Emel matches par at Running Deer with a 72 to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Joshua Emel of Salem, N.J. matched par at Running Deer Golf Club in Pittsgrove, N.J. with a 72 that was the best score of the day as he finished atop the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division in the second half of a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour South Jersey series July 27^th.

   Emel made birdies on the third, sixth and 14^th and 16^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard in brutally hot and humid conditions in his even-par round over a Running Deer layout that seemed to be playing pretty tough – at least for the rest of the field.

   Radnor senior Shaun Mazzalupi, who was having himself quite a week on the Philly Junior Tour, was the runnerup among the older guys with a solid 3-over 75. Mazzalupi, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, made birdies on the eighth, 14^th and 17^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, touring the incoming nine at Running Deer in 1-under 35.

   Didn’t really see the two-day results broken out by the Philly Junior Tour, but Mazzalupi’s 75, combined with the 1-over 73 he posted in getting a share of first place a day earlier at Ramblewood Country Club, would make him the series winner in the 16-to-18 division with a 4-over 148 total.

   Mazzalupi also claimed a Philly Junior Tour win earlier in the week with an even-par 72 at Tanglewood Manor Golf Club in Quarryville, Lancaster County.

   Emel had finished in eighth place at Ramblewood with a 77 and his 72 at Running Deer left him a shot behind Mazzalupi with a 5-over 149 total over the two days of the South Jersey series.

   Patrick O’Hara of Ocean City, N.J. and Gavin McCloskey of Wilmington, Del. finished a shot behind Mazzalupi in a tie for third place in the 16-to-18 division, each recording a 4-over 76.

   O’Hara made birdies on the fourth, 14^th and 17^th holes and had nine pars on his card. McCloskey made back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes, added birdies at 14 and 17 and had seven pars on his card.

   Tommy Marshall of Marlton, N.J. took fifth place with a 77. Combined with the 2-over 74 he recorded at Ramblewood a day earlier, Marshall had a solid 7-over 151 total for the two days of the South Jersey series.

   Justin Forman of Sewell, N.J. was a shot behind Marshall in sixth place with a 78. Combined with the 2-over 74 he posted at Ramblewood a day earlier, Forman was a solid 8-over 152 for the two days.

   Michael Dignazio, another Wilmington, Del. entry, headed a group of four players who rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as they finished in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 79.

   Dignazio, a senior on the roster at reigning Delaware state champion Tower Hill School, had shared medalist honors with Mazzalupi a day earlier with a 1-over 73 at Ramblewood. His 79 at Running Deer enabled Dignazio to match Forman’s total of 152 for the South Jersey series.

   Rounding out the foursome tied for seventh place along with Dignazio were Michael Duphorn of Erial, N.J., recent Conestoga graduate Sachin Blake and Jamie Ciesielka of Woolwich Township, N.J.

   Quinten Joiner of Millington, Md. had a steady round that featured 13 pars as he claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with a 5-over 77.

   Paul Reilly of West Creek, N.J. was the runnerup among the younger guys as he made birdies on the third, 10^th and 14^th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard to finish a shot behind Joiner with a 78.

   Reilly had finished in third place with a 75 a day earlier at Ramblewood and pretty sure his 153 total was the best in the 13-to-15 division for the South Jersey series. The overall scoring for players ages 13 to 18 is what matters for JGS purposes, but Reilly bested a tough field of younger golfers in the division.

   Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J., Drake Brogan of Ocean View, N.J. and P.J. Foley of Northfield, N.J. finished in a tie for third place, each landing on 81.

   Sieben made a birdie on the 17^th hole and eight pars on his card. Brogan made a birdie on the 10^th hole and had seven pars on his card. Foley made a birdie on the sixth hole and had seven pars on his card.

   Sieben and Foley had shared the top spot in the 13-to-15 division at Ramblewood, each posting a 2-over 74, and their matching 81s at Running Deer left each with a 155 total for the South Jersey series.

   Michael Liu of Garnet Valley took sixth place at Running Deer with an 82, Landon Finsen of Westampton, N.J. and Daniel Herzchel of Linwood, N.J. shared seventh, each carding an 84, and Trey Barkman finished ninth with an 85.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division was Quin Zuegner of New Hope as he finished in 10^th place with an 88.

   The best score of the day among the girls came out of the 13-to-15 division as Archmere Academy sophomore Meredith Finger claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory with a sparkling 3-over 75.

   Finger, who capped her freshman season at Archmere with a runnerup finish in the Delaware Championship at Baywood Greens, made a birdie on the third hole and had 13 pars on her scorecard, including a run of eight straight pars from the ninth through the 16^th holes.

   Finger, playing out of DuPont Country Club, was the runnerup in the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Girls’ Championship last month at the Moorestown Field Club.

   Nicole Tarquinio of Bridgeton, N.J. was the runnerup with a 103 and Anna Rufo of Gladwyne made back-to-back pars on the sixth and seventh holes to take third with a 107.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Masey Heenan of Ocean City, N.J. as she finished in fourth place with a 114.

   Nearly as impressive as Finger was the round turned in by Danielle Higbee of Mickleton, N.J. as she posted a 4-over 76 to earn a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division. Higbee ripped off four birdies in a six-hole stretch on Running Deer’s front nine with birdies at the fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth holes. She also had seven pars on her scorecard.

   Carly Kuminka, another Mickleton, N.J. entry, had five pars on her card as she was the runnerup with a 92.

   Upper Merion junior Alyssa Schuebel had two pars on her card as she rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division with a 109 that left her in third place.

   Kuminka, Schuebel and Heenan from the 13-to-15 division were the only girls to tee it up in both ends of the South Jersey series at Ramblewood and Running Deer.

   Lucas Solano of Vineland, N.J. made a birdie on the sixth hole and had three pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of nine-holers with a 4-over 40.

   A lot of the top players who regularly compete in the coed 12-and-under division were teeing it up in the Philly Junior Tour Championship for the age group that same day at McCall Golf & Country Club in Delaware County. My next post will recap those results.

   David Gilman of Cape May Court House, N.J. had two pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 49. Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. opened his round with a par at the first hole as he took third place with a 50.

   Mallie Heenan, another member of Team Heenan out of Ocean City, N.J., finished a shot behind Wang in fourth place with a 51 and Chase Paxton of Wildwood, N.J. rounded out the field in the coed 12-and-under division as he finished fifth with a 55.