Tolentino the medalist in Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship with 68 at Commonwealth National

    Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel, N.J. carded a sparkling 4-under-par 68 at Commonwealth National Golf Club in Horsham Monday to capture the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship and earn a ticket to the 45^th Girls Junior PGA Championship, which tees off July 27 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

   Tolentino, still only 14 and eligible for the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s 13-to-15 division, launched her junior career in Philly Junior Tour events and has moved up to the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA), among other competitive opportunities.

   But she will get to display her talent on a national stage after a six-birdie, two-bogey effort over the par-72 Commonwealth National layout. The Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship was originally scheduled to be a 36-hole event, but afternoon storms Monday wiped out the second round.

   The other ticket to the Girls Junior PGA Championship at Valhalla out of the local qualifier went to Unionville junior Mary Grace Dunigan, who shared second place overall and the top spot in the 16-to-18 division with Strath Haven senior Grace Smith, each posting a solid 1-over 73.

   Dunigan, the daughter of Golf Digest Top 50 Teacher John Dunigan, received the second berth to the Girls Junior PGA Championship in a scorecard playoff with Smith, who is the first alternate.

   The second alternate came out of the 13-to-15 division as Kayla Maletto, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman at Wilson last fall, won in a match of cards with Michelle Cox, the Penn State-bound player who lost in a playoff to West Chester East’s Victoria Kim in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort to cap her scholastic career at Emmaus last fall.

   Maletto and Cox each carded a 3-over 75 that left them tied for fourth place in the overall 13-to-18 scoring. Maletto was the runnerup to Tolentino in the 13-to-15 division while Cox ended up in third place in the 16-to-18 division behind Dunigan and Smith.

   After opening with a bogey at the first hole, Tolentino bounced right back with birdies at two and three to get it into red figures. She then ripped off four straight birdies at the 11^th, 12^th, 13^th and 14^th holes to get it 5-under for her round. A bogey at the 17^th hole dropped Tolentino back to 4-under, but she was still five shots clear of the rest of the field in the overall 13-to-18 scoring and atop the 13-to-15 leaderboard.

   Maletto bounced back from a double bogey at the second hole to go 1-over the rest of the round. Maletto bogeyed the fourth hole, picked up her lone birdie of the day at 14 and made a bogey at the last.

   Kayley Roberts of Phoenixville had a solid 81 that left her in third place in the 13-to-15 scoring and tied for 10^th place in the overall 13-to-18 scoring with her big sister Kate. Kayley Roberts made birdies at the fifth and ninth holes and had eight pars on her scorecard.

   Danielle Higbee of Mickleton, N.J. and Sophia Branca of Warrington finished in a tie for fourth place among the younger girls, each signing for an 87. Makayla Stone of Garnet Valley took sixth place with a 90, Sophia DeSantis of Glen Mills was seventh with a 92 and Spring-Ford junior Morgan Kunze was eighth with a 93.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Emily Mayo of Boothwyn and Isabella Magno of Delran, N.J., both of whom finished in a tie for ninth place, each landing on 107.

   Dunigan, who helped the Longhorns capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown last fall, bounced back from a bogey at the third hole with birdies at nine and 11 to get it to 1-under for her round. Bogeys at the 12^th and 15^th holes on her way to the clubhouse dropped Dunigan back to 1-over for the round.

   Smith had a banner 2019 at Strath Haven, finishing ninth in the PIAA Class AAA individual standings and helping the Panthers earn the first Central League and District One team crowns in the history of the program. But with the coronavirus pandemic leaving schools with difficult decisions to make last fall, the Central League failed to get its golfers eligible for the PIAA postseason by getting a District One qualifier together in time.

   There was one bright spot when the Central League gathered for a better-late-than-never championship at Downingtown Country Club the week after the PIAA Championships and Smith helped the Panthers claim a trophy as the low team in the league tournament.

   All along, though, Smith has continued to get better. She was a little up and down on the front nine at Commonwealth National with a bogey at the second hole, a birdie at three, a bogey at seven and a birdie at eight leaving her at even-par heading for the incoming nine.

   Smith made pars on nine of the last 10 holes, her bogey at 16 costing her sole possession of second place in the overall scoring. It would be nice to see a spot open up for Smith and give her an opportunity to play on a national stage.

   Cox has been playing some really solid golf this summer, highlighted by her victory in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship a couple of weeks ago in a playoff with Jade Gu at Lebanon Country Club. Gu, a recent Pennsbury graduate, earned a berth in match play in this week’s U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md.

   Cox was really steady Monday, making 16 pars at Commonwealth National, her only blemishes a bogey at the seventh hole and a double bogey at 18.

   Lauren Jones, who capped her scholastic career at Episcopal Academy by winning the Inter-Ac League’s individual crown at French Creek Golf Club in May, and New Hope’s Natasha Kiel finished in a tie for fourth place in the 16-to-18 division and were tied for sixth in the overall scoring, each registering a 4-over 76.

   Jones, who will join the program at Richmond later this summer, and Kiel, who will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Vanderbilt next month, just missed earning spots in the U.S. Girls’ Junior at Columbia as they lost out in a 4-for-2 playoff in the Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered local qualifier at the Steel Club.

   Recent Haverford High graduate Riley Quartermain and Hannah Barrett, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore at Carlisle last fall, each signed for a 78 that left them in a tie for sixth place in the 16-to-18 division and tied for eighth in the overall scoring. Quartermain, who will join the North Carolina program next month, capped her scholastic career by claiming medalist honors among the girls in the Central League Championship at Downingtown.

   Kate Roberts of Phoenixville’s Team Roberts and Makensy Knaub of York finished in a tie for eighth place among the older girls, each carding an 81 and they, along with Kate Roberts’ younger sister Kayley, rounded out the top 10 in the overall scoring as all three ended up in a tie for 10^th. Kate Roberts was a District One Class AAA qualifier as a freshman last fall. Kayley Roberts is still a year away from joining big sister with the Phantoms.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Mount St. Joseph’s senior Caroline Gola and Council Rock South junior Ashley Reese as they each posted an 83 to finish in a tie for 10^th place.