Cael Ropietski of Harvey’s Lake went 3-under on Turtle Creek Golf Course’s front nine on his way to a 1-under-par 71 that gave him the overall victory in a two-day Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour Precision Pro Golf event that wrapped up Thursday.
The Precision Pro Golf event at the Turtle always draws a good field as many of the golfers are looking ahead to the scholastic season and one of the biggest events of the fall, the District One Championship, which is held annually at the 6,602-yard, par-72 layout on the site of the Waltz family farm in Limerick Township.
The Precision Pro Golf events earn top finishers Junior Golf Scoreboard points, which can help earn them status on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit, the big leagues of junior golf. There is overall 13-to-18 scoring as well as the traditional Philly Junior Tour breakdowns in the 13-to-15 and 16-to-18 age groups.
Ropietski is from upstate, so he won’t tee it up in the District One Championship. His second-round 71, combined with the 3-over 75 he posted in Wednesday’s opening round, gave Ropietski a 2-over 146 total. Ropietski was playing out of the younger 13-to-15 age group.
His 146 total was one-shot better than Malvern Prep senior Keller Mulhern, who added a 1-over 73 to his opening-round 74 tor a 3-over 147 total that gave him a seven-shot advantage in the 16-to-18 division.
Nobody, though, was better for two days at the Turtle this week than Ropietski. He made birdies at the fourth, fifth, eighth and 18th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard in Thursday’s final round, the second of two glorious days of summer weather in western Montgomery County.
In the opening round, Ropietski made birdies at three of Turtle Creek’s four par-5s, the second, eighth and 18th holes, and made 11 pars on his way to a 75.
Nick Joyce of Quakertown also finished strong as he made birdies at the fifth, seventh, 14th and 16th holes and had 10 pars in a 1-over 73 that left him three shots behind Ropietski in the 13-to-15 division and in third place overall with a 5-over 149 total. Joyce, coming off a victory in the 13-to-15 division in a Junior Tour stop Tuesday at Indian Valley Country Club, birdied the third hole and had 12 pars on his scorecard in an opening-round 76.
Strath Haven junior Tyler Debusschere, denied an opportunity to compete in the District One Championship at Turtle Creek last fall due to coronavirus pandemic concerns, finished in third place in the 13-to-15 division and in fourth overall, four shots behind Joyce with a 153 total.
Debusschere birdied the 10th hole and had 10 pars in closing with a 78 Thursday. Debusschere got off to a strong start in Wednesday’s opening round as he made pars on the first six holes, birdied the seventh and parred the eighth and ninth as he registered a 1-under 35 on the outgoing nine on his way to a 3-over 75. He finished a solid round with 15 pars.
Samuel Feeney of West Chester, Dylan Ramsey of Lebanon and Ethan Martin of North Wales each landed on 157 to finish in a tie for fourth place among the younger guys and in a six-way logjam for eighth place in the overall scoring.
Feeney knocked nine shots off an opening-round 83 with a solid 2-over 74 in Thursday’s final round. Ramsey added a 78 to his opening-round 79. Martin’s opening round of 2-over 74 was the best score in the 13-to-15 division. He cooled off with an 83 in Thursday’s final round.
Havertown’s J.P. Hoban, winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior-Junior Championship last summer at West Chester Golf & Country Club, added a 77 to his opening-round 83 for a 160 total that left him alone in seventh place in the 13-to-15 division.
Brendan Reilly of Doylestown was a shot behind Hoban in eighth place among the younger guys at 161 as he added an 80 to his opening-round 81. Chase Dillman of Gilbertsville was a shot behind Reilly in ninth place at 162 with a part of 81s.
Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division was Macade Knoblauch of Pottstown as he shaved seven shots off an opening-round 85 with a closing 78 that left him alone in 10th place with a 163 total.
Mulhern’s junior season at Malvern Prep was limited to a few matches as the Inter-Ac League chose not to compete due to pandemic concerns. I thought maybe the league might play its Bert Linton individual championship in the spring as the Inter-Ac played golf in the spring until moving to a fall campaign a decade ago, but it didn’t happen.
Mulhern finished strong in Thursday’s second round as he made birdies at the fifth, 13th, 14th and 17th holes, going 2-under on the Turtle’s incoming nine, in his 1-over 73. Mulhern got two of Turtle Creek’s par-5s with birdies at the eighth and 13th holes and registered 13 pars in his opening-round 74.
Garnet Valley senior Nick Woods and Will Huntley of Lansdale shared runnerup honors in the 16-to-18 division and were tied for fifth in the overall scoring as each ended up at 10-over 154.
Woods made birdies at the first, fifth and seventh holes and posted eight pars as he finished up with a 77. Woods got off to a strong start with birdies at the first, second, fourth, eighth and 16th holes, recording a 3-under 33 on the Turtle’s front nine, on his way to a 77 in the opening round. Huntley birdied the par-5 second hole and had 12 pars on his way to a 78 in the final round. Huntley had opened with a 4-over 76 that featured a birdie at the sixth hole and 12 pars.
Ryan Horenci of Collegeville added an 81 to his opening-round 78 as he finished alone in fourth place in the 16-to18 division and in seventh place in the overall scoring with a 156 total.
Kyle Mauro of Paoli, Spring-Ford junior Luke Fazio, playing on the Rams’ home course, and Nicholas Rafetto of Pottstown each landed on 157 and were tied for fifth place among the older guys and joined Feeney, Ramsey and Martin from the 13-to-15 division in the tie for eighth place in the overall scoring.
Mauro was the star of Wednesday’s opening round as he had birdies at the first, fifth, eighth and 18th holes while matching par with a 72 that gave him the overall lead. Mauro backed off with an 85 in the final round.
Fazio added a 79 to his opening-round 78 while Rafetto opened with a 79 before finishing up with a 78.
Downingtown East senior Jake Leon and Jordan Minter of North Wales shared eighth place in the 16-to-18 division as each landed on 158. Leon shaved six shot off his opening-round 82 with a solid 76 in Thursday’s final round. Minter signed for a pair of 79s.
Eli Ropietski, another member of Harvey’s Lake’s Team Ropietski, and Bryson Hicklin of Nazareth rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as they both ended up with a 159 total that left them in a tie for 10th place. Ropietski added a 78 to his opening-round 81 while Hicklin was among the leaders after opening with a solid 3-over 75 before falling back with an 84.
Perhaps the most impressive showing of Thursday’s final round was turned in by the overall winner among the girls, Emmaus senior Evelyn Wong, who had five birdies in a sizzling 4-under 68 that gave her a 1-under 143 total that was 13 shots clear of the rest of the 16-to-18 division.
Wong had birdies at the second, fourth and sixth holes while registering a 3-under 33 on the Turtle’s outgoing nine and added back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th holes while making 12 pars. Wong, who finished in fourth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort as a junior last fall, had opened with a 3-over 75 that featured birdies at the third, eighth and 13th holes and 10 pars.
Kate Roberts, coming off a solid freshman season at Phoenixville, had matched Wong’s opening-round 75 before finishing up with an 81 that enabled her to claim runnerup honors among the older girls and in a tie for third place in the overall scoring with little sister Kayley Roberts at 156.
Kate Roberts birdied the 14th hole and made 11 pars in Thursday’s final round. Kate Roberts’ solid opening round included a birdie on the third hole and 14 pars, eight of them on Turtle Creek’s incoming nine.
North Penn junior Hayley Ekert was another six shots behind Kate Roberts in third place in the 16-to-18 division and alone in sixth place in the overall scoring with a 162 total. Ekert finished up with an 84 that was highlighted by birdies at the fifth and 11th holes and eight pars. She had opened with a solid 78 that included 12 pars, eight of them on the front nine at the Turtle.
Elizabeth O’Connell of Downingtown improved off an opening-round 92 by seven shots with an 85 in the final round as she finished in fourth place among the older girls and ninth overall at 177.
Pennridge junior Taryn Shine added an 87 to her opening-round 91 to finish a shot behind O’Connell in fifth place in the 16-to-18 division and she rounded out the top 10 in the overall scoring, ending up in 10th place with a 178 total.
Methacton senior Sarah Lawrie carded a pair of 95s as she finished in sixth place in the 16-to-18 division with a 190 total. Maria Crowe of Downingtown and Carly Gavant of Hoboken, N.J. shared seventh place, each landing on 201 as Crane added a 102 to her opening-round 99 and Gavant shaved nine shots off her opening-round 105 with a closing 96.
Heidi Wegschelder of Boyertown rounded out the 16-to-18 division field as she added a 116 to her opening-round 106 to finish in ninth place with a 222 total.
Another member of Quakertown’s Team Joyce, Rachel Joyce, had a strong showing in capturing top honors in the 13-to-15 division and earning runnerup honors in the overall scoring, four shots behind Wong with a 3-over 147 total.
Rachel Joyce, coming off a victory in the 13-to-15 division in Tuesday’s Junior Tour stop at Indian Valley, matched the scorecard on the front nine with nine straight pars and added birdies at the 13th and 18th holes as she matched par in Thursday’s final round with a 72. Rachel Joyce birdied the first hole and had 13 pars on her scorecard as she opened with a 5-over 77.
Kayley Roberts of Phoenixville’s Team Roberts earned runnerup honors in the 13-to-15 division while sharing third place with big sister Kate in the overall scoring at 156. Not sure if they went to a playoff to decide low-Roberts honors.
Kayley Roberts birdied the 14th hole and had 11 pars in finishing up with a 79. She had opened with back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th holes and nine pars in a solid 5-over 77.
Rhianna Gooneratne of Plymouth Meeting, the Philly Junior Tour’s 13-to-15 Player of the Year for the wraparound 2019-2020 season, birdied the fifth hole and had 10 pars on her scorecard in a final round of 80 that left her two shots behind Kayley Roberts in third place among the younger girls and fifth overall with a 158 total. Gooneratne had opened with a solid 78 that featured 13 pars.
Kiran Bagga of Blue Bell added an 86 to her opening-round 83 to finish in fourth place in the 13-to-15 division and seventh overall with a 169 total. Alexandra Engart of Harleysville was two shots behind Bagga in fifth place and ended up in eighth place overall as she improved by 11 shots off an opening-round 91 with a closing 80 for a 171 total.
Rounding out the 13-to-15 field was Alison Adams of Phoenixville as she posted a pair of 93s for a 186 total that left her alone in seventh place.
William Johnson of Berwyn bested a strong field of nine-holers as he birdied the first and fourth holes and had four pars in a closing 2-over 38 that gave him a 6-over 78 total, one shot better than Colby Komancheck of Royersford. Johnson made birdies at the fourth and seventh holes and had four pars in an opening round of 4-over 40.
Komancheck, the son of the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve pro shop team of Jamie and Kelly Komancheck, had the best score of the day in Thursday’s final round as he birdied the fifth and ninth holes and had four pars on his way to a 1-over 37 that left him with a 7-over 79 total. Komancheck birdied the seventh hole and had four pars in an opening-round 42.
Ian Larsen of Glenmoore birdied the eighth hole and had four pars as he closed with a 3-over 39 that left him in third place, two shots behind Komancheck with an 81. Larsen had four pars in an opening-round 42.
Jason Mack of Delaware Water Gap continued his strong run of play recently as he added a 42 to his opening-round 41 to finish in fourth place with an 83. It was another four shots back to Brayden Mitchell of Merchantville, N.J. in fifth place as Mitchell added a 45 to his opening-round 42 for an 87 total.
Jack Luterman of Ardmore was coming off a share of medalist honors in the coed 12-and-under division Tuesday at Indian Valley and he added a solid 42 to his opening-round 47 that left him in sixth place with an 89. Alex DiGiacinto of Nazareth was three shots behind Luterman in seventh place as he added a 45 to his opening-round 47 for a 92 total.
Benjamin Robbins of Holland improved by four shots off an opening-round 49 with a closing 45 as he took eighth place with a 94. Nathan Lobo of Collegeville added a 48 to his opening-round 48 to finish in ninth place with a 97.
Vyam Shukla of Berwyn added a 51 to an opening-round 53 to take 10th place with a 104 and Preston Minio of Lansdale opened with a 56 before closing with a 50 as he rounded out the coed 12-and-under field, finishing in 11th place with a 106 total.
As is usual with Precision Pro Golf events, there is the opportunity for college men and women to tee it up. Only Jacqueline Slinkard of Bryn Mawr took advantage of that opportunity as she birdied the first hole and made seven pars, closing her round with four straight pars, for a final-round 82 that gave her a 167 total in the Women’s 17-to-24 division.
Slinkard had opened with an 88 that featured a birdie at the 17th hole and seven pars.
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