Conner heads a group of 13 qualifiers for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship with a victory at Elmhurst

 

   Declan Conner, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a junior for Ridley last fall, put together a sparkling 3-under-par 69 Wednesday at Elmhurst Country Club in Moscow, Lackawanna County, to claim a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division and lead a group of 13 qualifiers for next week’s Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship.

   Pretty sure this was the last in the series of qualifiers for the guys for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship, a one-day 36-hole test scheduled to be played June 15 at Bellewood Country Club, across the Schuylkill River from Pottstown.

   The event always draws one of the best fields of scholastic golfers in the region each year as the top finishers – and we’re talking about only the top two or three guys – earn a trip to the Boys Junior PGA Championship, one of the marquee national events for junior golfers conducted by the PGA of America.

   The Boys Junior PGA Championship, a 72-hole, stroke-play event, tees off July 28 at Fields Ranch East and West at the PGA of America’s headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

   Players ages 13 to 18 are eligible for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship. The Philly Junior Tour broke down its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 age groups, so I’ll wrap them up while referring to the overall scoring.

   Nobody at Elmhurst was better than Conner as he made birdies at the third, sixth, 10^th, 14^th and 17^th holes and 11 pars on his scorecard. The three birdies on the incoming nine enabled Conner to tour the back nine in 2-under 34.

   His 3-under round left Conner at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring.

   Cole Powell, a Fell Township resident and the PIAA Class AA champion as a sophomore at Scranton Prep last fall, made birdies on the second, sixth, eighth, 11^th and 14^th holes and had seven pars on his card as he matched par with a 72 to finish in second place among the older guys and in the overall standings.

   Powell’s three birdies on the outgoing nine at Elmhurst enabled him to tour the front nine in 2-under 34.

   Sebastian Park of Lansdale and Judd Fletcher of Moorestown, N.J. each posted a 4-over 76 to finish in a tie for third place in the 16-to-18 division and in a tie for third in the overall standings with Logan McGinn of South Williamsport, who landed at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division.

   Park made an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole, added birdies on seven and 11 and had eight pars on his card. Fletcher made birdies on the fourth and 15^th holes and had 12 pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from 11 through 14.

   Holden Sparks, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier as a sophomore at Nazareth last fall, headed a group of four players who finished in a tie for fifth place in the 16-to-18 age group and in a tie for sixth in the overall scoring, each signing for a 5-over 77. Sparks was coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory the previous weekend in a Philly Junior Tour York Series stop at Out Door Country Club.

   Joining Sparks at 5-over were Quin Zuegner, a junior on the golf team at The Hill School and a New Hope resident, David Nissen, a junior on the Wissahickon golf team, and Jackson Murland, a Villanova resident and a junior on the Friends’ Central golf team.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division and finishing in a tie for 11^th place in the overall scoring were Jack Pavuk, a Clarks Summit resident and PIAA Class AA qualifier as a junior at Scranton Prep last fall, and Matthew Haggerty, both of whom ended up in a tie for ninth place, each recording a 79.

   Pavuk, Haggerty and Sebastian Leone, a freshman on the Radnor golf team that finished in a tie for second place in the PIAA Class AAA team competition last fall, nailed down the final spots in qualifying for the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship. Leone finished in a tie for third in the 13-to-15 division.

   McGinn opened his round with back-to-back birdies at the first and second holes, added birdies at six, 10 and 14 and had five pars on his card as he finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 4-over 76.

   McGinn joined Park and Fletcher from the 16-to-18 division in the tie for third place in the overall standings. McGinn finished in a tie for 10^th place in the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship last summer at the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve.

   Bryce Bussom of Lewisburg punched his ticket to the Philadelphia Boys Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood as he made birdies on the 10^th and 14^th holes and had 10 pars on his card to earn runnerup honors in the 13-to-15 division and finish 10^th overall with a 6-over 78.

   Leone, the Radnor freshman, was the final player in the 13-to-15 division to qualify for a spot at Bellewood as he made a birdie on the 10^th hole and had 10 pars on his card, including four straight pars to open his round, on his way to a 79 that left him in third place among the younger guys and in a tie for 11^th in the overall standings with Pavuk and Haggerty from the 16-to-18 division.

   A couple of West Chester residents who were freshmen in the Malvern Prep golf program last fall, Tucker Detwiler and Owen Ciesielka, accounted for the next two spots in the 13-to-15 division as Detwiler took fourth place with an 84 and Ciesielka was fifth with an 85.

   Oliver Hubbert, a Gwynedd Valley resident and a freshman in the golf program at Catholic League power La Salle, and Richard Davoli of Ambler finished in a tie for sixth place among the younger guys, each carding an 86.

   Brody Campbell, a Plymouth Meeting resident and a freshman on the Malvern Prep JV last fall, took eighth place with an 87 and Joseph Hoynoski IV of Hatfield finished a shot behind Campbell in ninth place with an 88.

   Josiah Zimmerman of Camp Hill rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as he finished in 10^th place with a 93.

   Madison Walker of Tunkhannock had the best score among the girls as she had five pars on her scorecard, four of them on the outgoing nine at Elmhurst, to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division with a 91.

   It was not a qualifier for the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship, which is basically an open tournament and will be played July 6 at DuPont Country Club near Wilmington, Del.

   The top finishers at DuPont will earn a spot in the field in the Girls Junior PGA Championship, which will be played simultaneously with the guys at Fields Ranch East and West in Frisco, Texas and tees off July 28.

   Julia Biko, a sophomore on the North Pocono golf team, rounded out the field in the 16-to-18 division as she had six pars on her card, including three pars in a row at the 12^th, 13^th and 14^th holes, on her way to a 93.

   Alexa Mcelwain of Schnecksville was the lone entry in the 13-to-15 division and she posted a 108.

   Kash Gray of Eagleville had four 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 6-over 42.

   Blake Shurman of Villanova and Jace Collins of Spring Brook Township finished in a tie for second place, each ending up a shot behind Gray with a 43.

   Shurman made a birdie on the eighth hole and had a par on four. Collins, coming off a weekend sweep of the Philly Junior Tour’s York Series stops at Regents’ Glen Country Club and Out Door, had five pars on his card, opening his round with three straight pars.

   Andrew DElia of Clarks Summit took fourth place with a 44 and Nolan Dunkelberger of Nazareth rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he finished fifth with a 57.