Vital runs away with boys title in Fall Invitational at Makefield Highlands; Finger an easy winner among the girls.

    Matt Vital made a big splash on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour in April when he broke Sam Snead’s competitive course record by firing an 8-under-par 62 at Reading Country Club. Landed him on The Golf Channel.

   The junior at Bethlehem’s Liberty High captured the District 11 Class AAA individual crown and finished in a tie for 12^th place in last month’s PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort.

   Vital had one more strong showing in 2021 left in him as he bested the field in the Philadelphia Junior Tour’s Fall Invitational at Makefield Highlands Golf Club in Yardley by nine shots during a chilly and showery weekend. The two-day 36-hole event was the final Junior Golf Scoreboard event on the 2021 Philly Junior Tour schedule.

   Vital matched par over the 6,313-yard, par-72 Makefield Highlands layout with a 72 in Saturday’s opening round and was even more impressive in Sunday’s final round, firing a 2-under 70 for a 2-under 142 total.

   That left him 12 shots clear of the 16-to-18 division field and enabled him to win the overall 13-to-18 competition by nine shots. Radnor High sophomore Shaun Mazzalupi, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier this fall, won the 13-to-15 division with a 7-over 151 total and was Vital’s closest pursuer in the overall scoring.

   As he proved in April at Reading, Vital, the winner of the Boys 12-13 division in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals in 2019 at Augusta National Golf Club, is capable of making birdies in bunches.

   His opening-round 72 left him with just a one-shot lead over West Chester Henderson sophomore Josh Baker, who had carded a solid 1-over 73. But Vital got it going early in Sunday’s final round with birdies at the fourth, seventh and ninth holes. He made an eagle at the par-5 12^th hole and added one more birdie at 13. He had 10 pars on his scorecard in the final-round 70.

   In his opening-round 72, Vital made birdies at the fourth and seventh holes and an eagle at the par-5 ninth hole. He added birdies at the 12^th and 16^th holes on the incoming nine and finished with eight pars on his card.

   Conestoga junior Kyle Mauro trailed Vital by just three shots after opening with a 3-over 75 before adding a 79 as he was the runnerup in the 16-to-18 division and fourth overall with a 10-over 154 total.

   Mauro made birdies at the fourth and 12^th holes and had nine pars on his card in his closing 79. He had birdied the same two holes, the fourth and 12^th, and added birdies at 14 and 16 and had nine pars in Saturday’s opening round.

   Moravian Academy junior Evan Eichenlaub, who finished in a tie for sixth place in last month’s PIAA Class AA Championship at Heritage Hills, bounced back from an opening-round 81 with a solid final round of 2-over 74 to finish a shot behind Mauro in third place in the 16-to-18 division and in a tie for fifth overall with an 11-over 155 total.

   Eichenblaub made birdies at the seventh, 10^th and 13^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard in Sunday’s second round. He made a birdie at 16 and had seven pars in Saturday’s opening round.

   Brendan Meagher of Swedesboro, N.J. finished in fourth place among the older guys and seventh overall as he added a 5-over 77 to his opening-round 79 for a 156 total. Trey Rios of Denver bounced back from an opening-round 84 with a 4-over 76 in Sunday’s final round as he ended up in fifth place in the 16-to-18 division and ninth overall with a 160 total.

   Springfield junior Ben Pintof and Owen Wisner of Reading shared sixth place in the 16-to-18 division as they each added an 84 to an opening-round 78 for a 162 total. Thomas Young of Center Valley rounded out the field of older guys as he added an 88 to his opening-round 81 for a 169 total.

   Mazzalupi had a strong sophomore season for Radnor and continued his solid play at Makefield Highlands, closing with the second-best score of Sunday’s final round, a 1-over 73 that featured birdies at the third, seventh, eighth and 13^th holes and 10 pars. Mazzalupi had just one birdie in an opening-round 78 at the 16^th hole, but he had 10 pars, including a run of six straight from five through 10.

   Baker struggled a little in Sunday’s final round with a 79 that included a birdie at the 13^th hole and nine pars. But he was right on Vital’s heels with his opening-round 73 as he had an eagle at the par-5 ninth hole, birdies at three and 13 and 11 pars. Baker’s 8-over 152 total gave him a runnerup finish to Mazzalupi in the 13-to-15 division and a solid third in the overall scoring.

   Tommy Marshall of Marlton closed with a 6-over 78 that featured bookend birdies at the first and 18^th holes and eight pars. Marshall had it going on the front nine of Saturday’s opening round as he had a birdie at the seventh hole in an even-par 36. He finished with 12 pars on his scorecard in a 5-over 77. Marshall’s 11-over 155 total enabled him to finish in third place among the younger guys and in a tie for fifth overall with Eichenlaub.

   Malvern Prep eighth-grader Davis Conaway, coming off a tie for fourth place in the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual championship last week at Bluestone Country Club, added a 78 to his opening-round 80 to end up in fourth place in the 13-to-15 division and eighth overall with a 158 total.

   Matt Vital’s twin brother Michael Vital plays in the younger division and he added an 82 to his opening-round 79 to finish in a tie for fifth place in the division with Grayson Wingerter of Villanova at 161. Wingerter added an 80 to his opening-round 81 as he and Michael Vital finished in a tie for 10^th place to round out the top 10 in the overall scoring.

   After struggling to an 89 in Saturday’s opening round, Conestoga sophomore Sachin Blake bounced back with a 4-over 76 in the final round to finish alone in seventh place in the 13-to-15 division with a 165 total. Danny DiLella of Wayne was a shot behind Blake in eighth place among the younger guys with a 166 total. DiLella added an 84 to his opening-round 82.

   Andrew Ekstrom of York added an 87 to his opening-round 88 to end up in ninth place in the 13-to-15 division with a 172 total. James Schramek of Chalfont rounded out the top 10 among the younger guys as he added a 90 to his opening-round 94 for a 184 total that left him in 10^th place. Schramek left Makefield Highlands with a Precision Pro range-finder as a reward for winning closest-to-the-pin honors at the eighth hole, his tee shot finishing nine feet, 11 inches from the cup.

   Rounding out the 13-to-15 division field was Yaejoon Wee of Chesterbrook as he added a 102 to his opening-round 106 for a 208 total that left him in 11^th place.

   The top three finishers in the overall scoring for the girls all came out of the 13-to-15 division, led by Meredith Finger of Wilmington, Del. who was a dominant 10-shot winner. Finger added a 91 in Sunday’s final round to her solid opening-round 81 for a 28-over 172 total.

   Finger had a birdie at the fourth hole and eight pars on her scorecard in Sunday’s final round. She was a little more consistent in Saturday’s opening round with a birdie at the third hole and 11 pars.

   Alexandra Engart of Harleysville was the runnerup to Finger in the 13-to-15 division and in the overall scoring with a 182 total. Engart had five pars in a closing 93 after making a birdie at the 13^th hole and recording four pars in an opening-round 89.

   Naaz Mehta of Newtown rounded out the 13-to-15 division as she took third place and was in third in the overall scoring with a 188 total. Mehta made five pars, including the first four holes in a row, in a final-round 99. In Saturday’s opening round, she birdied the ninth hole and had four pars on her scorecard on her way to an 89.

   Oley Valley junior Heidi Wegscheider was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and added a 118 to her opening-round 114 to finish in fourth place in the overall scoring with a 232 total. Wegscheider had pars on the third and eighth holes in Sunday’s final round. Pars on the third and 13^th holes highlighted Wegscheider’s opening round.