Manning turns in solid effort with 73 at Indian Spring to claim a Junior Tour victory

    Brady Manning of Downingtown had three birdies on his scorecard as he signed for a 3-over-par 73 to finish atop the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Indian Spring Golf Course in Marlton, N.J.

   Manning made birdies at the fourth, sixth and 18^th holes and had nine pars to finish three shots ahead of Garnet Valley junior Matt Pulcinella, who finished strong with back-to-back birdies at the 16^th and 17^th holes and had 10 pars in a solid 6-over 76. Noah Mueller of Doylestown carded a steady 79 that featured 11 pars as he finished alone in third place with a 79.

   Evan Goldberg of Linwood, N.J., Alexander McCauley of Maple Glen and Joseph Fargnoli of Mickleton, N.J. all landed on 80 to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. Eric Fryer of Ambler took seventh place with an 81 and Luke Turse of Hainesport, N.J. was another shot behind Fryer in eighth with an 82.

   Rounding out the top 10 among the older guys were William Aprahamian of West Chester and Scott Hughes of Ambler, both of whom registered an 84 to finish in a tie for ninth place.

   Ethan Martin of North Wales made a birdie at the second hole and had 11 pars on his scorecard as he claimed a victory in the 13-to-15 division with a 6-over 76. J.P. Hoban of Havertown, winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior-Junior Championship at West Chester Golf & Country Club last summer, made birdies at the fourth and 14^th holes and had eight pars as he earned runnerup honors with a 77.

   Tommy Marshall, playing close to his Marlton, N.J. home, had 10 pars as he finished alone in third place, a shot behind Hoban with a 77.

   Hank Kancher of Philadelphia and Daniel Herzchel of Linwood, N.J. finished in a tie for fourth place, each signing for an 86 and Christopher Chicano of West Berlin, N.J. and Paul Reilly of West Creek, N.J. shared sixth place, each posting an 87. Ethan Legarda of Voorhees, N.J. finished alone in eighth place with a 90.

   Rounding out the top 10 among the younger guys were three players – Jamie Siesielka of Woolwich Township, N.J., Alex Frank of Medford, N.J. and Devin Carpenter of Philadelphia – who finished in a tie for ninth place, each registering a 91.

   Olivia Strigh of Hammonton, N.J. was the Philly Junior Tour’s Player of the Year in the girls 16-to-18 division for the wraparound 2019-2020 season. It was more of the same at Indian Spring as Strigh birdied the short, par-4 fourth hole and made 10 pars as she carded an 81 to claim the top spot in the 16-to-18 division.

   Sarah Lawrie of Eagleville had five pars on her way to a 93 that earned her runnerup honors. Sophia Chesner of Moorestown, N.J. made a par at the 14^th hole as she finished in third place with a 107 and Ella Miller of Lumberton, N.J. rounded out the 16-to-18 field as she ended up in fourth with a 111.

   Season Wei of Warren, N.J. completed a sweep of the Philly Junior Tour’s weekend stops in the 13-to-15 division as she had the best round of the day among the girls with an 8-over 78 that featured 10 pars, including three straight on the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th holes. Wei’s 83 gave her a victory in Saturday’s stop at Bensalem Township Country Club.

   Rhianna Gooneratne of Plymouth Meeting, the reigning 13-to-15 Player of the Year, had six pars on her scorecard as she earned runnerup honors with an 87. Danielle Higbee of Mickleton, N.J. had four pars, including three straight at the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th holes, as she finished in third place with a 91.

   Elora Walker of Philadelphia took fourth place with a 98, Makayla Stone of Garnet Valley was fifth with a 102, Juliana Duggan of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. was sixth with a 104 and Kaitlyn Hummers of Bethlehem rounded out the 13-to-15 field as she finished seventh with a 114.

   Wyatt Underwood of Telford had five pars in a steady 4-over 39 as he bested the field of nine-holers.

   Jason Mack of Delaware Water Gap and a couple of guys who took a road trip from York to Indian Spring, Callahan Harrell and Lawson Leeper, finished in a tie for second place, each ending up a shot behind Underwood with a 5-over 40.

   Mack had five pars, including four straight from the second through the fifth holes, on his scorecard. Harrell birdied the third hole. Leeper had five pars on his card.

   Anthony Proud of Stroudsburg took fifth place with a 41, Benjamin Mayer of Garnet Valley was sixth with a 42, Jackson Lane of Cinnaminson, N.J. was seventh with a 43 and Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. was eighth with a 44.

   Giula Weisser of Reading finished in ninth place with a 45 and Anthony Primo, playing close to his Marlton, N.J. home, rounded out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 46.

   I had started to notice last summer how competitive the coed 12-and-under division was becoming. The stop at Indian Spring had 23 players teeing it up in the division, 14 of whom broke 50. And these are some young kids. Maybe that pandemic-fueled golf boom of 2020 will have a long-lasting impact on the future of the game.