Maslanka betters par at Pine Meadows in first of Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA qualifiers

    Michael Maslanka of Taylor made four birdies on his way to a 1-under-par 71 at the Pine Meadows Golf Complex in Lebanon to capture a victory in the 16-to-18 division of the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour event on a Sunday that certainly felt like summertime.

   Maslanka opened his round with a pair of bogeys at the first and second holes. He quickly got it back in red figures with birdies at the fifth, sixth and 10^th holes. He fell back to even-par with a bogey at the 13^th hole, but was able to get it back under par with a birdie at the 14^th.

   The stop at Pine Meadows was also the first of four qualifiers for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, which tees off June 14 at Valley Country Club. The field at Valley will be vying for a spot in the PGA of America’s Boys Junior PGA Championship, a national junior event that tees off July 12 at the Kearney Hill Golf Course in Lexington, Ky.

   The Boys Junior PGA Championship was one of the many national golf events that was a casualty of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, won by Devon Prep freshman Nick Ciocca at Bellewood Country Club, was held, but there was no national event to which players could advance.

   The Philly Junior Tour did not break out the overall 13-to-18 age group scoring from which the qualifiers for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship emerge. I’ll do the usual Philly Junior Tour age groups of 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 and I’ve got the top 10 in the overall 13-to-18 scoring figured out, so I’ll give you that.

   Three players, Brent Bomberger of Lititz, Noah Keener of Spring Grove and Matt Vital, a sophomore at Bethlehem Liberty, shared second place in the 16-to-18 division and were tied for third in the overall 13-to-18 scoring as each landed on 1-over 73, two shots behind Maslanka.

   Bomberger had five birdies on his scorecard. Keener also had five birdies, four of which came on the incoming nine at Pine Meadows. Vital, who has been a birdie machine this spring, birdied three of his first five holes and finished with five overall.

   La Salle junior Darren Nolan finished a shot behind the trio tied for second place with a 2-over 74 that left him alone in fifth place among the older guys and in a tie for sixth in the overall 13-to-18 scoring.

   Strath Haven senior Jackson Debusschere and Trey Rios of Denver finished in a tie for sixth place in the 16-to-18 division and in a tie for eighth place in the overall scoring as each registered a 3-over 75.

   Central Bucks South senior Will Locovare finished in eighth place in the 16-to-18 division with a 4-over 76 and the trio of Bishop Shanahan sophomore Ben Saggers, Downingtown East junior Jake Leon and Brady Manning of Downingtown rounded out the top 10 among the older guys as each signed for a 77 to end up in a tie for ninth.

   Lane Krosse of York also had five birdies on his scorecard as he matched par with a 72 to finish atop the 13-to-15 leaderboard and was the runnerup to Maslanka in the overall 13-to-18 scoring.

   Josh Baker of West Chester had five birdies as well as he was the runnerup to Krosse among the younger guys with a 2-over 74 and shared sixth place in the overall scoring with La Salle’s Nolan.

   Strath Haven sophomore Tyler Debusschere matched big brother Jackson’s 3-over 75 as he finished third in the 13-to-15 division. Tyler Debusschere had two birdies on his card and 12 pars, including seven straight pars from the second through the eighth holes.  If the number of qualifiers for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship was capped at 10, the Debusschere brothers and Rios rounded out the top 10 in the overall scoring as they finished in a tie for eighth place.

   It was a disappointing fall for Jackson and Tyler Debusschere as the Central League, conflicted by the varying responses to the pandemic, did not hold a league championship in time for its players to be eligible for the District One Championship.

   The Central League did finally stage a championship the week after the PIAA Championship and Strath Haven, behind a fourth-place finish by Tyler Debusschere and a tie for fifth by Jackson Debusschere, won the team crown.

   Michael Vital, the twin brother of Matt Vital, finished a shot behind Tyler Debusschere with a 76 that left him alone in fourth place among the younger guys.

   Maxwell Wager of State College and Mason Tucker of York shared fifth place in the 13-to-15 division as each posted a 78. A couple of other York guys, Andrew Ekstrom and Dallas Inch, were a shot behind Wager and Tucker in a tie for seventh place, each carding a 79.

   Rounding out the top 10 among the younger guys were Nick Linkchorst of Glen Mills and Andrew Bilson of Lititz, both of whom posted an 80 to end up in a tie for ninth place.

   The low score among the girls Sunday at Pine Meadows was turned in by Season Wei of Warren, N.J., who fired a sparkling 4-over 76 that topped the field in the 13-to-15 division. Wei finished strong with birdies at the 15^th and 18^th holes and had 12 pars on her scorecard.

   The Pine Meadows stop was not a qualifier for the girls as the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship, which tees off July 12 at Commonwealth National Golf Club, is an open tournament. The top finishers at Commonwealth National will advance to the Girls Junior PGA Championship, which tees off July 27 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

   Emily Mayo of Boothwyn had birdies at the fourth and 17^th holes as she was the runnerup to Wei in the 13-to-15 division with a 91.

   Kayla Benson of Beach Lake took third place with a 106 and Hannah Kopac of State College rounded out the 13-to-15 field as she finished fourth with a 112.

   Two youngsters who have been playing solid golf in the coed 12-and-under division this spring, Jason Mack of Delaware Water Gap and Wyatt Underwood of Telford, shared the top spot among the nine-holers, each carding a 3-over 39 on the back nine at Pine Meadows.

   Mack had birdies on the 11^th and 14^th holes while Underwood birdied the 15^th and added five pars.

   Anthony Proud of Stroudsburg, another player who has had a strong spring campaign, finished a shot behind Mack and Underwood in third place with a 4-over 40 that featured five pars, including four straight to close out his round.

   Lawson Leeper of York finished a shot behind Proud in fourth place with a 41. Callahan Harrell of York and Benjamin Mayer of Garnet Valley shared fifth place, each signing for a 45.

   Katherine Liu of Moorestown, N.J. took seventh place with a 46, Gus Stoltzfus of Lincoln University was eighth with a 49, and Alex DiGiacinto of Nazareth was ninth with a 50.

   Preston Minio of Lansdale rounded out the top 10 among the nine-holers as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 55. Rounding out the coed 12-and-under division field were Tara Griscavage of Mechanicsburg and Vyom Shukla of Berwyn, both of whom registered a 60 to end up in a tie for 11^th place.