Dillman prevails in a playoff to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory in a two-day event at Hickory Valley

   Boyertown junior Chase Dillman, playing close to his home in Gilbertsville, toured the twin courses at Hickory Valley Golf Club in New Hanover Township with a pair of 79s and then prevailed in a playoff in a Philadelphia Section PGA Tour two-day event that wrapped up Friday.

   The 36-hole event awarded Junior Golf Scoreboard points, which can give players some status to compete at the higher levels of junior golf like the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA). The Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 divisions, but the JGS points were awarded to top finishers in the overall 13-to-18 division.

   At Hickory Valley, though, the top-10 finishers in the overall scoring all came out of the 16-to-18 division. Friday’s second round was interrupted by the intense line of thunderstorms that crossed the region just before noon, but the players were able to return to Hickory Valley’s par-72 Presidential Course to complete the second round.

   Dillman made a clutch birdie on the 18^th hole and had 10 pars on his scorecard in a 7-over-par 79 in the final round at the Presidential Course to get into a playoff with Radnor senior Shaun Mazzalupi and Unionville senior Rex Opdahl, each landing on 15-over 158. Dillman prevailed in the playoff to finish first in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall 13-to-18 scoring.

   Dillman put together a solid 8-over 79 over the par-71 Ambassador Course in Thursday’s opening round as he made a birdie on the eighth hole and had 11 pars on his card, finishing his round with six straight pars.

   That left Dillman in a tie for the lead with Opdahl and Twin Valley senior Shayne O’Doherty going into Friday’s second round.

   Mazzalupi, who has been a PIAA Class AAA qualifier each of the last two falls, closed with a solid 5-over 77 in Friday’s second round to get a spot in the playoff. Mazzalupi made birdies at the first and fifth holes and had 10 birdies on his card at the Presidential Course.

   Mazzalupi made back-to-back birdies at the 14^th and 15^th holes and had seven pars on her card in an opening-round 81 Thursday at the Ambassador Course.

   Opdahl had the same splits as Dillman did, carding 79s at both of Hickory Valley’s courses.

   Opdahl made birdies at the sixth and 17^th holes and had nine pars on his card in his 7-over round at the Presidential Course in Friday’s second round. Opdahl made birdies at the third, 10^th and 11^th holes and eight pars on his card in his 8-over loop in the opening round at the Ambassador Course.

   Nolan Corcoran of Lansdale was just a shot out of the playoff as he finished in fourth place among the older guys and in the overall scoring with a 16-over 159 total. Corcoran added a solid 6-over 78 in the second round at the Presidential Course to his opening-round 81 at the Ambassador Course.

   Brody Bell, a member of Malvern Prep’s Inter-Ac League championship team as a sophomore last fall, and Jeremiah Brown of Audubon finished in a tie for fifth place in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall standings, each landing on 160.

   Bell’s 4-over 76 at the Presidential Course was the best round of the tournament as he made a birdie at the sixth hole and had 13 pars on his card. Bell had opened with an 84 at the Ambassador Course. Brown had bookend 80s, 8-over at the Presidential Course and 9-over at the Ambassador Course, to get his share of fifth place.

   Archbishop Carroll senior Matthew Hurchalla and Luke Tappeiner of Northfield, N.J. had identical 80-81 splits as they ended up in a tie for seventh place in the division and in the overall scoring, each landing on 161.

   Twin Valley’s O’Doherty was tied for the lead following his opening-round 79 at the Ambassador Course that included a birdie at the seventh hole and nine pars. He struggled a little, particularly when play resumed following the weather delay, as he recorded an 83 at the Presidential Course to finish in ninth place in the division and in the overall standings with a 162 total.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall standings was Evan Murphy of Stroudsburg as he added an 82 in Friday’s second round at the Presidential Course to his opening-round 81 at the Ambassador Course for a 163 total.

   Luke Daniels of Devon made birdies at the seventh and 18^th holes and had eight pars on his scorecard, including six straight to open his round, as he closed with an 82 on the Presidential Course in Friday’s second round to finish atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 22-over 165 total.

   Daniels had eight pars on his card as he opened with an 83 on the Ambassador Course just outside the top 10 in the overall scoring in 11^th place.

   It was seven shots back to Nilas Skjeveland of Jamison as he was the runnerup among the younger guys with a 172 total. Skjeveland made four pars on his way to an 88 in the second round at the Presidential Course after making six pars in an opening-round 84 at the Ambassador Course.

   Gavin Pychinka of Northampton was the leader in the 13-to-15 division following the opening round as he made birdies on the first, fourth, sixth, 11^th and 15^th holes and had six pars on his card on his way to a solid 9-over 80 on the Ambassador Course.

   Pychinka made five pars as he struggled a little in a second-round 94 on the Presidential Course that left him in third place, two shots behind Skjeveland with a 174 total.

   Zach Raihall of West Chester added an 86 in the second round at the Presidential Course to his  opening-round 89 at the Ambassador Course to finish in  fourth place with a 175 total.

   Jin Sun of Princeton, N.J. was two shots behind Raihall in fifth place with a 177  total as he added an 88 in the second round at the Presidential Course to his opening-round 89 at the Ambassador Course.

   Carter Hippauf of Quakertown carded a 90 at both the Presidential and the Ambassador courses as he finished in sixth place with a 180 total.

   Luka Fediukov of Downingtown was three shots behind Hippauf in seventh place with a 193 total as he added a 93 in the second round at the Presidential Course to his opening round of 89 at the Ambassador Course.

   Ryan Kelly of Harleysville and Liam McEwen of Oreland ended up in a tie for eighth place, each landing on 186.

   After opening with a 90 at the Ambassador Course, Kelly carded a 96 on the Presidential Course in the second round. McEwen recorded a 93 at both the Ambassador and Presidential courses.

   Patrick Manion of Villanova took 10^th place with a 211 total as he added a 104 at the Presidential Course in the second round to his opening-round 107 at the Ambassador Course.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Reid Tornetta of Collegeville as he bounced back from an opening-round 137 on the Ambassador Course with a 94 on the Presidential Course for a 231 total.

   Naez Mehta of Newtown was the overall winner among the girls with a 167 total. Playing out of the 13-to-15 division, Naez Mehta made eight pars on her way to an 84 in the second round at the Presidential Course after making a birdie on the 15^th hole to go with six pars on her scorecard in an opening-round 83 at the Ambassador Course.

   Naez Mehta finished two shots clear of Germantown Academy junior Kiran Bagga, who was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division, in the overall 13-to-18 standings.

   Bagga had the best score of the day in the second round as she made eight pars, including five straight pars to open her round, on her way to an 82 on the Presidential Course. Bagga had opened with an 87 on the Ambassador Course that was highlighted by five pars.

   Mara Dubacher of Bethlehem and Elayna Fanelli of Villanova finished in a tie for second place in the 13-to-15 division and in a tie for third the overall scoring as each landed on 178.

   Dubacher had the best score of the day in the opening round as she made a birdie on the 10^th hole and had five pars on her card on her way to a solid 82 on the Ambassador Course. Dubacher struggled to a 91 in the second round, despite making six pars on the Presidential Course.

   Fanelli made a birdie on the first hole and had four pars on her card as she closed with an 88 on the Presidential Course. Fanelli had five pars on her card as she opened with a 90 on the Ambassador Course.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Emma Lewis of Downingtown as she finished in fourth place in the division and fifth overall with a 209 total. Lewis added a 103 in the second round on the Presidential Course to her opening-round 106 on the Ambassador Course.

   Logan Turner of Berwyn came on strong in the second round on the Presidential Course with a 42 to catch Xunnan Dang of Newtown Square, each landing on 88, and then prevailed in a playoff to best the field of nine-holers.

   Turner made four pars in the second round. He had made pars on the first two holes in an opening-round 46 on the Ambassador Course.

   Dang had opened with a solid 42 on the Ambassador Course with six pars on his scorecard, including four straight pars to open his round. He opened his second round at the Presidential Course with a par on the first hole on his way to a 46 before falling in the playoff and settling for runnerup honors.

   Preston Mino of Lansdale and Ruben Yoon of Wilmington, Del. finished a shot out of the playoff in a tie for third place as each landed on 89.

   Minio had grabbed the lead with an opening round of 41 on the Ambassador Course that featured five pars. Minio made a par on the eighth hole on his way to a 48 in the second round on the Presidential Course.

   Yoon made a birdie on the sixth hole and had two pars on his card to close with a 44 on the Presidential Course after making two pars on his way to a 45 in the opening round on the Ambassador Course.

   William Thorkelson of Bryn Mawr got off to a strong start as he had five pars on his card in an opening-round 42 at the Ambassador Course. He added a 50 in the second round at the Presidential Course as he   finished in fifth place with a 92 total.

   Ty Thompson of Devault was two shots behind Thorkelson in sixth place with a 94 total as he added a 49 in the second round on the Presidential Course to his opening-round 45 on the Ambassador Course.

   Noor Mehta, another member of Newtown’s Team Mehta, was three shots behind Thompson in seventh place with a 97 total. Noor Mehta added a 47 in the second round at the Presidential Course to an opening-round 50 on the Ambassador Course.

   Joseph Aronson of Souderton added a 51 in the second round on the Presidential Course to his opening-round 48 on the Ambassador Course as he ended up in eighth place with a 99 total.

   Rounding out the field in the coed 12-and-under division was Gray Biborosch of Berwyn as he closed with a 54 on the Presidential Course after opening with a 50 on the Ambassador Course to finish in ninth place with a 104 total.