Sokol's game warms right up as he claims a Philly Junior Tour victory with a 71 at Kimberton

 

   Henry Sokol, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a freshman at Harriton last fall, got his spring off to a good start Sunday with a sparkling 1-over-par 71 at Kimberton Golf Club, the George Fazio design along Route 23 west of Phoenixville, that gave him a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division.

   A sudden and welcome warmup greeted the players on the first day of Daylight Saving Time. As was the case with the Philly Junior Tour season opener Saturday at Five Ponds Golf Club, kudos to the green crew at Kimberton for getting the course playable after some heavy rain and snow melt from our interminable winter made for some soggy conditions.

   Henry Sokol was the Philly Junior Tour’s 13-to-15 division Player of the Year for the second year in a row in 2025.

   Henry Sokol picked up right where he left off last year Sunday as he made birdies on the seventh and 10^th holes and had 13 pars on his scorecard. He had runs of five straight pars on both nines, from the third through the seventh holes on the front side and again from 11 through 15 on the incoming nine.

   Helmut Dang of Newtown Square, one of the top performers among a very competitive group of 12-and-under nine-holers a year ago, made birdies on the seventh, 13^th and 15^th holes and had six pars on his card as he finished five shots behind Henry Sokol in second place with a 6-over 76.

   Dang was coming off a tie for second place in the 13-to-15 division in Saturday’s Philly Junior Tour season opener at Five Ponds.

   Luciano Follo, a sophomore on the Marple Newtown golf team, made a birdie on the 14^th hole and had seven pars on his card as he finished in third place with an 80.

   Nathan Lobo of Collegeville took fourth place with an 82, Jonah Lowenberg of Villanova was fifth with an 83 and Jack Sokol, Henry Sokol’s twin brother who had a pretty solid freshman season at Harriton as well, earning a spot in the field for the District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek Golf Course, was sixth with an 84.

   Samuel Nelligan of Gilbertsville took seventh place with an 86, Jack Ferry of Port Deposit, Md. was eighth with an 88 and the trio of Jack Gilbert of Bryn Mawr, another player moving up from that competitive group of nine-holers last year, Nolan Johnson of West Chester and Declan Mayo of Chadds Ford rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as they finished in a tie for ninth, each posting a 90.

   Colby Seislove, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a senior at Spring-Ford in the fall, made a birdie on the 15^th hole and had 11 pars on his scorecard as he claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with an 8-over 78.

   Ryan Kelly, a junior on the Souderton golf team, made back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes and had six pars on his card as he finished two shots behind Seislove in second place with an 80.

   The trio of Jack Ferm, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a junior at Garnet Valley last fall, Chris Pullano, a Wynnewood resident and the Catholic League’s individual champion as a senior at Devon Prep last fall, and Billy Nikolaidis, a sophomore on the Muhlenberg golf team, finished in a tie for third place, each ending up a shot behind Kelly with an 81.

   Ferm made a birdie on the 15^th hole and had eight pars on his card, including four straight pars to open his round. Pullano made a birdie on the 10^th hole and had nine pars on his card, including a string of five straight pars from 12 through 16. Nikolaidis made a birdie on the seventh hole and had eight pars on his card.

   Walker Mannon, a junior on the Phoenixville golf team, finished alone in sixth place with an 82.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was a group of five players tied for seventh place with 84s that included Brayden Dolan, a junior on the Springfield (Delco) golf team, Shane Cornell, a junior on the Avon Grove golf team, Ethan Lang, a sophomore on the Souderton golf team, Harry Traynor, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Great Valley last fall, and Jesse Shurman of Villanova.

   Sarah Stumacher, a junior on the Germantown Friends School golf team, made a birdie on the 12^th hole and had 12 pars on her scorecard as she toured the incoming nine at Phoenixville in even-par 36 on her way to a sparkling 4-over 74 that gave the Gladwyne resident a Philly Junior Tour victory in the girls 16-to-18 division.

   Megan Choi, who earned her second straight trip to the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a sophomore on the Harriton golf team last fall, had 11 pars on her card, including a run of seven straight pars from the 11^th through the 17^th holes, as she claimed runnerup honors with a solid 79.

   Alexa Shure, a sophomore on the Great Valley golf team, had five pars on her card as she finished in third place with a 91.

   Rounding out the field in the 16-to-18 division was Faridah Ismaila, a classmate of Shure’s on the Great Valley roster who finished in fourth place with a 113.

   Sarah Fanelli, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore on the Radnor golf team last fall, had seven pars on her scorecard as she claimed the top spot in the 13-to-15 division with a 90.

   Allison Choi, another member of Penn Valley’s Team Choi, had three pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors with a 101.

   Kate Benson, a freshman on the Great Valley golf team, made a par on the 17th hole as she finished in third place with a 106.

   Sophia Carvalho of Downingtown and Mia Venezia of Perkiomenville shared fourth place, each registering a 112, Ashley Yurko of Collegeville was sixth with a 120 and Karena Boyd of Kennett Square rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished seventh with a 155.

   Blake Shurman, another member of Villanova’s Team Shurman, had six pars on his scorecard, opening his round with three straight pars, as he bested the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with a 3-over 37.

   Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville had five pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 6-over 40.

   Connor Michaels of Lancaster and Michael Antolino of Richboro finished in a tie for third place, each ending up with a 42. Michaels had five pars on his card while Antolino had three pars on his card.

   Kash Gray of Eagleville took fifth place with a 45 and Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. was sixth with a 47. Wang had opened the season with a victory Saturday at Five Ponds.

   Alex Cheng of Wilmington, Del. and Jaden Chase of Philadelphia shared seventh place as each tallied a 50 and Jamie Cahn of Penn Valley rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished ninth with a 53.

   Trisha Lobo, another member of Collegeville’s Team Lobo and the division’s reigning Player of the Year, had three pars on her scorecard as she bested the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 7-over 41.

   Katelyn Burks of Paoli made a birdie on the eighth hole and had two pars on her card as she earned runnerup honors with a 43 that left her two shots behind Trisha Lobo.

   Aashi Chakraborty of Kennett Square made a par on the fifth hole as she finished in third place with a 51.

   Sophia Kim of Chester Springs took fourth place with a 52, Addison Sabatini of West Chester was fifth with a 55 and Miya Freas of Collegeville rounded out the field in the girls 12-and-under division as she finished sixth with a 60.