Rolling Green's Bottos captures title in WGAP Junior Girls' Championship at Honeybrook

 

   Rolling Green Golf Club’s Nicolette Bottos outdueled a strong field, including a couple of her teammates on Conestoga’s PIAA Class AAA championship team from last fall, to capture the title in the Prep Division of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior Girls’ Championship July 15^th and 16^th at Honeybrook Golf Club in the northwest corner of Chester County.

   Bottos, who will be a junior at Conestoga this fall, trailed her fellow Pioneer Corinne McReynolds by two shots after Bottos opened with a 1-over 71, but she pulled away from the field with a final round of 1-under 69 that gave her a five-shot victory over DuPont Country Club’s Meredith Finger, Stella Bernard of Sewell, N.J. and York Suburban senior Vivienne Powers.

   The opening round was played in high heat and humidity and the second round featured more of the same with an added dose of smoke from faraway Canadian wildfires.

   Bottos got off to a slow start in the opening round with bogeys at the first, second and fifth holes. She righted the ship with a birdie at the sixth hole, but fell back to 2-over with a bogey at nine.

   Bottos, however, got it going on Honeybrook’s incoming nine with birdies at the 11^th and 14^th holes and seven pars to get it to the house at 1-over.

   Bottos, who finished in fifth place in last month’s Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship at Lebanon Country Club, got her second round off to a better start as she made birdies at the second and sixth holes.

   After a bogey at the eighth hole, Bottos got it back to 2-under for the round with a birdie at 11. Bottos made a bogey at the 13^th hole, but grinded out five pars to finish out her solid second round in red figures for the day.

   Finger captured the WGAP Junior Girls’ crown two summers ago and capped her scholastic career at Archmere Academy with a runaway 12-shot victory in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Championship at Baywood Greens in May.

   Finger, who will join the program at Bradley University later this summer, led the Auks to the Delaware state team crown at Baywood Greens.

   Finger opened with a 2-over 72 and added a 3-over 73 in the second round to get a share of runnerup honors at 4-over 145.

   Bernardi bounced back from an opening round of 5-over 75 by matching par in second round with a 70 to get a share of second place at 5-over.

   Powers, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier, opened with a solid 1-over 71 and added a 74 in the second round to round out the trio tied for second place.

   Bottos, Finger, Bernardi and Powers all earned exemptions to the WGAP Mary Thayer Farnum Cup, the Class A Stroke Play Championship, Aug. 12 and 13 at Northampton Country Club.

   Valerie Danby, the 12-year-old phenom from Avondale, finished two shots behind the trio tied for second place as her 7-over 147 total left her alone in fifth place. Valerie Danby added a 4-over 74 in the second round to her opening-round 73.

   Whitford Country Club’s McReynolds, a senior at Conestoga, got it going in the opening round to grab the lead with a 1-under 69.

   McReynolds got off to a fast start with back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes. A double bogey at the fifth hole slowed her roll a little, but McReynolds bounced right back with a birdie at six to get back to 1-under for her round.

   McReynolds made a bogey at the 13^th hole, but a birdie at 16 enabled her to finish in red figures for the day.

   McReynolds struggled in the second round with a 79 to finish a shot behind Valerie Danby in sixth place with an 8-over 158 total.

   White Manor Country Club’s Jill Burks, a senior at Conestoga, and Nazareth Academy senior Adriana Seravalli finished in a tie for seventh place, each landing on 9-over 149.

   Burks, Bottos and McReynolds were teammates on Conestoga’s PIAA Class AAA championship team last fall at Penn State.

   Burks defeated Bottos in the semifinals last summer at Trenton Country Club on her way to the title in the WGAP Match Play Championship. McReynolds was also a semifinalist in the WGAP Match Play Championship last summer.

   Burks, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier individually, opened with a 3-over 73 at Honeybrook before adding a 76 in the second round.

   Seravalli, a PIAA Class AA qualifier last fall, opened with a solid 2-over 72 and added a 77 in the second round to earn a share of seventh place with Burks.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the Prep Division were Overbrook Golf Club’s Katelyn Bodge, a freshman on the Notre Dame golf team, Vidushi Gupta of Malvern and Madison Meng as each ended up in a tie for ninth place with a 10-over 150 total.

   Bodge, who finished in sixth place in the Inter-Ac League Championship at Sandy Run Country Club in May, bounced back from an opening-round 79 with a solid 1-over 71 in the second round.

   Gupta added a solid 3-over 73 in the second round to her opening-round 77. Meng opened with a solid 2-over 72 before adding a 78 in the second round.

   Really strong showing by Sara Sun in finishing at the top of the leaderboard in the Futures Division as she carded a pair of 1-under 69s for a 2-under 138 total that gave her a four-shot victory.

   Sara Sun was solid in her opening round as she made a birdie on the second hole, gave a shot back with a bogey at eight and added another birdie at nine before matching the card on the incoming nine with nine straight pars.

   Sara Sun opened the second round with a birdie at the first hole and added birdies at 11 and 13 before cooling off a little with bogeys at 16 and 18.

   Emilie Davoli of Ambler was Sara Sun’s closest pursuer as she grabbed the lead with an opening round of 2-under 68 before adding a 4-over 74 in the second round that left her four shots behind Sara Sun in second place with a 2-over 142 total.

   Davoli had it going in the opening round as she made birdies at the fifth, ninth, 11^th and 14^th holes to get it to 4-under for the round before cooling off a little with bogeys at 15 and 17.

   Another member of Team Sun, Mona Sun, posted a pair of 2-over 72s to finish two shots behind Davoli in third place with a 4-over 144 total.

   Allison Murphy of Phoenixville added a 6-over 76 in the second round to her opening-round 74 to finish in fourth place with a 150 total.

   Katelyn Burks, younger sister of Jill Burks, closed with a solid 2-over 73 after opening with a 78 as she finished a shot behind Murphy in fifth place with a 151 total.

   Evelyn Kong recorded back-to-back 78s as she finished in sixth place with a 156 total.

   Gigi Gratz, a junior on the North Penn golf team, and Joslen Bannon shared seventh place, each ending up two shots behind Kong with a 158 total.

   Gratz and Bannon had identical splits, each adding a 7-over 77 in the second round to an opening-round 81.

   Stella Varano of Schwenksville added an 82 in the second round to her opening-round 80 as she took ninth place with a 162 total.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the Futures Division was Lillian Fry of Pennsburg as she added an 81 in the second round to her opening-round 85 to finish in 10^th place with a 166 total.

   Sophie Kim edged another member of Team Danby, Victoria Danby, by a shot in a spirited battle for the top spot in the Discovery Division.

   Sophie Kim made a bogey at the 10^th hole and a birdie at 15 as she matched par in the opening round with a 35 on Honeybrook’s incoming nine.

   Sophie Kim again opened with a bogey at the 10^th hole in the second round, but proceeded to rattle off birdies at 11, 12 and 14 for a 2-under 33 that gave her a 2-under 68 total.

   Victoria Danby trailed Sophie Kim by a shot following an opening round of 1-over 36 as she made a bogey at the 10^th hole, added birdies at 11 and 13 and made bogeys at 15 and 16.

   Victoria Danby got off to a fast start in her second round with birdies at 12^th, 14^th and 15^th holes before a bogey at 16 left her with a 3-under 33 and a 1-under 69 total that was just a shot behind Sophie Kim in second place.

   Another member of Team Kim, Eleanor Kim, and Aashi Chakraborty of Kennett Square finished in a tie for third place, each ending up three shots behind Victoria Danby with a 2-over 72 total.

   Eleanor Kim and Chakraborty had identical splits, each matching par in the second round with a 35 after opening with a 2-over 37.

   Susannah Portadin added a 41 in the second round to her opening-round 39 to finish alone in fifth place with an 80 total.

   It was another six shots back to Charlotte Cabot of Newtown in sixth place as she added a 41 in the second round to her opening-round 45 for an 86 total.

   Elizabeth Wheeler opened with a 47 and added a 46 in the second round to finish in seventh place with a 93 total.

   Avery Jaffe of Richboro added a 47 in the second round to her opening-round 50 as she finished in eighth place with a 97 total.

   Emilia Laign opened with a solid 45 and added a 53 in the second round to finish a shot behind Jaffe in ninth place with a 98 total.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the Discovery Division was Caelan Chalfant as she added a 57 in the second round to her opening-round 56 to finish in 10^th place with a 113 total.