O'Hara is par for the course as he tops field in HJGT New Jersey Kickoff at Seaview

 

   Patrick O’Hara, playing not far from his Ocean City, N.J. home, matched par with a 70 to claim the top spot in the Boys 16-to-18 division in the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour (HJGT) New Jersey Kickoff at Seaview Sunday.

   It was supposed to be a two-day event, but Saturday’s all-day rain wiped out the opening round. There were some stiff winds to contend with in the aftermath of the storm and the images on the HJGT website indicated that the junior golfers were prepared with their cold-weather gear.

   Pretty sure the event utilized Seaview Golf Club’s Bay Course, the classic collaboration of renowned architects Hugh Wilson and Donald Ross that is home to the Shop-Rite LPGA Classic each summer in Galloway Township, across the bay from Atlantic City.

   O’Hara made birdies on the third, seventh and 17^th holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard in the difficult conditions. Eight of those pars, along with the birdie at the 17^th hole, came on the incoming nine as O’Hara finished strong with a 1-under 32.

   Ethan Legarda of Voorhees, N.J. was right on O’Hara’s heels with a steady 1-over 71 that included a birdie at the ninth hole and 15 pars.

   Jeffrey Fumarola of Ballston Spa, N.Y. was another two shots behind Legarda in third place with a 3-over 73 as he made birdies on the third and ninth holes and had 11 pars on his card.

   Nathaniel Yoo of Canada finished two shots behind Fumarola in fourth place with a 75.

   Michael Henry, a junior at Malvern Prep who was the runnerup in the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac League’s individual championship at Aronimink Golf Club last fall, was a shot behind Yoo in fifth place with a 76.

   P.J. Foley of Northfield, N.J. took sixth place with a 77 and La Salle senior Sebastian Botero, who helped the Explorers finish second in the PIAA Class AAA team competition at Penn State last fall, ended up alone in seventh with an 80.

   Dominic Polistina of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., Ethan Gallagher of Basking Ridge, N.J. and Quakertown senior Brady Gallagher, a co-medalist in last fall’s Suburban One League Championship at Five Ponds Golf Club, rounded out the top 10 in the Boys 16-to-18 division as each carded an 81 to finish in a tie for eighth place.

   Ryan Quigley of Holmdel, N.J. finished atop the leaderboard in the Boys 14-15 division as he had 11 pars on his scorecard, including a run of six in a row from the eighth through the 13^th holes, on his way to a 7-over 77.

   Declan Conner, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a freshman at Ridley last fall, finished three shots behind Quigley in second place as he had eight pars on his card on his way to an 80.

   Conner was coming off a dominant 10-shot victory in the HJGT Philadelphia Spring Kickoff at Talamore, a week earlier at Talamore Country Club in Ambler.

   Ryan Mascali of Rye, N.Y., Jack Dennis of Colchester, Conn. and Axel Brandes of Bernardsville, N.J. finished in a tie for third place as each landed on 84, four shots behind Conner.

   Mascali made a birdie at the eighth hole and had eight pars on his card, Dennis had eight pars on his card and Brandes had six pars on his card.

   Benjamin Oh of Ridgefield, N.J. took, sixth place with an 85, Matthew Salvadore of Schaghticoke, N.Y. was seventh with an 86, Dexter James Jr. of Hudson Ohio was eighth with an 87and Brady Cassidy of Gladstone, N.J. was ninth with an 88.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the Boys 14-15 division were Freddie Munter of West Sayville, N.Y. and Drake Brogan of Ocean View, N.J. as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each signing for an 89.

   Logan Turner of Berwyn made a birdie on the 16^th hole and had eight pars on his scorecard as he put together a solid 8-over 78 to capture the top spot in the Boys 11-to-13 age group.

   Kian Murphy of Yorktown, N.Y. made a birdie on the 13^th hole and had 10 pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with an 81 that left him three shots behind Turner.

   Liam Rotatori of Stamford, Conn. made a par on the 17^th hole as he finished in third place with a 96.

   Julian Ossorio of Basking Ridge, N.J. took fourth place with a 101 and Bradan Boal of Woodbine, N.J. rounded out the field in the Boys 11-to-13 division as he finished fifth with a 107.

   Taryn Brandt of Dutton, Md. had four pars on her scorecard as she claimed top honors in the Girls 14-to-18 division with an 80.

   Sophia DeSantis, a West Chester Rustin senior, and Gabrielle Hamstead of Milton, Del. finished in a tie for second place, each landing on 91, 11 shots behind Brandt.

   DeSantis, who will join the program at Fairfield this summer, had six pars on her card. Hamstead made birdies on the fifth and seventh holes and added a par at four.

   Sahasra Datla of Chester, N.J. finished a shot behind DeSantis and Hamstead in fourth place with a 92.

   Agnes Irwin sophomore Makayla Stone and Downingtown West junior Emma Lewis, who helped the Whippets capture the Ches-Mont League girls crown last fall, shared fifth place, each finishing a shot behind Datla with a 93. Stone’s spring season in the Inter-Ac League is just getting under way.

   Emma Otterburn of New York City took seventh place with a 94, Arya Parikh of Livingston, N.J. was eighth with a 97, Grace Rotatori, another member of Team Rotatori out of Stamford, Conn., was ninth with a 98 and Avon Grove junior Emma Rabeno rounded out the field in the Girls 14-to-18 division as she finished 10^th with a 99.

   Juliana Costello of Ocean City, N.J. was the lone competitor in the Girls 13-and-under division and she made pars at the third and 18^th holes on her way to a 108.