club with some fond memories of his dramatic victory in the Boys 12-13 division two springs ago.

   Brady Manning of Downingtown took seventh place with an 84, Christopher DiRita of Drexel Hill was eighth with an 86, Jake Blackmore of Pottstown was ninth with an 88 and Tyler Homka of Bensalem rounded out the top 10 among the older guys as he finished alone in 10^th with an 89.

   Springfield sophomore Dan Flaherty eagled the short par-4 17^th hole and had nine pars on his card as he earned a victory in the 13-to-15 division with a 7-over 76. Michael Vital of Bethlehem – I think he’s Matt Vital’s twin brother, but I’m not positive about that – had 10 pars as he claimed runnerup honors with an 82, six shots behind Flaherty.

   Noah Wallace of Elkton, Md. had six pars as he finished a shot behind Michael Vital in third place with an 83. Strath Haven sophomore Tyler Debusschere and Daniel Herzchel of Linwood, N.J. finished in a tie for fourth place, each signing for an 89.

   Nathan Smith of Crumpton, Md. took sixth place with a 91, Devin Carpenter of Philadelphia, Dean Kaiser of Bryn Mawr and Ethan Lagarda of Voorhees, N.J. shared seventh, each carding a 95, and James Schramek of Chalfont rounded out the top 10 among the younger guys as he finished alone in 10^th with a 96.

   Quin Zuegner of New Hope bested the field of nine-holers as he had five pars on his way to a 4-over 39. Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. had three pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 42, three shots behind Zuegner.

   Quinten Joiner of Millington, Md. and Lawson Leeper of York also each had three pars on their card as they shared third place, finishing a shot behind Sieben with 43s. Callahan Harrell of York and Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. finished in a tie for fifth place, each signing for a 46.

   Benjamin Robbins of Holland took seventh place with a 50, Onyu Park of Blue Bell was eighth with a 51, Holden Sparks of Nazareth was ninth with a 52 and Niklas Skjeveland of Jamison rounded out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division with a 53 that left him alone in 10^th.