Garnet Valley's Pulcinella, Strath Haven's Debusschere claim Junior Tour wins at Pitman

    It was a pretty nice postseason ride on the PIAA trail for Garnet Valley senior Matt Pulcinella.

   The left-hander got a share of sixth place in last month’s District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Course as he capped his scholastic career with a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County. Pretty sure he was the first Jaguar to reach the state championship since Erica Pellegrini was a two-time PIAA medalist in 2007 and 2008,

   Pulcinella finished in a tie for 39^th place at Heritage Hills with an 80 in the one-day shootout that the PIAA Championship has been in its last two editions with the coronavirus pandemic affecting the schedule.

   Pulcinella’s postseason roll carried over in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop on a beautiful fall Sunday at Pitman Golf Course in Sewell, N.J. as he made birdies at the eighth, 15^th and 17^th holes on his way to a 3-over-par 73 that gave him a victory in the 16-to-18 division. Pulcinella had 11 pars on his scorecard and matched par on Pitman’s incoming nine with a 35.

   Pulcinella needed that solid finish to hold off Adrian Jordan of Lawrenceville, N.J. as Jordan made back-to-back birdies at the 13^th and 14^th holes and had 11 pars on his card on his way to a 4-over 74 that left him a shot behind Pulcinella in second place. Jordan was coming off a victory in last Sunday’s Philly Junior Tour stop at Deerfield Golf Club in Newark, Del.

   William Aprahamian of West Chester also finished strong with a 1-over 36 on Pitman’s back nine as he made birdies on the 11^th and 15^th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard on his way to a 76 that landed him in third place, two shots behind Jordan.

   Tyler Leyden of Glenside took fourth place with a 77, Joe Ritchie of Medford, N.J. and Joseph Fargnoli of Mickleton, N.J. shared fifth place, each posting an 83, and Jack Blackmon of Philadelphia finished seventh with an 84.

   Nathan Sauder of Pittsgrove, N.J. took eighth place with a 90 and Joe Aiello of Egg Harbor City, N.J. rounded out the 16-to-18 division field as he finished in ninth place with a 101.

   Strath Haven junior Tyler Debusschere made it a Central League sweep of the boys divisions at Pitman as he made a birdie at the 11^th hole and had 11 pars on his scorecard on his way to a 6-over 76 that landed him atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division. Debusschere had a pretty nice scholastic season, helping the Panthers capture the Central League crown and finishing in sixth place in the Central League Championship at Turtle Creek to qualify for the District One Class AAA Championship.

   Liam Shearn of Ardmore and Tyler Sikorski of Lincoln University shared runnerup honors as each carded a 78 to finish two shots behind Debusschere. Shearn had 11 pars on his scorecard and Sikorski’s round included a birdie on the 15^th hole and 10 pars.

   Tiger Li of Newtown finished alone in fourth place with an 82 and Yardley’s Team Dendler accounted for the next two spots on the leaderboard as Tyce Dendler was fifth with an 84 and Trevor Dendler was sixth with an 88.

   Matthew Daughtry of Williamstown, N.J. took seventh place with an 89 and another Williamstown guy, Gavin McClaskey, finished in a tie for eighth place with Jimmy Campbell of Wilmington, Del., each signing for a 92. Andrew Michalski, yet another Williamstown, N.J. entry, rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division field as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 94.

   The best score among the girls came out of the 13-to-15 division as Danielle Higbee of Mickleton, N.J. made birdies at the second, eighth and 15^th holes and had eight pars on her scorecard on her way to a 7-over 77 that earned her the victory.

   Katherine Liu of Moorestown, N.J. birdied the 16^th hole and had six pars on her card, five of them on Pitman’s outgoing nine, as she claimed runnerup honors with an 83. Emma Li of Newtown’s Team Li had four pars on her card as she finished in third place with a 90.

   Isabella Magno of Delran, N.J. took fourth place with a 98 and Naaz Mehta of Newtown rounded out the 13-to-15 division field as she finished fifth with a 103.

   Maria Crowe, a senior on the Downingtown East team that won the PIAA Class AAA team championship last month at Heritage Hills, was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and she made pars on the eighth and 18^th holes on her way to a 104.

   Anthony Proud of Stroudsburg, another of the group of nine-holers who have competed in a lot of Philly Junior Tour events in 2021, had a pair of birdies at the third and sixth holes and had four pars on his scorecard as he claimed his 11^th victory in 40 starts with a 1-over 36.

   Jason Mack of Delaware Water Gap, another of the coed 12-and-under division’s regulars, and Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. finished in a tie for second place, each landing on 4-over 39. Mack, making his 43^rd start, had six pars, including five straight from the fourth through the eighth holes. Whitney also had six pars on his scorecard.

   Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. took fourth place with a 41, Sarah Stumacher of Gladwyne was fifth with a 46, and Lucas Solano of Vineland, N.J. was sixth with a 47. Sieben was coming off a victory in last Sunday’s Philly Junior Tour stop at Deerfield.

   Nicholas Fargnoli of Team Fargnoli out of Mickleton, N.J. and Christopher DeStefano of Newtown Square shared seventh place, each signing for a 48. Rounding out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division were three players tied for ninth place at 52, including James Kulesa of Doylestown, William Thorkelson of Bryn Mawr and Vyom Shukla of Berwyn.

 

 

 

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