Hiltner caps strong weekend on Philly Junior Tour with a victory at Cape May National

 

   Patrick Hiltner of Northfield, N.J. completed a solid weekend of play at the Jersey Shore as he carded a 1-over-par 72 at Cape May National Golf Club in Cape May Court House, N.J. to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division Sunday.

   It wasn’t quite as warm as it was for Saturday’s stop at Shore Gate Golf Club, but temperatures reached the 70s at the Jersey Shore Sunday while it never quite made it to 60 degrees and it rained more than it didn’t in Philadelphia’s western suburbs. Good day to be at the Shore.

   Hiltner made birdies at the seventh, ninth and 10^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard, seven of them in a sparkling 2-under 33 tour of the outgoing nine at the par-71 Cape May National layout. Hiltner finished in a tie for sixth place a day earlier at Shore Gate.

   It was a solid weekend as well for Daniel Herzchel of Linwood, N.J. as he finished two shots behind Hiltner in second place among the younger guys with a 3-over 74. Herzchel made birdies at the second, seventh, 12^th and 14^th holes and had eight pars on his card. Herzchel was coming off a fifth-place finish a day earlier at Shore Gate.

   It was a big weekend for a contingent of solid players from Northfield and P.J. Foley was another of them. Foley made birdies at the seventh, ninth and 11^th holes and had 11 pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Herzchel in third place with a 4-over 75. Foley finished in a tie for second place a day earlier at Shore Gate.

   Joseph Kelly of Wilmington, Del. took fourth place with a 76, Colin Curvan of Wayne was fifth with an 81, Ryan Sun of Morganville, N.J. was sixth with an 83, Archmere Academy sophomore Michael Liu was seventh with an 84 and Gabriel Abalos of Washington Township, N.J. was eighth with a 90.

   Liu, a Garnet Valley resident, had finished in a tie for second place a day earlier at Shore Gate.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Drake Brogan of Ocean View, N.J. and Trevor Hackett, another member of the Northfield, N.J. contingent, as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each tallying a 92.

   Another Northfield, N.J. guy, Luke Tappeiner, completed a solid weekend at the Shore as he shared the top spot in the 16-to-18 division with Brayden Tritsch of Medford, N.J., each recording a 6-over 77.

   Tappeiner made back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard, including a run of seven straight pars from the sixth through the 12^th holes. Tappeiner had finished in third place among the older guys a day earlier at Shore Gate.

   Tritsch made birdies on the ninth and 12^th holes and had 11 pars on his card to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory by finishing in a tie for first with Tappeiner.

   Connor Breen, like Tritsch a Medford, N.J. guy, finished a shot behind Tappeiner and Tritsch in third place with a 78 that included birdies at the sixth and 17^th holes and nine pars.

   Chase Adomaitis of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. took fourth place with an 81 a day after finishing fifth at Shore Gate.

   Ryan Johnson of Pittsgrove, N.J. and John Bollendorf of Sewell, N.J. finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 82. Ryan Johnson was the runnerup in the 16-to-18 division in Saturday’s stop at Shore Gate.

   Roman Johnson of Cape May Court House, N.J. and Matthew Daughty of Williamstown, N.J. finished in a tie for seventh place, each registering a 90.

   Joey Simonetti of Bellmawr, N.J. took ninth place with a 93, Sam Ritti of Ocean View, N.J. was 10^th with a 95 and Patrick McGonigle of Broomall rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as he finished 11^th with a 101.

   Olivia Nehmad of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. was the only girl who teed it up at Cape May National and won the 16-to-18 division with a solid 84 that featured nine pars.

   Jack Metroka of Meadowbrook completed a weekend sweep of the nine-holers as he had six pars on his scorecard on his way to a 5-over 40 that gave him the victory. Metroka had finished at the top of the coed 12-and-under division leaderboard a day earlier at Shore Gate.

   Lucas Solano of Vineland, N.J. made a birdie at the fourth hole and added a par at three as he earned runnerup honors with an 8-over 43.

   David Gilman of Cape May Court House, N.J. had three pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 47.

   Jameson Foreman of Somers Point, N.J. and Chase Paxton of Wildwood finished in a tie for fourth place, each carding a 50. Foreman was coming off a runnerup finish behind Metroka a day earlier at Shore Gate.

   Bradan Boal of Woodbine, N.J. rounded out the field in the coed 12-and-under division as he finished in sixth place with a 51.