Eichenlaub earns a Junior Tour victory with a 75 in tough conditions at Middletown

    Evan Eichenlaub, who finished in a tie for sixth place in the PIAA Class AA Championship as a junior at Moravian Academy last fall, got off to a strong start in Saturday’s ever-changing weather and rode it to a victory in the 16-to-18 division of a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop with a 6-over-par 75 at Middletown Country Club in Langhorne.

   It was cold, the wind blew, the sun would come out, there’d be a rain shower. Through it all Eichenlaub made a birdie on the fourth hole on his way to a 2-over 37 on the outgoing nine of the par-69 Middletown layout and had 11 pars on his scorecard for the best score of the day among the guys in two divisions by four shots.

   Nick Joyce, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore at Quakertown, had 10 pars on his card as earned runnerup honors among the older guys with a 10-over 78. Joyce already has a pair of Junior Tour wins to his credit in the early part of the 2022 season.

   Bonner & Prendergast junior Chris DiRita of Drexel Hill was a shot behind Joyce in third place with an 80 that featured back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth holes and seven pars on his scorecard.

   Kevin Hochenberger of Stockton, N.J. took fourth place with an 81, and Liberty junior Michael Vital, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier last fall, and Nicholas Smith Jr. of Rye, N.Y. shared fifth, each signing for an 83.

   Michael Vital’s twin brother Matt, who is a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Liberty, had to settle for runnerup honors in the low-Vital competition as he finished alone in seventh place with an 84.

   John Stevenson of Flourtown and Connor Matteo of Drums finished in a tie for eighth place, each landing on 87, and Brady Gallagher of Quakertown rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as he ended up alone in 10^th place with a 90.

   Chase Dillman of Boyertown was the only player in the 13-to-15 division to break 80 in the difficult conditions as he claimed the victory among the younger guys with a 10-over 79 that included birdies at the fourth and 11^th hole and seven pars.

   Collin Schreiber of Kunkletown birdied the 310-yard, par-4 ninth hole and had seven pars on his scorecard as he earned runnerup honors with an 83, four shots behind Dillman.

   Jacob Reibstein of Huntingdon Valley and Lucas Albert of Fort Washington finished in a tie for third place, each landing on 85. Reibstein made a birdie at the seventh hole and had eight pars on his card and Albert posted eight pars.

   Jin Sun of Princeton, N.J. took fifth place with an 86, James Schramek of Chalfont was sixth with an 87 and Tyler Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. and Ian Larsen of Glenmoore finished in a tie for seventh, each landing on 88.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Radnor High freshman Will Walsh and Wyatt Underwood of Telford as they ended up in a tie for ninth place, each signing for a 90.

   The best score among the girls came from the younger 13-to-15 division as Sarah Cohen of Lafayette Hill made pars on the ninth and 18^th holes to finish atop the division’s leaderboard with a 99.

   Madeline McLean of Yardley had pars on the 13^th and 17^th holes as she earned runnerup honors with a 101 that left her two shots behind Cohen. Anna Firko of Wilmington, Del. made pars on the fifth and 15^th holes as she rounded out the 13-to-15 division field with a 107 that left her in third place.

   Leah Armour of Doylestown was the only entrant in the 16-to-18 division as she claimed a win with a 107 that included a par on the 17^th hole.

   Trebor Melendez of Vineland, N.J. made his Philly Junior Tour debut a winning one as bested the field of nine-holers with a 4-over 39. Melendez finished strong, making five pars in his last six holes.

   Dane Mohap of Nazareth had three pars as he was the runnerup to Melendez with a 7-over 42. Holden Sparks, another Nazareth entry, finished two shots behind Mohop in third place with a 44 that featured three pars.

   Winston Chew of Exton took fourth place with a 45, Ian Rotto of Kennett Square was a shot behind Chew in fifth with a 46, Justin Stickel of Churchville was sixth with a 47, Sebastian Park of Lansdale was seventh with a 48 and Chase Riley of Ardmore was eighth with a 49.

   Preston Minio of Lansdale took ninth place with a 51 and Rithvik Rimma of Newtown rounded out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division, finishing alone in 10^th place with a 52.