Johnson heats up with 68 at Northampton Valley to claim Junior Tour victory

    Derek Johnson of Mountain Top was as hot as the weather has been this week as he blitzed Northampton Valley Country Club in Richboro for six birdies Tuesday in a sizzling 2-under-par 68 that gave him a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the younger 13-to-15 division.

   Johnson rattled off birdies at the sixth, ninth, 11^th, 14^th, 15^th and 18^th holes in taking it low over the 6,357-yard, par-70 Northampton Valley layout. Johnson also had eight pars as he opened his round by making five straight pars.

   There wasn’t much of a dropoff at the top of the 13-to-15 leaderboard, either, as Strath Haven junior Tyler Debusschere and Ethan Martin of North Wales each matched par with a 70 to share second place, two shots behind Johnson.

   Debusschere, who helped the Panthers capture the team crown at the Central League Championship at Downingtown Country Club to wrap up a disjointed fall season, made birdies at the first, seventh, 11^th and 18^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard. Martin made birdies at the first, third, sixth, 10^th and 14^th holes, five in all, and had eight pars on his card.

   Noah Moeller of Elkton, Md. was another shot behind Debusschere and Martin in fourth place with a 1-over 71 and Alex Nemo of Bryn Mawr finished fifth with a 75.

   Brendan Reilly of Doylestown and Owen Reape of Blue Bell shared sixth place, each posting a 78, Drew Soltys of Warrington was eighth with an 83 and Zach Moua of Berwyn was ninth with an 85.

   Rounding out the top 10 were two players, Manraj Grewal of Newtown and David Fiorita of Jamison, both of whom finished in a tie for 10^th place, each signing for an 86.

   Luke Corcoran of Lansdale made birdies at the seventh, 12^th and 17^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard as he toured the incoming nine at Northampton Valley in 1-under 34 on his way to a 1-over 71 that gave him medalist honors in the 16-to-18 division.

   Charles Ota of Blue Bell made birdies at the ninth, 13^th and 18^th holes and had 10 pars on his card as he finished two shots behind Corcoran in second place with a 3-over 73. Kyle Langan of Shavertown made birdies on the seventh, 14^th and 17^th holes and registered eight pars as he ended up a shot behind Ota in third place with a 4-over 74.

   Noah Mueller of Doylestown and recent Pennridge graduate Blake Stewart finished in a tie for fourth place, each landing on 75 and Nicklaus Meisinger of West Chester took sixth with a 77.

   Ethan Cho of Ambler and Nicky Riscica of Newtown shared seventh place, each posting a 78 and Aidan Whitman of Scranton and Jack Bulman of Pottstown rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each carding a 79.

   Suzie Ahn of Paoli had the best score of the day among the girls as she had six pars in a steady 83 that landed her atop the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division.

   Emma Schotsch, a recent Springside Chestnut Hill Academy graduate, had four pars as she rounded out the field of older girls by finishing in second place with an 89.

   Kaitlyn Hummers of Bethlehem was the lone entry in the 13-to-15 division and she made a birdie at the 10^th hole and had three pars on her scorecard on her way to a 94.

   Maybe the most impressive nine holes of the day was turned in by Anthony Proud of Stroudsburg as he had four birdies in besting the field of nine-holers with a scintillating 2-under 33.

   Proud has been playing solid golf since the second half of the wraparound 2020-2021 Junior Tour season got under way in the spring, but he was never better than he was Tuesday as he made birdies at the second, sixth, seventh and ninth holes and added three pars.

   Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. settled for runnerup honors in the 12-and-under coed division as he made a birdie at the seventh hole and had five pars on his scorecard on his way to a 2-over 37. Benjamin Robbins of Holland had three pars on his card as he took third place with a 6-over 41.

   Thomas Carpenter of Bristol finished in fourth place with a 42 and Carter Hippauf of Quakertown and Quin Zuegner of New Hope shared fifth place, each signing for a 43.

   William Littleton of Fort Washington took seventh place with a 45, Preston Minio of Lansdale and Onyu Park of Blue Bell finished in a tie for eighth, each posting a 48 and Ryan Kelly of Harleysville rounded out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division as he ended up alone in 10^th with a 50.