Melendez heats up on the Shore Club's back nine to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Trebor Melendez, the talented 13-year-old from Vineland, N.J., lit up the back nine at the Shore Club in Cape May Court House, N.J. Saturday on his way to a 1-under-par 71 as he had the best score of the day among the guys while earning a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division.

   Saturday’s stop at the Shore Club, with a view of the causeway that connects Stone Harbor to the Wildwoods, was part of a Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) Shore Series weekend for the Philly Junior Tour with a scheduled stop at Shore Gate Golf Club coming Sunday.

   And it is at the shore courses where the kid from Vineland seems most at home.

   Melendez made back-to-back birdies at the 11^th and 12^th holes and then went back-to-back again with birdies at 17 and 18 as he toured the incoming nine at the Shore Course in a sizzling 4-under 32.

   Melendez finished with 11 pars on his scorecard.

   Jack Lobley, a freshman at Shipley and a Gladwyne resident, made birdies on the ninth and 12^th holes and had nine pars on his card, finishing up his round with six straight pars, as he earned runnerup honors among the younger guys with a 5-over 77.

   Jack Venne of Moorestown, N.J. made birdies at the seventh and 18^th holes and had nine pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Lobley in third place with a 6-ovder 78.

   Nathan Lobo of Collegeville and David Padgett of Barnegat, N.J. finished in a tie for fourth place, each landing on 79.

   Tucker Detwiler, a West Chester resident who was on the Malvern Prep JV golf team as a freshman last fall, Helmut Dang of Newtown Square and Richard Davoli of Ambler finished in a tie for sixth place, each posting an 82.

   Beckett Kush of Yardley, took ninth place with an 83 and Thomas Holt IV of Haddonfield, N.J. rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished in 10^th place with an 85.

   Charles Friel, a junior on the golf team at Inter-Ac League power The Haverford School, made birdies on the seventh and 13^th holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard, opening his round with five straight pars, as he earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with a 1-over 73.

   Jack Ferm, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a junior on the Garnet Valley golf team last fall, and Trevor Sieben, whose junior season at Shawnee is about to get under way, finished in a tie for second place among the older guys, each tallying a 3-over 75.

   Ferm jump-started his round with an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole and added birdies at nine, 10, 13 and 18 while putting six pars on his card. Sieben, who has been a regular on the Philly Junior Tour for several years, made birdies at the sixth and ninth holes and 11 pars on his card, including a string of five straight pars from 12 through 16.

   Three pretty strong players finished a shot behind Ferm and Sieben in a tie for fourth place at 4-over 76, a trio that included Gus Stoltzfus, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Avon Grove last fall, and two of the top players in the Inter-Ac League last fall, Malvern Prep junior Colby Komancheck, a Royersford resident, and Episcopal Academy junior Liam Crowley, a Wayne resident.

   Komancheck captured the individual title and helped Malvern Prep get a share of the team crown with Episcopal Academy in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Championship at Radley Run Country Club.

   A week before the PAISAA Championship, Crowley captured the title in the Bert Linton Memorial for the Inter-Ac’s individual championship at The 1912 Club. A day earlier Crowley and the Churchmen clinched their first Inter-Ac title since 2016.

   Brayden Hughes of Hockessin, Del. and Benjamin Perticari of West Deptford, N.J. shared seventh place, each registering a 78, Will Simonson of Haddonfield, N.J. was ninth with a 79 and Ryan Stankoski of Mullica Hill, N.J. rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as he finished alone in 10^th with an 81.

   The best score among the girls came out of the 13-to-15 division as Emilie Davoli, a 12-year-old and a member of Ambler’s Team Davoli, continued her early spring roll by carding a 7-over 79.

   Emilie Davoli was coming off a really impressive victory in a two-day Philly Junior Tour event in some wicked March winds and cold last weekend at Seaview Golf Club’s Bay Course.

   She was at it again Saturday at the Shore Club as Emilie Davoli made back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10^th holes, added another birdie at 12 and had seven pars on her scorecard.

   Julie Costello took a ride down the Garden State Parkway from Ocean City, N.J. and took second place among the younger girls with a 90. Costello made a birdie at the 12^th hole and had five pars on her card.

   Alexa Mcelwain of Schnecksville had four pars on her card, including a string of three pars in a row from the 10^th through the 12^th holes, as she finished in third place with a 95.

   Hailey Cousins of Port Republic, N.J. rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished in fourth place with a 101.

   Pretty strong effort by Sarah Stumacher, a Gladwyne resident and a junior on the Friends’ Central School golf team, as she made an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole, added a birdie at the eighth and had nine pars on her scorecard on her way to an 82 that gave her a victory in the 16-to-18 division.

   Emily Renouf of Cinnaminson, N.J. rounded out a short field in the 16-to-18 division as she had two pars on her card on her way a second-place finish with a 98.

   Jack Kolmer of Wayne made a birdie on the eighth hole and had five pars on his scorecard as he bested the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with a solid 2-over 38.

   Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville had six pars on his card as he finished a shot behind Kolmer in second place with a 3-over 39.

   Luke George of Mullica Hill, N.J. closed out his round with back-to-back pars at the eighth and ninth holes as he finished in third place with a 45.

   Domenic Scanny of Linwood, N.J. took fourth place with a 46 and Kayaan Patel, another Mullica Hill, N.J. guy, and Jamie Cahn of Penn Valley shared fifth, each posting a 52.

   Kelly Selvesen, playing close to his Cape May Court House, N.J. home, took seventh place with a 55, Axel Zurheide of Northfield, N.J. was eighth with a 56 and Chris Pilcher of Wilmington, Del. rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished ninth with a 58.