Matthew Normand of Lumberton, N.J. had a little bit of an advantage when the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stopped at his home course, Laurel Creek Country Club in Mount Laurel, N.J., Tuesday.
Normand dominated the Arnold Palmer design at Laurel Creek with a scintillating 7-under-par 63 that matched the competitive course record and gave him an easy victory in the 16-to-18 division.
Normand, a left-hander, ripped off four straight birdies at the second, third, fourth and fifth holes on Laurel Creek’s outgoing nine and added three more at 13, 15 and 17 on the incoming nine. Bogeys? Not a one. Normand’s been a fixture on Philly Junior Tour leaderboards since his days competing with the nine-holers, but this round was something special.
Brendan Meagher of Swedesboro, N.J. had a pretty strong round of his own, a 1-under 69, but he wasn’t in the same area code as Normand in earning runnerup honors. Meagher, who has been playing well all summer, had birdies at the 11th, 15th and 18th holes while registering a 2-under 32 on Laurel Creek’s incoming nine and finished with 13 pars on his scorecard.
There was a three-way tie among Dylan Gooneratne, who wrapped up his outstanding scholastic career at Plymouth-Whitemarsh by finishing in a tie for 14th place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, Spring-Ford junior Luke Fazio and Xander Batik of Linwood, N.J., for third place, each signing for a 5-over 75.
Gooneratne birdied the 13th and 17th holes and had 11 pars, including a run of eight pars in a row from the fifth through the 12th holes. Fazio had birdies at the seventh, ninth and 15th holes and had eight pars on his scorecard. Like Gooneratne, Matik had a run of eight straight pars from the seventh through the 14th holes and made a birdie at one.
Evan Rosenstein of Plymouth Meeting, Stephen Cain of Yardley and Sean P. Kelly of Lewisburg finished in a three-way tie for sixth place, each posting a 79.
Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were two players, Jack Orr of Medford, N.J. and Joseph Fargnoli of Mickleton, N.J., who ended up in a tie for ninth place, each carding an 84.
It was a pretty strong showing at the top of the 13-to-15 division as well as Jack Dare of Moorestown, N.J. made birdies at the 11th, 12th and 15th holes while putting together a 2-under 32 on Laurel Creek’s incoming nine on his way to a 2-over 72 that gave him the victory among the younger guys.
Derek Johnson of Mountain Top had 12 pars, including a run of five straight from the 11th through the 15th holes, and John Stevenson of Flourtown birdied the 15th hole and had 10 pars, including a run of five in a row from the seventh through the 11th holes, as they shared runnerup honors, each signing for a 7-over 77.
A couple of Haddonfield, N.J. guys, Matthew Morris and Sam Narducci, accounted for the next two spots on the 13-to-15 division leaderboard as they finished in fourth and fifth place with respective scores of 79 and 80.
Ethan Legarda of Voorhees, N.J. and Hank Kancher of Philadelphia finished in a tie for sixth place, each registering an 82. Justin Forman of Sewell, N.J. took eighth place with an 83 and Tommy Marshall of Marlton, N.J. was ninth with an 84.
Three players, including Sebastian Furfaro of Mickleton, N.J., Lannon Boyd of Radnor and Christopher Chicano of West Berlin, N.J., rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as they finished in a tie for 10th place, each carding an 86.
Another member of Plymouth Meeting’s Team Gooneratne, Rhianna Gooneratne, the Philly Junior Tour’s 13-to-15 Player of the Year for the wraparound 2019-2020 season, had the best score of the day among the girls as she finished at the top of the leaderboard among the younger girls with a 3-over 73.
Gooneratne made birdies on the third and sixth holes as she toured the outgoing nine at Laurel Creek in 2-under 34 and finished with 14 pars on her scorecard.
Savannah Laverty of Moorestown, N.J. earned runnerup honors as she made birdies at the seventh and ninth holes and had nine pars on her scorecard on her way to a 78. Spring-Ford sophomore Alie Adams was two shots behind Laverty in third place as Adams had 10 pars, including a run of five in a row from the seventh through the 11th holes.
Hannah Puc of Marlton, N.J. took fourth place with an 87 and Sophia Blair of Williamstown, N.J. rounded out the 13-to-15 division field as she finished in fifth place with a 99.
Olivia Strigh of Hammonton, N.J., the Philly Junior Tour’s 16-to-18 Player of the Year for the wraparound 2019-’20 season, topped the field of older girls with a solid 77 that featured birdies at the third, eighth, ninth and 12th holes.
Keerthana Rajamohan of Limerick had seven pars as she claimed runnerup honors with an 85. Sophia Chesner of Moorestown, N.J. had back-to-back pars on the eighth and ninth holes as she finished in third place with a 93.
Ella Miller of Lumberton, N.J. took fourth place with a 98 and Rachana Raja of Moorestown, N.J. rounded out the 16-to-18 division field by finishing in fifth place with a 123.
Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. had four pars on Laurel Creek’s back nine to best the field of nine-holers with a 5-over 39. Anthony Primo of Marlton, N.J. finished in second place in the coed 12-and-under division with a 6-over 40 that included five pars.
Quin Zeigner of New Hope had three pars, Katherine Liu of Moorestown, N.J. had five pars, Thomas Carpenter of Bristol birdied the 17th hole and had three pars and Jason Mack of Delaware Water Gap had three pars as they finished in a tie for third place, each landing on 7-over 41.
Jack Forstein of Moorestown, N.J. and Onyu Park of Blue Bell shared seventh place, each posting a 42, and Jackson Lane of Cinnaminson, N.J. and Chloe Donohue, another Moorestown, N.J. entry, rounded out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division field as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each signing for a 44.
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