Bilson, Higbee the respective boys, girls overall winners in Philly Junior Tour two-day stop at Turtle Creek

   Manheim Township senior Andrew Bilson thrived in some changing conditions, which included wind and rain, to roll to a seven-shot victory in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour event June 21^st and 22^nd at Turtle Creek Golf Course in Limerick.

   Bilson, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a junior last fall, opened with the only round under par for the tournament, a 2-under-par 70 over the 6,375-yard, par-72 Turtle Creek layout, before closing with a 1-over 73 that left him with a 1-under 143 total.

   The two-day Philly Junior Tour stops are Junior Golf Scoreboard events that award points to top finishers that earn players some status on some of the bigger junior circuits, including the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).

   The Philly Junior Tour breaks out its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 divisions for boys and girls, but the Junior Golf Scoreboard counts the overall 13-to-18 scoring. I’ll refer to the overall scoring while breaking out the usual Philly Junior Tour divisions.

   Bilson was really steady in the final round as he made birdies at the 12^th and 14^th holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard, including a stretch of 10 straight pars from two through 11 on his way to the top spot in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall standings.

   In the opening round, Bilson made birdies at the first and eighth holes and an eagle on the par-5 13^th and had 13 pars on his card. The eagle at 13 helped Bilson tour the incoming nine at the Turtle in 2-under 34.

   Winston Thai, a PIAA Class AA qualifier as a senior at Lancaster Country Day School last fall, was Bilson’s closest pursuer as he finished alone in second place among the older guys and in the overall scoring with a 6-over 150 total.

   Thai matched Bilson’s second-round 73 as he made an eagle at the 13^th hole and had 14 pars on his card, eight of them on the Turtle’s outgoing nine. Thai had opened with a 5-over 77 that featured 13 pars.

   Jeremiah Brown of Audubon finished a shot behind Thai in second place in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring with a 7-over 151 total.

   Looks like Brown is a recent Roman Catholic graduate. He made birdies on the third, the tough par-3 ninth and the 14^th holes and had 10 pars on his card in a solid 2-over 74 in the final round. Brown had 10 pars on his card in an opening-round 77 as clouds and swirling winds made for a tricky day at Turtle Creek.

   Brody Bell, who was a sophomore on Malvern Prep’s Inter-Ac League championship team last fall, matched the low round of the day in the final round with a 1-over 73 as he finished in fourth place in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring with a 152 total. Bell, a Royersford resident, had opened with a 79.

   Sachin Blake, a recent Conestoga graduate, was another shot behind Bell in sixth place in the division and in the overall standings with a 153 total. Blake added a 5-over 77 in the second round to his opening-round 76.

   Tower Hill School senior Michael Dignazio headed a group of three players tied for sixth place in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring along with Luke Tappeiner of Northfield, N.J. and Nolan Corocoran of Lansdale as they each landed on 154.

   Dignazio bounced back from an opening-round 80 with a solid 2-over 74 in the second round. Tappeiner and Corcoran each recorded back-to-back 5-over 77s.

   Ryan McQuarrie Jr. of Collegeville finished in ninth place among the older guys and in a tie for ninth in the overall standings with Gavin Pychinka of Northampton, the top finisher in the 13-to-15 division, with a 156 total. McQuarrie added a 5-over 77 in the second round to his opening-round 79.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were three players who finished in a tie for 10^th place at 157, including Sam Wertmiller, who capped his scholastic career at Selinsgrove with a second straight appearance in the PIAA Class AAA Championship, Unionville senior Rex Opdahl and Abington Heights sophomore Robert Munley.

   Wertmiller added an 81 in the second round to his opening round of 4-over 76. Opdahl opened with a solid 2-over 74 before struggling to an 83 in the second round. Munley added a 5-over 77 in the second round to his opening-round 80.

   The Philly Junior Tour stop at Turtle Creek often draws players from District One because getting to the Turtle is the ultimate goal for those players as it has played host to the district championship for two decades.

   Pychinka was the only player in the 13-to-15 division to finish among the top 10 in the overall standings as he added a 4-over 76 in the second round after opening with an 80 for a 156 total that gave him a victory among the group of younger guys and left him in a tie for ninth place with McQuarrie from the 16-to-18 division.

   Pychinka made a birdie on the pars-5 13^th hole and had 12 pars on his scorecard in his solid second round. He opened with a birdie on the fifth hole and had eight pars on his card.

   Jack Luterman of Ardmore was the runnerup in the 13-to-15 division, finishing a shot behind Pychinka with a 157 total. Luterman made an eagle on the par-5 13^th hole and had 10 pars on his card with seven of them coming on the Turtle’s outgoing nine in a closing 78. Luterman’s opening-round 79 featured 13 pars, including a run of 10 straight from the second through the 11^th holes.

   Andrew Brendlinger of Collegeville and Avery O’Neill of Romansville finished in a tie for third place among the younger guys as both landed on 160.

    Brendlinger made a birdie on the 14^th hole and had 11 pars on his card while finishing up with a 79. He had 10 pars on his card in an opening-round 81.

   O’Neill made birdies on two of Turtle’s four par-5s, the second and 13^th holes, and had nine pars on his card, six of them on the incoming nine, as he closed with an 82. O’Neill made birdies on the fourth and 17^th holes and had nine pars on his card in a solid 6-over 78 in the opening round.

   Quin Zuegner of New Hope had the lead in the 13-to-15 division following the opening round as he made birdies on the second, 10^th and 13^th holes and had 10 pars on his card on his way to a solid 4-over 76. Zuegner struggled a little in a second-round 85 as he finished in fifth place in the division with a 161 total.

   Radnor sophomore Brad McDermott was three shots behind Zuegner in the division in sixth place with a 164 total as he struggled to an 86 in the second round after opening with a 78.

   Alexander Hall of Schwenksville finished a shot behind McDermott in seventh place with a 165 total as he added an 82 in the second round to his opening-round 83.

   P.J. Foley of Northfield, N.J. was two shots behind Hall in eighth place with a 167 total as he added an 83 in the second round to his opening-round 84.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were two players, Declan Conner of Swarthmore and Drake Brogan of Ocean View, N.J., who finished in a tie for ninth place, each ending up with a 170 total.

   Conner bounced back from an opening-round 91 with a solid 79 in the second round. Brogan added an 86 in the second round to his opening-round 84.

   Danielle Higbee of Mickleton, N.J. was the overall 13-to-18 winner among the girls as she added a 4-over 76 in the second round to her solid opening round of 1-over 73.

   Higbee made birdies at the fifth and 13^th holes and had 11 pars on her scorecard in the second round that gave her a three-shot victory in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall standings over Souderton junior Alli Engart. Higbee made birdies on the second, third, 13^th and 16^th holes and had nine pars on her card in the opening round.

   Engart kept the pressure on Higbee as she made birdies at the first and fifth holes and had 10 pars on her card in a final round of 5-over 77 that left her alone in second place among the older girls and in the overall standings with a 152 total.

   Engart was only two shots behind Higbee following the opening round as she made birdies at the 11^th and 13^th holes and had 12 pars on her card, including five straight pars to finish her round, on her way to a 3-over 75.

   The low round of the second day belonged to Episcopal Academy junior Clarissa Leung as she picked up birdies on a couple of the Turtle’s par-5s, the second and 13^th holes, and had 12 pars on her card in a solid 2-over 74 that left her in third place in 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring with a 155 total.

   Leung, who helped the Churchwomen claim their fourth Inter-Ac League title in the last five years this spring, made birdies on the second, fourth and 17^th holes and had eight pars on her card on her way to an 81 in the opening round.

   The next two spots in the 16-to-18 division standings were held by the Bagga sisters, Serena and Kiran, both of whom were members of the Germantown Academy Inter-Ac League boys championship team in the fall of 2021.

   Serena Bagga, a recent GA graduate, added a 6-over 78 in the second round to her opening-round 83 for a 161 total that left her six shots behind Leung in fourth place in the division and in the overall scoring.

   Kiran Bagga, who will be a junior at GA this fall, added an 82 in the second round to her opening-round 83 for a 165 total that left her in fifth place in the 16-to-18 division and sixth in the overall standings.

   West Chester Rustin senior Sophia DeSantis added an 82 in the second round to her opening-round 89 as she finished in sixth place in the division and in a tie for seventh in the overall scoring with a 171 total.

   Recent Oley graduate Heidi Wegscheider finished in seventh place in the 16-to-18 division and rounded out the top 10 in the overall standings, finishing 10^th with a 191 total. Wegscheider added a 93 in the second round to her opening-round 98.

   Allie Tarreto of Nazareth finished in eighth place among the older girls as she bounced back from an opening-round 108 with a 91 in the second round for a 199 total.

   Rounding out the field in the 16-to-18 division was Upper Merion junior Alyssa Schuebel as she added a 106 in the second round to her opening-round 101 for a 207 total that left her in ninth place.

   Naaz Mehta of Newtown finished atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division and in between the Bagga sisters in fifth place in the overall standings with a 165 total.

   Naaz Mehta made a birdie on the 13^th hole and had eight pars on her scorecard, six of them on the incoming nine at the Turtle, in her final-round 84. Mehta made a birdie on the 11^th hole and had nine pars on her card in a solid opening-round 80.

   Sarah Stumacher of Gladwyne was the runnerup among the younger girls and shared seventh place with DeSantis in the 16-to-18 division in the overall standings with a 171 total. Stumacher made a birdie on the 12^th hole and had eight pars on her card in a closing 84. Stumacher made a birdie on the 13^th hole and had seven pars on her card in an opening-round 87.

   Giula Weisser of Reading finished in third place in the division and was ninth in the overall scoring with a 180 total. Weisser had seven pars on her card, including a five in a row from the 10^th through the 14^th holes, in a final-round 89. Weisser had seven pars on her card in an opening-round 91.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Saloni Patel of Collegeville as she finished in fourth place with a 197 total. Patel struggled in the second round with a 106 after opening with a 91.

   Rayan Shah of Newtown bested the field of nine-holers as he closed with a 4-over 40 on the Turtle’s outgoing nine after opening with a 3-over 39 on the incoming nine for a 7-over 79 total.

   Shah, who has been solid all spring, had seven pars on the front nine at the Turtle in the second round. He made a birdie on the 11^th hole and had five pars on his card in the opening round.

   Villanova’s Team Sokol accounted for the next two spots in the standings as Henry Sokol finished a shot behind Shah in second place with an 80 and Jack Sokol was two shots behind Henry Sokol in third with an 82.

   Henry Sokol made birdies on the fifth and eighth holes and had two pars on his card on his way to a 41 in the second round. Henry Sokol grabbed a share of the lead with Shah following the opening round as he made a birdie on the 12^th hole and had four pars on his card in a 3-over 39.

   Jack Sokol had five pars on the front nine at the Turtle to record a 42 in the second round after an opening-round 40 that included a birdie at 14 and five pars.

   William Quartermain of Bryn Mawr and Max Davis of Newtown Square finished in a tie for fourth place, each landing on 86.

   Quartermain added a 44 in the second round to his opening-round 42. Davis closed with a 42 after opening with a 44.

   Logan Turner of Berwyn took sixth place with an 87 as he added a 42 in the second round to his opening-round 45. Noor Mehta of Newtown’s Team Mehta was another shot behind Turner with an 88 total, posting identical 44s on the two nines at the Turtle.

   William Thorkelson of Bryn Mawr took eighth place with an 89 as he added a 46 in the second round to his opening-round 43.

   Rounding out the field in the coed 12-and-under division was Bret Wade of Pottstown as he finished in ninth place, two shots behind Thorkelson with a 91. Wade added a 44 in the second round to his opening-round 47.

   Really solid showing by the entire group of nine-holers as everybody at least broke 50 in both tours of  the two nines at Turtle Creek.