Nicholl gets in a groove to take a Philly Junior Tour victory at Chesapeake Bay

 

   Rider Nicholl, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Avon Grove last fall, put together a solid 4-over-par 74 Sunday at Chesapeake Bay Golf Club in Rising Sun, Md. to take the top spot in the 16-to-18 division and claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory.

   The weather varied Sunday depending on your location, but I’m guessing it warmed a little quicker near the Chesapeake Bay than it did in northwest Chester County.

   Nicholl twice went back-to-back with birdies at the sixth and seventh holes and again at 16 and 17 and had eight pars on his scorecard.

   The 12^th hole at Chesapeake Bay was out of commission, so players played the first hole a second time to conclude their rounds.

   Haverford High senior Andrew Rindgen, a District One Class AAA qualifier last fall, made a birdie on the 16^th hole and had nine pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 7-over 77 that left him three shots behind Nicholl.

   In checking up on Rindgen for this post, I discovered I somehow managed to leave him out of my post from the Central League Championship last fall at Turtle Creek, where he finished in a tie for 13^th place with a 79 to earn a return trip to the Turtle for the District One Championship.

  Beauty of a blog, though, I fixed it six months later.

   Brayden Schnabel, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Souderton last fall, finished another three shots behind Rindgen in third place as Schnabel made birdies at the 11^th and 14^th holes and had six pars on his card on his way to an 80.

   Trey Barkman of West Chester took fourth place with an 82, Plymouth-Whitemarsh junior Luke Farnese was fifth with an 85 and Haverford High junior Bryce Ciochetto, like his fellow Ford Rindgen a District One Class AAA qualifier last fall, was sixth with an 86.

   Another Central League guy, Springfield sophomore Mike White, headed a trio tied for seventh place along with Haverford School senior Devin Carpenter, one of the many success stories produced by First Tee of Greater Philadelphia, and Colin Burke of Wilmington, Del., all of whom posted an 87.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was Caiden Jordan, playing not far from his Rising Sun, Md. home, as he finished alone in 10^th place with an 88.

   Evan Smith of Elkton, Md. made birdies at the fourth and sixth holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard as he finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 6-over 77.

   Couldn’t figure out from the scorecards why the par for the 13-to-15 division was 71 and the par for the 16-to-18 division was 70, but regardless it was a really solid effort by Smith.

   William Quartermain of Bryn Mawr, winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior-Junior Championship last summer, made birdies at the sixth and ninth holes and had seven pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with an 83.

   Mason Kim of Blue Bell birdied the first hole the second time he played it and had five pars on his card as he finished five shots behind Quartermain in third place with an 88.

   Jonah Isler of West Chester took fourth place with an 89, Landon Chandler of Lancaster was fifth with a 92 and Jason Kim of Ambler was sixth with a 95.

   Garnet Valley freshman Camden Blevins, Sam Whitehouse of Pottstown and Luke Cheuvront, another local guy playing close to his Rising Sun, Md. home, finished in a tie for seventh place, each recording a 97.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Max Straub of Lancaster as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 99.

   The best score of the day among the girls came out of the 13-to-15 division as Bryn Brandt of Lebanon made a birdie on the 18^th hole and had six pars on her scorecard to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory with an 82.

   Some coach in central Pennsylvania can’t wait to have Brandt join his or her program in the fall.

   Juliana Gatt of Newtown rounded out a short field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished in second place with a 112.

   Brooke Burge of Middletown, Del. was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division as he made a birdie on the fourth hole and a par at 11 on her way to a 98.

   Theodore Diamond of Lutherville-Timonium, Md. made a birdie on the eighth hole and rattled off three straight pars on three, four and five as he bested the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with a 4-over 39.

   Alex Cheng of Wilmington, Del. made a par on the fifth hole as he finished five shots behind Diamond in second place with a 44.

   Jonathan Thomas of Landenberg and Charlie Sears of Wilmington, Del. shared third place, each ending up a shot behind Cheng with a 45. Thomas made back-to-back pars on the fourth and fifth holes and Sears had two pars on his card.

   Connor Michaels of Lancaster took fifth place with a 47, Jackson Ehrlich of Berwyn was sixth with a 55 and Dino Luccia of North Wales was seventh with a 58.

   Jamie Wolf of Villanova took eighth place with a 59 and Jason Zheng of West Chester rounded out the field in the 12-and-under division as he finished ninth with a 60.