Raihill earns Philly Junior Tour victory as summer comes early to Honeybrook

 

   Zach Raihill, a junior on the West Chester Rustin golf team, put together a 2-over-par 67 at Honeybrook Golf Club Saturday to edge a couple of familiar Ches-Mont League rivals and claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory.

   The weather hasn’t always been kind for the traditional late March Philly Junior Tour stop at Honeybrook, but Saturday turned suddenly summer-like after a long, cold winter. Some gusty winds in the far northwest corner of Chester County made club selection a challenge, but with temperatures reaching the 80s, I don’t think anyone was complaining.

   The par-5 fourth hole at Honeybrook was out of commission, so the field played just 17 holes with par reduced to 65.

   Raihill made birdies on the ninth and 15^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard to finish at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division.

   Ian Larsen, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore at Downingtown West last fall, and Charlie Isler, a sophomore at West Chester Henderson, shared second place, each ending up a shot behind Raihill with a 3-over 68.

   Larsen made birdies at the 15^th and 18^th holes and had 11 pars on his card. Isler, coming off a runnerup finish in a Philly Junior Tour stop last weekend at Running Deer Golf Club, made birdies at the sixth and 15^th holes and had 11 pars on his card.

   Lower Merion junior Seiji Sako, who has qualified for the PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of the last two falls, finished a shot behind Larsen and Isler in fourth place with a 4-over 69.

   Collin Schreiber of Kunkletown took fifth place with a 71 and West Chester Rustin senior Nick Linkchorst, who helped the Knights capture the District One Class AAA team crown last fall, and Trey Barkman of West Chester finished in a tie for sixth place, each landing on 77.

   Archmere Academy junior Michael Liu, a Garnet Valley resident, took eighth place with a 78, Devon Prep junior Chris Pullano, a Wynnewood resident, was ninth with a 79 and Downingtown East junior Joey Gangemi rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as he finished alone in 10^th with an 80.

   Pierce Drake, a sophomore on the Bishop Shanahan golf team and a Glenmoore resident, made birdies on the seventh and 15^th holes and had nine pars on his scorecard as he finished atop the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 4-over 69.

   Evan Smith of Elkton, Md. made birdies on the 12^th, 15^th and 18^th holes and had four pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 73 that left him four shots behind Drake.

   Central Bucks East sophomore Tyler Adair and Mason Kim of Blue Bell finished in a tie for third place, each ending up two shots behind Smith with a 75.

   Adair made a birdie on the 11^th hole and had seven pars on his card and Kim made a birdie on the 12^th hole and had nine pars on his card.

   Jacob Ashenfelder of Glenmoore took fifth place with a 76 and the trio of Benjamin Lear of West Chester, Steven Musacchio, another Glenmoore guy, and Beckett Kush of Yardley finished in a tie for sixth, each posting an 81.

   Aidan Carter of West Chester took ninth place with an 89 and James Kulesa of Doylestown rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished alone in 10^th with a 93.

   The best score among the girls at Honeybrook came out of the 13-to-15 division as Emma Gangemi of Downingtown’s Team Gangemi made pars on the 12^th and 17^th holes on her way to a 93 that earned her a Philly Junior Tour victory.

   Mackenzie Lim of Harleysville and Addison Murphy of Phoenixville finished in a tie for second place, each recording a 96. Murphy had three pars on her scorecard.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Juliana Gatt of Newtown as she finished in fourth place with a 102.

   Shloka Vishwanath, a sophomore on the Downingtown West golf team, was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and she made pars on the 11^th and 14^th holes on her way to a 94.

   Kaycen Subbio of Blue Bell bested the field among the boys 12-and-under nine-holers as he made a birdie at the fifth hole and had three pars on his scorecard on his way to a 4-over 34.

   Jack Kolmar of Wayne made a birdie on the eighth hole and had three pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 5-over 35 that left him a shot behind Subbio. Ryan Foust of Exton had three pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 37 that left him two shots behind Kolmar

   The trio of Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville, Connor Masulis of Pottstown and Connor Michaels of Lancaster all finished a shot behind Foust in a tie for fourth place, each registering a 38.

   Jonathan Thomas of Landenberg and Nicholas Cheng of Berwyn shared seventh place, each posting a 39.

   Andrew DElla of Clarks Summit took ninth place with a 41 and Graeme Day of West Chester rounded out the top 10 in the 12-and-under division as he finished 10^th with a 42.

   With the old coed 12-and-under division split into boys and girls divisions this season, there was a decent turnout of girls nine-holers at Honeybrook.

   Kia DeCarlo of Glen Mills made pars on the second and fifth holes as she bested the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 7-over 37.

   Evelyn Brillman of Elkins Park made a par on the seventh hole as she earned runnerup honors with a 41 that left her four shots behind DeCarlo.

   Trisha Lobo of Collegeville made pars on the fifth and seventh holes as she finished two shots behind Evelyn Brillman in third place with a 43.

   If Lobo watches the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals Sunday from Augusta National Golf Club, she’ll have fond memories of that event from a year ago when she finished in third place in the Girls 7-to-9 division, topping the field in the putting portion of the competition.

   Eleanor Brillman of Elkins Park’s Team Brillman took fourth place with a 45, Lillian Fry of Pennsburg was fifth with a 49 and Sydney Lim of Harleysville rounded out the field in the 12-and-under division as she finished sixth with a 54.