Friel puts together a steady round at Bensalem Township to capture a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Charles Friel, a Gladwyne resident and a junior on the golf team at The Haverford School, carded a solid 4-over-par 74 in windy conditions on a windy first Saturday in May to finish in first place in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Bensalem Township Country Club.

   Friel made a birdie on the 15^th hole and had 13 pars on his scorecard. Friel made pars on 11 of his first 12 holes, including six straight pars to open his round.

   Vaughn Smartt of Bryn Mawr made birdies on the ninth and 16^th holes and had eight pars on his card, including four straight pars to open his round, as he earned runnerup honors among the older guys with a 6-over 76 that left him two shots behind Friel.

   Alex Fischer of Fort Washington had 11 pars on his card, making pars on seven of his first eight holes, including six straight pars to open his round, as he finished a shot behind Smartt in third place with a 7-over 77.

   Robert Rittereiser, in the midst of his freshman season on the golf team at Salesianum, and Robert Stout of Trenton, N.J. shared fourth place, each tallying a 79, Ryan Eisenhart, a sophomore on the Spring-Ford golf team, was sixth with an 82, Anthony Gracey, a sophomore on the Central York golf team, was seventh with an 83 and Brady Morris, a junior on the Governor Mifflin golf team, finished eighth with an 85.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division were Neil Ray of West Chester and Christian Bennett of Wilmington, Del. as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each signing for an 89.

   Thomas Holt IV of Haddonfield, N.J. and Helmut Dang of Newtown Square shared the top spot in the 13-to-15 division as each recorded an 8-over 78.

   Holt made an early birdie on the seventh hole, went back-to-back with birdies at 11 and 12, added a fourth birdie at 15 and had three pars on his scorecard.

   The 13-year-old Dang, a Newtown Square resident who was regularly in contention while playing in the ranks of the 12-and-under nine-holers a year ago, made birdies at the 12^th and 15^th holes and had six pars on his card.

   Carter Robbins of Warrington had 10 pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from the second through the fifth holes, as he finished a shot behind the two co-medalists in third place with a 79.

   Mason McGovern, a Newtown Square resident and a sophomore on the golf team at St. Joseph’s Prep, and Kaycen Subbio of Blue Bell finished in a tie for fourth place, each tallying an 82.

   Stephen Comly III, another Newtown Square guy, Nathan Barker of Malvern and Camden Blevins of Glen Mills finished in a tie for sixth place, each registering an 84.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Crissman Sullivan, a sophomore on the Spring-Ford golf team, and Jack Bishay of West Chester as each carded an 85 to finish in a tie for ninth place.

   The best score among the girls emerged from the 13-to-15 division as Sara Fanelli, coming off a solid sophomore season with the Radnor golf team, opened her round with a birdie at the first hole and had eight pars on her scorecard on her way to an 81 that earned her a Philly Junior Tour victory.

   Alexa Mcelwain of Schnecksville had four pars on her card, three of them coming on the Bensalem Township’s incoming nine, as she earned runnerup honors with an 88.

   Team Soporowski of Nazareth, Lindsay and Natalie – both Class of 2030 competitors, so maybe twins – finished in a tie for third place, each posting a 96.

   Lindsay Soporowski made a birdie on the 11^th hole and had two pars on her card and Natalie Soporowski had three pars on her card.

   He Hannah of Chadds Ford took fifth place with a 97, Gigi Lake of Newtown was sixth with a 100 and Annabelle Barr of Gladwyne was seventh with a 107.

   Gian Patel of Malvern, Texas took eighth place with a 121, Karena Boyd of Kennett Square was ninth with a 128 and Brooke Platt of Blue Bell rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished 10^th with a 130.

   Nicole Tarquinio of Bridgeton, N.J. made birdies on the eighth and 12^th holes and had six pars on her scorecard as she earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with an 87.

   Julia Biko, a sophomore on the North Pocono golf team, had five pars on her card, four of them coming on the incoming nine at Bensalem Township, as she earned runnerup honors with a 93.

   Mariana Walker, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Council Rock North last fall, had four pars on her card as she finished a shot behind Biko in third place with a 94.

   Kalista Spence of Phoenixville took fourth place with a 107 and Christina St. Pierre, who wrapped up her scholastic career at Pennsbury last fall, rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as she finished fifth with a 110.

   Brody Rollins of Milton, Del. made back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes and had five pars on his scorecard as he topped the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with a solid 1-over 36.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr went back-to-back with birdies at the eighth and ninth holes and had three pars on his card as he earned runnerup honors with a 4-over 39.

   James Wilson of Wilmington, Del. made a birdie on the third hole and had four pars on his card as he finished in third place with a 40.

   Muego and Wilson were coming off co-medalist honors in the boys 12-and-under division in a Philly Junior Tour stop the previous Sunday at Maple Dale Country Club.

   Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. took fourth place with a 41, Alex Cheng of Wilmington, Del. was fifth with a 42, and Damien Dollard of Cinnaminson, N.J., the reigning Philly Junior Tour Player of the Year in the boys 12-and-under division, and Luke George of Mullica Hill, N.J. finished in a tie for sixth, each recording a 43.

   Aidan Herbert of New Hope took eighth place with a 45, Brock Gogolak of Philadelphia was ninth with a 50 and Beau Townend of Devon and Jamie Cahn of Penn Valley rounded out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division as they finished in a tie for 10^th, each tallying a 51.

   Skylar Crutchfield of Elkins Park made pars on the second and seventh holes as she topped a short field in the girls 12-and-under division with a 45.

   Olivia Konieczki of Sewell, N.J. made a birdie on the second hole and a par at seven as she rounded out the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers by finishing in second place with a 49.