Martin heats up with 66 to claim a Junior Tour victory at Springhaven

    Ethan Martin of North Wales was nearly as hot as the weather in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop Monday at The Springhaven Club in Wallingford as he posted a sparkling 4-under-par 66 over the William Flynn design to claim a victory in the younger 13-to-15 age group.

   Martin made birdies at the second, eighth, 12^th, 13^th and 16^th holes before the lone blemish on his scorecard, a bogey at the 17^th. Martin’s score was seven shots better than any other Junior Tour player could manage at Springhaven.

   Kasim Narinesingh-Smith of Kennett Square birdied the second hole and made 13 straight pars to finish his round as he earned runnerup honors in the 13-to-15 division with a 3-over 73. Springfield High junior Daniel Flaherty made back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard as he finished in third place, a shot behind Narinesingh-Smith with a 74.

   Josh Baker of West Chester took fourth place with a 75, Alec Thiele of Philadelphia was fifth with a 76 and J.P. Hoban of Havertown was sixth with a 77.

   Jason DiRita of Media, Marshall Kain of Newtown Square and Jax Puskar of Kennett Square finished in a tie for seventh place, each signing for an 80. Jack Gallagher of Gladwyne and Owen Reape of Blue Bell rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as they shared 10^th place, each registering an 82.

   Two of the Central League’s top returning seniors, Garnet Valley’s Nick Woods and Radnor’s Chase Stephano, went 1-2 in the 16-to-18 division with respective scores of 5-over 75 and 7-over 77. Woods birdied the fifth and 14^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard and Stephano birdied the seventh and 12^th holes and also had 10 pars on his card.

   Rocco Sanfelice of Woolwich, N.J. birdied the 16^th hole and had nine pars on his scorecard as he finished a shot behind Stephano in third place with a 78.

   Nicholas Rafetto of Pottstown took fourth place with an 81, Ryan Garvey of Media was fifth with an 82 and Trevor Talerico of West Chester and Conor Watson of Malvern finished in a tie for sixth place, each carding an 83.

   Rounding out the top 10 among the older guys were three players – Aaron Miller of Lehighton, Evan Rydel of Glen Mills and Matthew Hurchalla, playing close to his Wallingford home -- tied for eighth place, each registering an 85.

   The best score of the day among the girls also emerged from the younger 13-to-15 division as Rhianna Gooneratne of Plymouth Meeting birdied the 13^th hole and had 10 pars, finishing up with pars on the last five holes, as she posted a solid 78. Gooneratne was the Philly Junior Tour’s 13-to-15 Player of the Year for the wraparound 2019-2020 season.

   Meredith Finger of Wilmington, Del. birdied the 12^th hole and had six pars on Springhaven’s outgoing nine as she earned runnerup honors with an 87. Sophia DeSantis of Glen Mills had four pars as she finished a shot behind Finger in third place with an 88.

   Mikayla Stone of Garnet Valley took fourth place with a 91, Brynne Mushlin of Berwyn was fifth with a 97 and Karina Serio of Colora, Md. rounded out the 13-to-15 division field as she finished sixth with a 104.

   Gabrielle Courtney of Lafayette Hill was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and she birdied the fifth and 12^th holes and recorded five pars on her way to a solid 88.

   Martin wasn’t the only birdie machine at Springhaven as Anthony Proud of Stroudsburg finished his round with consecutive birdies at the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th holes to best the field of nine-holers with an even-par 35. Proud also had four pars on his scorecard.

   David Nissen of Lower Gwynedd birdied the 14^th hole and had two pars as he claimed runnerup honors with a 6-over 41. Benjamin Mayer of Garnet Valley had three pars as he finished in third place with a 43.

   Gus Wolfe of Downingtown took fourth place with a 44, Chase Wilson of Talleyville, Del. was fifth with a 46, Katherine Liu of Moorestown, N.J. was sixth with a 47, Declan Conner of Swarthmore was seventh with a 48, and William Littleton of Fort Washington was eighth with a 49.

   Jack Sheward of Wyncote took ninth place with a 50 and Hannah Webb of Woolwich, N.J. and Griffin Reach, playing close to his Wallingford home, rounded out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each posting a 52.