Allain, Berry share overall title in two-day Philly Junior Tour stop at Seaview

 

   Enzo Allain of Basking Ridge, N.J. and Cole Berry, a sophomore at West Chester Rustin, shared the top spot in the overall scoring in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour two-day event at Seaview Golf Club’s Bay Course last weekend.

   The Philly Junior Tour’s 36-hole events are Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) tournaments that offer points that can earn a player status on some of the bigger junior circuits, most notably the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).

   The overall scoring is for players ages 13 to 18, although the Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 divisions. I’ll do the divisional breakdowns while referring to the top 10 in the overall scoring.

   Allain – a little Google searching indicates he might a native of France -- made birdies on the first and 12^th holes and had 12 pars on his scorecard, seven of them on the front nine, as he closed with a 3-over-par 74 on a St. Patty’s Day Sunday at the par-71 Bay Course, a collaboration between renowned designers Hugh Wilson and Donald Ross that is the home to the LPGA Shop-Rite Classic each summer.

   That gave Allain a 5-over 147 total as he finished atop the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division and shared the overall title with Berry. Allain made birdies on the third, fourth, 10^th and 13^th holes and had nine pars on his card in an opening round of 2-over 73 Saturday.

   The Philly Junior Tour caught two unusually nice March days for the stop at Seaview, across the bay from Atlantic City, N.J. It was windy where I was carrying a golf bag 100 miles or so away at Stonewall Sunday, but the scores at Seaview were generally a little lower in the second round than they were in Saturday’s opening round.

   Berry, part of a contingent of 10 Ches-Mont League golfers who earned a trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship at Penn State’s Blue Course last fall, matched the low round of the weekend with an even-par 71 in Sunday’s second round to catch Allain for a share of the overall crown.

   Berry really heated up on the Bay Course’s front nine Sunday as he rattled off four straight birdies at the third, fourth, fifth and sixth holes. He added birdies on the 10^th and 17^th holes on the incoming nine and had six pars on his scorecard.

   Berry made a birdie on the third hole and had 13 pars on his scorecard, including seven straight to complete his round, as he opened with a 5-over 76.

   Berry’s 5-over 147 total gave him the top spot in the 13-to-15 division and he was the only player from the younger group to crack the top 10 in the overall scoring.

   A couple of members of Unionville’s District One Class AAA championship team had strong showings in the 16-to-18 division.

   Michael Keller, a junior at Unionville, finished a shot behind Allain in second place among the older guys and was alone in third place in the overall standings with a 6-over 148 total.

   Keller made birdies at the sixth, 10^th and 13^th holes and had 10 pars on his card as he carded a solid 2-over 73 in Sunday’s final round. Keller had made birdies at the second, ninth and 18^th holes and had 10 pars on his card on his way to a 4-over 75 in Saturday’s opening round.

   Keller’s Unionville teammate, Jax Puskar, also a junior, finished among a group of four players tied for fourth place in the 16-to-18 division and tied for fifth in the overall scoring with a 9-over 151 total.

   Puskar, who qualified individually for the PIAA Class AAA Championship in addition to helping the Longhorns finish third in the team competition last fall, added a solid 2-over 73 in Sunday’s final round to his opening-round 78.

   Finishing in third place in the 16-to-18 division and fourth overall was another PIAA Class AAA qualifier from last fall, Lower Merion sophomore Seiji Sako, who finished two shots behind Keller with an 8-over 150 total.

   Sako birdied the 18^th hole and had 11 pars on his card as he closed with a 6-over 77 in Sunday’s final round. Sako surged into contention with a solid 2-over 73 in Saturday’s opening round as he made birdies at third, fourth and 15^th holes and had 10 pars on his card.

   Sako had the best finish among the District One contingent in the PIAA Class AAA at Penn State last fall, ending up in a tie for third place.

   Joining Puskar in the quartet tied for fourth place in the division and tied for fifth overall at 9-over were Patrick O’Hara of Ocean City, N.J., P.J. Foley of Northfield, N.J. and Carson Deringer of Bryn Mawr.

   O’Hara had the luck of the Irish working on the eve of St. Patty’s Day as he grabbed the overall lead with an opening round of 1-over 72 that featured birdies at the third, eighth, ninth and 16^th holes and nine pars, seven of them on the Bay Course’s incoming nine. O’Hara fell back a little with an 8-over 79 in Sunday’s final round.

   Foley added a 4-over 75 in Sunday’s final round to his opening-round 76 while Deringer had the opposite splits, opening with a 4-over 75 before finishing up with a 76.

   Nick Belgrade of Wilmington, Del., Harrison Brown, a junior on Haverford School’s Inter-Ac League championship team last fall, and Jake Kurtzman of Marlton, N.J. finished in a tie for eighth place in the 16-to-18 division and rounded out the top 10 in the overall scoring in a tie for ninth as each landed on 10-over 152.

   Belgrade had struggled to an 81 in the opening round, but matched the low round of the weekend in Sunday’s final round with an even-par 71 that featured birdies at the sixth, ninth, 10^th, 16^th and 18^th holes and eight pars.

   Brown, a Villanova resident, closed with a solid 3-over 74 after opening with a 78. Kurtzman finished up with a 4-over 75 in Sunday’s final round after opening with a 77.

   Liam Crowley, who helped Episcopal Academy finish in second place behind Haverford School in the Inter-Ac during a standout freshman season last fall, was the runnerup in the 13-to-15 division, 10 shots behind Berry with a 15-over 157 total.

   Crowley made birdies on the 13^th and 18^th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard on his way to an 8-over 79 in Sunday’s final round. He made birdies on the eighth and 16^th holes and had eight pars on his card in an opening round of 7-over 78.

   Patrick Hiltner of Northfield, N.J. finished a shot behind Crowley in third place among the younger guys with a 158 total. Hiltner made birdies on the eighth and 17^th holes and had 12 pars on is card as he carded a solid 4-over 75 in Sunday’s final round. He had the eighth hole figured out as he made birdie there in Saturday’s opening round and had six pars on his card, but otherwise struggled to an 83.

   It was another seven shots back to Ian Rotto of Kennett Square in fourth place in the 13-to-15 division with a 165 total as he added an 81 in Sunday’s final round to his opening-round 84.

   Landon Finsen of Westampton, N.J. was a shot behind Rotto in fifth place with a 166 total as he bounced back from an opening-round 87 with a 79 in Sunday’s final round.

   Andrew Carroccio of Newtown Square and Taylor Whitney of Cherry Hill, N.J. finished in a tie for sixth place among the younger guys, each landing on 170, four shots behind Finsen.

   Carroccio bounced back from an opening-round 91 with a solid 79 in Sunday’s final round while Whitney shaved four shots off his opening-round 87 with an 83 in the second round.

   Colin McAskin came down the Garden State Parkway from New York City and finished in eighth place in the 13-to-15 division with a 172 total as he finished up with a solid 79 in Sunday’s final round after struggling to a 93 in the opening round.

   Onyu Park of Blue Bell was a shot behind McAskin in ninth place among the younger guys with a 173 total as he added an 87 in Sunday’s final round to an opening-round 86.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division was Jackson Bodony of Stafford Township, N.J. as he finished in 10^th place with a 175 total. Bodony opened with an 86 before finishing up with an 89 in Sunday’s final round.

   The best score among the girls came out of the 13-to-15 division as Anna Firko of Wilmington, Del. was the runaway winner in her division and in the overall scoring with a 170 total.

   Firko was consistent at Seaview. She made a birdie at the 10^th hole and had eight pars on her scorecard on her way to an 84 in Sunday’s second round. That was two shots better than Firko’s opening-round 86 that featured a birdie at the 17^th hole and five pars.

   Stella Bernardi of Sewell, N.J. was the runnerup among the younger girls and in the overall scoring with a 192 total. Bernardi had three pars on her card as she finished up with a 92 in the second round that was eight shots better than her opening-round 100 that included a par on the seventh hole.

   Emma Gangemi of Downingtown finished in third place in the division and fourth in the overall scoring with a 210 total. Emma Gangemi had two pars on her card on her way to a 102 in Sunday’s final round, which was six shots better than an opening-round 108 that featured three pars.

   Christina St. Pierre of Yardley rounded out the field of girls as she finished in fourth place in the 13-to-15 division and fifth overall with a 226 total. St. Pierre closed with a 115 in Sunday’s final round after opening with a 111.

   Julia Hashem of Coatesville was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and ended up in third place in the overall scoring with a 202 total. Hashem made a birdie on the eighth hole and had three pars on her scorecard as she finished up with a 101 in Sunday’s final round. Hashem also opened with a 101, a round that featured five pars, two of them coming on her last two holes.

   It was a 1-2 finish among the nine-holers for Yardley’s Team Revness as Adam Revness rallied to edge Ben Revness for first place.

   Adam Revness had two pars on his scorecard in a final-round 47 that gave him a 95 for two days. He had trailed Ben Revness by a shot after Adam Revness posted a 48 that featured a par on the eighth hole in Saturday’s opening round.

   Ben Revness made a birdie on the fifth hole and had two pars on his card in a final-round 50 that left him two shots behind Adam Revness with a 97 total. Ben Revness had taken a one-shot lead following an opening-round 47 that featured a par on the sixth hole.

   Sam Whitehouse of Pottstown had two pars on his card in a final-round 53 that left him five shots behind Ben Revness in third place with a 102 total. Whitehouse had three pars on his card on his way to an opening-round 49.

   Nathan Lavin of Burlington, N.J. finished a shot behind Whitehouse in fourth place with a 103 total as he added a 54 in Sunday’s final round to his opening-round 49.

   Benjamin Adkins of Lewes, Del. closed with a 48 in Sunday’s final round as he finished a shot behind Lavin in fifth place with a 104 total. Adkins had opened with a 56.

   Bradan Boal of Woodbine, N.J. and Benjamin Gangemi of Downingtown’s Team Gangemi shared sixth place as each landed a shot behind Adkins at 105. Boal shaved seven shots off his opening-round 56 as he finished up with a 49 in Sunday’s final round. Benjamin Gangemi tallied a pair of 53s.

   David Gilman of Cape May Court House, N.J. improved by seven shots from an opening-round 57 with a 50 in Sunday’s final round as he finished in eighth place with a 107 total.

   Michael Antolino III of Richboro opened with a 51 before adding a 57 in Sunday’s final round to finish a shot behind Gilman in ninth place with a 108 total.

   Rounding out the coed 12-and-under division was Domenic Scanny of Northfield, N.J. as he added a 64 in Sunday’s final round to his opening-round 66 to finish in 10^th place with a 130 total.