McGraw's steady round at Reading earns him a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Luke McGraw, a freshman at State College, made a long ride to Reading Country Club worth his while as his 3-over-par 73 at the classic layout in Exeter Township earned him a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in some suddenly pleasant springtime weather Sunday.

   McGraw made birdies on the sixth, 11^th and 14^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard in posting the best score of the day.

   McGraw claimed a victory in the 13-to-15 division, but some of the one-day 18-hole events on the Philly Junior Tour this season are Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) tournaments for the boys, meaning there are JGS points up for grabs in the overall 13-to-18 scoring that can earn players status on some of the higher profile junior circuits, the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) chief among them.

   As usual, I’ll break out the traditional Philly Junior Tour 13-to-15 and 16-to-18 divisions and refer to the overall scoring along the way.

   The runnerup in the overall scoring was Brayden Tritsch of Medford, N.J., whose 5-over 75 topped the 16-to-18 division.

   Back in the younger 13-to-15 division, Anthony Gracey of York made a birdie on the 12^th hole and had 10 pars on his card as he was the runnerup in the division and finished in a tie for fourth place with three players from the 16-to-18 division in the overall scoring with a 78.

   Trevor Sieben of Medford, N.J. and Collin Schreiber of Kunkletown were the last two players from the 13-to-15 division to finish in the top 10 in the overall scoring as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, their 81s leaving them in a tie for third in the division.

   Sieben, the Philly Junior Tour’s Player of the Year in the 13-to-15 division for 2023, made a birdie on the 14^th hole and had seven pars on his card. Schreiber had 11 pars on his card.

   Frederik Hartmann took fifth place with an 82 and Wissahickon freshman Ty Sheftic and Gregory Kriz of Oreland finished in a tie for sixth, each landing on 85.

   Jimmy Warmkessel of Malvern and Zikun Xiong, an invader from New York City’s borough of Queens, shared eighth place, each signing for an 86, and Harry Traynor, a sophomore on Malvern Prep’s golf team last fall, rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished 10^th with an 88.

   Tritsch made birdies on the fifth and ninth holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard to claim the top spot in the 16-to-18 division while finishing second to McGraw in the overall scoring with his 75.

   Keegan Redmond of Hummelstown had 12 pars on his card, including five in a row from the ninth through the 13^th holes, as he finished a shot behind Tritsch in second place in the 16-to-18 division and third overall with a 6-over 76.

   Brody Bell, a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team from Royersford last fall, Trey Barkman of West Chester and Zachary Miller of Nazareth finished in a tie for third place among the older guys and in a tie for fourth in the overall scoring with Gracey from the 13-to-15 division, each landing on 78.

   Bell made birdies at the 15^th and 17^th holes and had eight pars on his card, including a run of five in a row from the third through the seventh holes. Barkman got hot in the middle of his round with birdies at the fifth, eighth and 10^th holes, added a fourth birdie at 18 and had five pars on his card. Miller made a birdie at the first hole and had 10 pars on his card, including five straight starting at 14 to finish out his round.

   Christopher Mark Parrish of Woolwich Township, N.J. and Charlie Letwinsky of Wyoming finished in a tie for sixth place in the 16-to-18 division and in a tie for eighth in the overall scoring as each signed for an 80.

   Jax Puskar, a junior on Unionville’s District One Class AAA championship last fall, Perkiomen Valley sophomore Andrew Brendlinger and Sam Shaner of State College rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as they finished in a tie for eighth place, each tallying an 82.

   The best score among the girls also came out of the younger 13-to-15 division as Gege Ren of Bryn Mawr made a birdie at the third hole and had a closing kick with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18 to go along with the six pars on her scorecard as she earned a Philly Junior Tour victory with a solid 80.

   Vidushi Gupta of Malvern was the runnerup among the younger girls as she had three pars on her card on her way to an 89. Marietta Hartmann, another member of Devon’s Team Hartmann, finished in third place with a 94.

   Gabrielle Kim of Ambler rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished in fourth place with a 97.

   Xinyuan Li of Pottstown made birdies on the fifth and ninth holes and had four pars on her scorecard as she claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with an 88.

   Hannah Kopac of State College rounded out a short field of older girls as she was the runnerup to Li with a round of 96 that was highlighted by four pars on her card.

   Rithvik Nimma of Newtown made birdies at the third and sixth holes and a par at five while topping the field of nine-holers with a 4-over 38.

   Nathan Lobo of Colllegeville had four pars on his card as he was the runnerup to Nimma with a 5-over 39. Preston Minio of Lansdale had three pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 44.

   Jack Gilbert of Bryn Mawr took fourth place with a 45 and Jonathan Thomas of Landenberg was another shot behind Gilbert in fifth with a 46.

   There was a logjam with four players tied for sixth place, each with a 47, that included Drew Gebhard of Lebanon, Baylor Keim of Blue Bell, Matthew Bowman of Newtown and Connor Masulis of Pottstown.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the coed 12-and-under division was Sam Whitehouse of Pottstown as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 49.