Normand, O'Sullivan capture respective boys, girls overall crowns in two-day Junior Tour event at Hershey's East Course

    You’d expect Matthew Normand of Lumberton, N.J. would get a jolt of confidence after he scorched his home course, Laurel Creek Country Club, for a seven-birdie, no-bogey, 7-under-par 63 that gave him a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory last week.

   And you’d be right. Trailing La Salle junior Kevin Lafond by a shot following Thursday’s opening round of a two-day Philadelphia Junior Tour event at Hershey Country Club’s East Course, Normand fired a 3-under 68 in Friday’s second round for a 2-under 140 total that gave him a five-shot victory over Lafond in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall 13-to-18 scoring that is always counted in a two-day event.

   Normand, just two days removed from his spectacular outing at Laurel Creek, had a patient opening round as he made birdies at the fifth and 15^th holes to offset three bogeys as he posted a solid 1-over 72 over the classic 6,640-yard, par-71 East Course layout at Hershey.

   Lafond, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, led the way after Thursday’s opening round as he matched par with a 71. Lafond made birdies at the third, 12^th and 13^th holes to offset three bogeys. Scranton Prep senior Michael Lynch III matched Normand’s 1-over 72 to share second place.

   But Normand, much as he had on his home course earlier in the week, got it going on the challenging East Course layout. The left-hander made birdies at the first, third, ninth, 12^th and 17^th holes on his way to the 68 that earned him another Junior Tour victory, this one a little more important in that the two-day events offer points that can enhance a player’s status on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit.

   The three birdies on the front enabled Normand to post a 3-under 32 on the East Course’s outgoing nine. His five birdies offset two bogeys. So, he wasn’t perfect, but he was very good in a victory that capped a pretty strong week.

   Lafond had birdies at the first, third, sixth and 17^th holes but it wasn’t quite enough to overcome five bogeys and a double bogey in a final round of 3-over 74 that left him alone in second place in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring with a 3-over 145 total.

   Lynch followed up his opening-round 72 with a 5-over 76 as he settled for a share of third place among the older guys and in the overall scoring with Colin Vineburg of Sparks, Md. at 6-over 148.

   Lynch had birdies at the sixth, ninth and 10^th holes in Friday’s second round. His opening round featured birdies at the fourth and 11^th holes and he stayed in the hunt by grinding out pars on his last seven holes.

   Vineburg had back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes as he carded a 4-over 75 in Friday’s final round. He had birdies at the fourth, seventh and 11^th holes to offset five bogeys in a solid 2-over 73 in the opening round.

   Nathan Myers of Breinigsville had the second-best round of the day in the final round as he matched par with a 71 that enabled him to land in a tie for fifth place in the 16-to-18 division and in a five-way logjam for sixth place in the overall scoring at 8-over 150. Myers had opened with a 79. He was joined at 150 in the 16-to-18 division by Will Huntley of Lansdale, who registered a pair of 5-over 75s.

   Spring-Ford junior Luke Fazio added a 77 to his opening-round 74 as he finished alone in seventh place among the older guys with a 151 total. Conestoga junior Kyle Mauro and Nick Mahoney of Lewisburg shared eighth place as they finished a shot behind Fazio at 152. Mauro and Mahoney both added a 4-over 75 in the final round to an opening-round 77.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Garnet Valley senior Nick Woods and Ryan Kai Nam Leung, who took a road trip from Brooklyn to tee it up in Hershey, as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each ending up at 155. Woods added a 78 in Friday’s second round to his opening-round 77 while Kai Nam Leung closed with an 80 after opening with a solid 4-over 75.

   Josh Baker of West Chester closed with a solid 1-over 72 to claim the top spot in the 13-to-15 division and finish third in the overall scoring with a 7-over 149 total.

   Baker made birdies at the first, fourth and 18^th holes to offset four bogeys in his closing 72. He made 12 pars in a solid opening round of 6-over 77.

   Nick Werner of Wilkes-Barre, Strath Haven junior Tyler Debusschere and Michael Lugiano, a PIAA Class AA qualifier as a freshman at Lake Lehman last fall, shared runnerup honors in the 13-to-15 division and joined Myers and Huntley from the 16-to-18 division as they rounded out the top 10 in the overall 13-to-18 scoring in a five-way tie for sixth place at 8-over 150.

   Werner grabbed the lead in the 13-to-15 division and only trailed Lafond for the overall lead by two shots as he carded a solid 2-over 73 in the opening round that featured a birdie at the ninth hole and 14 pars, including seven straight from 11 through 17. He closed with a 77 that was highlighted by 12 pars.

   Debusschere birdied the second hole and then had a strong closing kick with back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17 in a final round of 4-over 75 after opening with a 75 that featured a birdie at the fifth and 12 pars.

   Lugiano birdied the first and 12^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard in a final round of 5-over 76. He was just a shot behind Werner in second place among the younger guys after opening with a 3-over 74 that included birdies at the 11^th and 18^th holes.

   Caden Blanchette of Manchester finished a shot behind the trio at 150 in fifth place in the 13-to-15 division as he closed with a solid 1-over 72 after opening with a 79 for a 151 total. Derek Johnson of Mountain Top was two shots behind Blanchette in sixth place in the division as he added a 3-over 74 to his opening-round 79 for a 153 total.

   Joseph Sembrot of Harrisburg took seventh place among the younger guys as he closed with an 80 after opening with a 78 for a 158 total.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were three players tied for eighth place at 159, including Sebastian Botero of Abington, Cael Ropietski of Harveys Lake and Matthew Ronca of Bethlehem.

   Botero and Ronca had identical splits, adding an 81 to an opening-round 78. Ropietski shaved five shots off an opening-round 82 as he closed with a solid 77.

   It was a limited field of girls at Hershey, but two of last fall’s top scholastic players, Downingtown East senior Ava O’Sullivan and Emmaus senior Evelyn Wong, put on a spirited battle with O’Sullivan making a birdie on the East Course’s 10^th hole to capture the 16-to-18 division and overall titles on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

   O’Sullivan, the District One Class AAA champion last fall, trailed Wong by six shots after Wong carded a sparkling 1-under 70 in Thursday’s opening round.

   But O’Sullivan caught Wong with a 2-under 69 in Friday’s final round as she made birdies at the first, third, 11^th and 15^th holes that enabled her to post a 3-over 145 total. O’Sullivan struggled at times in Thursday’s opening round, but she made a birdie at the third hole and then rattled off three straight birdies at 12, 13 and 14 that enabled her to register a 5-over 76 and keep Wong within striking distance.

   Wong’s opening-round 70 included birdies at the first, sixth, eighth, 12^th and 14^th holes. She toured the East Course’s outgoing nine in 2-under 34. Wong had birdies at the sixth, 10^th and 14^th holes as she added a 4-over 75 to her opening-round 70 to join O’Sullivan at 3-over 145.

   O’Sullivan and Wong finished 3-4, respectively, in last fall’s PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort.

   Hannah Kupac of State College was the only other girl in the field as she added a 105 to her opening-round 101 for a 206 total that gave her a victory in the 13-to-15 division and left her alone in third place in the overall scoring. A par at the 13^th hole highlighted Kupac’s second round and she had a par at the seventh hole in the opening round.

   Ian Larsen of Glenmoore came on strong in the second round with a 2-over 38 on the East Course’s front nine as he shared medalist honors in the coed 12-and-under division with Callahan Harrell of York and Benjamin Mayer of Garnet Valley, each landing on 10-over 82.

   Harrell had bested the field of nine-holers in Thursday’s opening round as he had six pars in a 3-over 39.

   Larsen, whose solid summer includes a victory in the Pennsylvania Junior-Junior Boys’ Championship last month at Lebanon Country Club, had three pars in an opening-round 44. But he made seven pars in Friday’s second round for the best round of the tournament among the nine-holers.

   Harrell had a birdie and two pars in a closing 43 that enabled him to finish with an 82. Mayer had trailed Harrell by a shot after an opening-round 40 that featured four pars. Mayer had four pars in a closing 42 that left him in the tie for first place with Larsen and Harrell.

   Holden Sparks of Nazareth added a 42 to his opening-round 41 to finish in fourth place, a shot behind the trio tied at the top with an 83. Anthony Proud of Stroudsburg took fifth place, a shot behind Sparks with an 84 as he added a 43 to his opening-round 41.

   William Littleton of Fort Washington was only a shot behind Harrell after opening with a 4-over 40 before closing with a 45 that left him a shot behind Proud in sixth place with an 85.

   Carter Hippauf of Quakertown added a 42 to his opening-round 47 and was alone in seventh place with an 89 total. Gus Stoltzfus of Lincoln University improved by four shots from his opening-round 48 with a 44 in Friday’s second round as he finished alone in eighth place with a 92 total.

   Callen Edmonston of Thurmont, Md. added a 48 to his opening-round 47 as he took ninth place with a 95. Colin Schreiber of Kunkletown rounded out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division field as he shaved 12 shots off his opening-round 54 with a solid 42 to end up alone in 10^th place with a 96 total.

   Schreiber did not leave empty-handed, though. His tee shot at the par-3 second hole finished six feet, eight inches from the cup, giving him closest-to-the-pin honors and a range-finder, courtesy of Precision Pro Golf.

   The two-day event included a college men’s division for players ages 17 to 24, which was won by Bobby Lugiano of Shavertown’s Team Lugiano as he added a solid 1-over 72 to an opening-round 75 for a 5-over 147 total. Bobby Lugiano made birdies at the first and sixth holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard, including seven straight from 11 through 17, in his final-round 72. Bobby Lugiano birdied the second hole and had 13 pars on his card in the opening round.

   Joshua Abary of Manalapan, N.J. was the only other competitor in the division and he trailed Bobby Lugiano by three shots after an opening-round 78 that featured birdies at the first, sixth and 11^th holes and 10 pars. Abary closed with a 76 that included back-to-back birdies at the 16^th and 17^th holes and 10 pars and left him seven shots behind Bobby Lugiano with a 154 total.