Shah heats up at Valleybrook to take medalist honors in final Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA qualifier

    Eli Shah has been of the top players in the Central League at Penncrest and a standout on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour, winning Player of the Year honors in the 13-to-15 division for the wraparound 2018-2019 season.

   Shah will be a senior at Penncrest this fall (time to start identifying the players by the class they’ll be in for the 2022-2023 school year) and he showed his golf game is in pretty good shape by firing a 2-under 70 at Valleybrook Country Club in Blackwood, N.J. last Wednesday in the last of four qualifiers for next month’s Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.

   Shah headed a group of 19 players in the overall 13-to-18 field who punched their ticket to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, which tees off July 11 at Bellewood Country Club in North Coventry, Chester County. The top finishers at Bellewood will earn a trip to the Boys Junior PGA Championship, a major national event for juniors which will be played Aug. 2-5 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, Ill.

   Shah, who finished in a tie for eighth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort last fall, made birdies at the second, seventh, ninth, 10^th, 14^th and 17^th holes, six of them overall, and had eight pars on his scorecard to take top honors in the overall scoring and in the 16-to-18 division.

   Episcopal Academy junior Hunter Stetson, winner of the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual championship last fall at Bluestone Country Club, made birdies at the first, sixth and 17^th holes and had 12 pars on his card, eight of them on the back nine, as he claimed runnerup honors among the older guys and finished in third place in the overall scoring with a 1-over 73.

   James DeRocini of West Deptford, N.J. and Joseph Fargnoli of Mickleton, N.J. shared third place in the 16-to-18 division and finished in a tie for fourth overall as each landed on 2-over 74.

   DeRocini made birdies at the second, sixth, 11^th and 17^th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard. Fargnoli made birdies at the second, ninth and 11^th holes and had 10 pars on his card.

   Ajeet Bagga, who led Germantown Academy to Inter-Ac League and Pennsylvania Independent Athletic Association titles as a sophomore last fall, finished fifth in the 16-to-18 division and shared sixth place in the overall scoring with a 3-over 75.

   Noah Mueller of Doylestown finished alone in sixth place among the older guys and took eighth place overall with a 77.

   Michael Dignazio of Wilmington, Del., Daniel Shin of Horsham and Thomas Baschoff of West Chester each signed for a 78 as they shared seventh place in the 16-to-18 division and were tied for ninth in the overall scoring.

   Ryan D’Ariano, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a senior at West Chester Rustin last fall, Scott Hughes, a sophomore on a La Salle team that finished in third place in the PIAA Class AAA team chase last fall, and Erik Harken of Spring City finished in a tie for 10^th place among the older guys and were part of a four-way tie for 12^th place in the overall scoring as each carded a 79.

   Episcopal Academy junior Jack Yearley, who finished in third place in the Bert Linton Inter-Ac individual championship, a shot behind his teammate Stetson at Bluestone last fall, finished in a tie for 13^th place in the 16-to-18 division with David Fiorita of Jamison as each posted an 80, which is where the cut fell for the final spots in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship. Yearley and Fiorita were among a trio of players tied for 16^th place in the overall scoring.

   La Salle junior Ethan Martin, a North Wales resident, continued his strong run of play lately as he finished atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division and was second in the overall scoring, just a shot behind Shah with a 1-under 71.

   Martin, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore last fall, made birdies at the second, fourth, sixth and 12^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard, including six straight to conclude his round. In an eight-day stretch on the Philly Junior Tour, Martin also had a win in the 13-to-15 division at Skippack Golf Club and was the overall winner among all the 13-to-18 competitors in a two-day Philly Junior Tour event at Hickory Valley Golf Club.

   Collin Schreiber of Kunkeltown made birdies on the third and 12^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard in a steady 3-over 75 as he was the runnerup to Martin among the younger guys and shared sixth place in the overall scoring with Bagga.

   Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. really got it going on the back nine at Valleybrook, registering birdies at the 10^th, 11^th, 12^th and 17^th holes on his way to a 79 that left him in third place in the 13-to-15 division as he joined three of the older guys in a tie for 12^th place in the overall scoring. Sieben also had six pars on his card.

   Quin Zuegner of New Hope joined Yearly and Fiorita from the 16-to-18 division in the tie for 16^th place in the overall scoring with an 80 as he punched his ticket to Bellewood on the number. Zuegner finished in fourth place in the 13-to-15 division.

   Benjamin Mayer of Garnet Valley took fifth place in the 13-to-15 division with an 82, Zach Moua of Berwyn was sixth with an 83, Carson Jakuc of Newtown Square was seventh with an 84, Nick Belgrade of Wilmington, Del. was eighth with an 85 and Jack Crowley of Wayne was ninth with an 86.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were two players, Gavin Pychinka of Northampton and Liam Crowley, another member of Wayne’s Team Crowley, who finished in a tie for 10^th place, each signing for an 87.

   Madeline McLean of Yardley headed a pair of girls who teed it up in the 13-to-15 division as she made pars on the 12^th and 17^th holes on her way to a 101.

   Anna Firko of Wilmington, Del. rounded out the short field as she earned runnerup honors with a 105 that featured pars on the 12^th and 14^th holes.

   Thomas Carpenter of Bristol birdied the first hole and had five pars on his scorecard, including four straight to finish his round, as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 2-over 38.

   Ian Rotto of Kennett Square made a birdie at the eighth hole and had four pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors, a shot behind Carpenter with a 3-over 39. Jackson Lane of Cinnaminson, N.J. took third place as he had five pars while finishing a shot behind Rotto with a 4-over 40.

   Judd Fletcher of Moorestown, N.J. took fourth place with a 41, Alex DiGiacinto of Nazareth, who has been solid all spring in the nine-hole group, was fifth with a 43, Lucas Solano of Vineland, N.J. was sixth with a 44 and Nicholas Fargnoli of Team Fargnoli out of Mickleton, N.J. was seventh with a 47.

   Anthony Beach of Westville, N.J. took eighth place with a 49 and William Thorkelson of Bryn Mawr rounded out the coed 12-and-under field as he finished in ninth place with a 53.