Nikolaidis, Gallagher share medalist honors in Philly Junior Tour's Hickory Valley Open

 

   Billy Nikolaidis, a junior on the Muhlenberg golf team, and Quinn Gallagher, a senior on the golf team at The Haverford School, shared medalist honors in the Hickory Valley Open, a two-day Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) event July 16^th and 17^th.

   Hickory Valley Golf Club’s pair of challenging courses, the Ambassador Course and the Presidential Course, where Route 662 and Route 73 come together in New Hanover Township, just east of Gilbertsville, were both utilized in what has been an annual stop on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour.

   The JGS events offer points that can help players earn status on some of the higher-profile junior circuits, most notably the American Junior Golf Association.

   The Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 16-to-18 and 13-to-15 age groups and I’ll wrap them up. The JGS awards points to players ages 13 to 18 and normally I would refer to the overall scoring, but, in this case, all of the top-10 finishers in the overall standings came out of the older 16-to-18 division.

   The Ambassador Course seems to have played tougher in the opening round July 16^th and Nikolaidis got a big jump on the field with a sparkling 2-under-par 69.

   Nikolaidis made birdies on the first, third, seventh, eighth, 14^th and 18^th holes and had eight pars on his scorecard, touring the outgoing nine in 3-under 33.

   Nikolaidis made birdies at the ninth, 10^th and 17^th holes and had nine pars on his card as he struggled a little with a 5-over 77 in the second round July 17^th at the Presidential Course.

   That left him with a 3-over 146 total and tied at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring with Gallagher.

   Nikolaidis was coming off a Philly Junior Tour victory earlier in the week at The Berkshire Country Club, a little closer to home for him in Reading.

   Gallagher came on strong in his second round at the Presidential Course as he went back-to-back with birdies at the fifth and sixth holes, added another birdie at 11, went back-to-back again with birdies at 13 and 14 and put an exclamation point on an even-par 72 with an eagle at the par-5 17^th as he caught Nikolaidis at 3-over.

   Gallagher also had eight pars on his card, including four straight pars to open his second round at the Presidential Course.

   Gallagher had entered the second round trailing Nikolaidis by five shots as he made birdies at the first, 11^th and 15^th holes and had 11 pars on his card, including a string of four straight from five through eight, in an opening round of 3-over 74 at the Ambassador Course. Gallagher toured the incoming nine in 1-under 34.

   Alex Hoskins, a junior on the State College golf team, had the best round of the day in the second round at the Presidential Course with a 2-under 70 that left him two shots behind Nikolaidis and Gallagher in third place with a 5-over 148 total.

   Hoskins made birdies at the third, sixth, ninth, 13^th and 17^th holes and had 10 pars on his card in his solid second round at the Presidential Course.

   Hoskins couldn’t find a birdie in his opening round at the Ambassador Course as he had 11 pars on his card on his way to a 7-over 78.

   It was another five shots back to Daniel Herzchel of Linwood, N.J. in fourth place as he added a 3-over 75 in the second round at the Presidential Course to his opening round of 7-over 78 at the Ambassador Course for a 10-over 153 total.

   William Thorkelson, a Bryn Mawr resident and a sophomore on the golf team at The Haverford School, and Colby Seislove, who wrapped up his scholastic career at Spring-Ford by earning a trip to the District One Class AAA Championship last fall, finished in a tie for fifth place among the older guys and in the overall standings, each landing on 155, two shots behind Herzchel.

   Thorkelson bounced back from an 81 in the opening round at the Ambassador Course with a solid 2-over 74 in the second round at the Presidential Course.

   After opening with a 6-over 77 at the Ambassador Course, Seislove added a 6-over 78 in the second round at the Presidential Course.

   Avon Grove senior Shane Cornell, a District One Class AAA qualifier last fall, finished a shot behind Thorkelson and Seislove in seventh place with a 156 total as he added a 7-over 79 in the second round at the Presidential Course to his opening round of 6-over 77 at the Ambassador Course.

   Garnet Valley senior Jack Ferm, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, and Mason Matlack of Boyertown shared eighth place, each ending up two shots behind Cornell with a a 158 total.

   Ferm opened with an 8-over 79 at the Ambassador Course and added a 7-over 79 in the second round at the Presidential Course. Matlack opened with a 5-over 76 at the Ambassador Course, but struggled a little in the second round with an 82 at the Presidential Course.

   Parker Bohn, a senior on the North Penn golf team, rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring as he was a shot behind Ferm and Matlack in 10^th place with a 159 total.

   Bohn opened with a 9-over 80 at the Ambassador Course before adding a 7-over 79 in the second round at the Presidential Course.

   Ryan Comly of Newtown Square opened with a 7-over 78 at the Ambassador Course before struggling a little in the second round with an 83 at the Presidential Course, but that was good enough to earn him a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with a 161 total.

   Ryan Comly made birdies at the second, 15^th and 17^th holes and had eight pars on his scorecard in his opening round at the Ambassador Course that gave him a one-shot lead among the younger guys with his 7-over total.

   Ryan Comly made a birdie at the 12^th hole and had eight pars on his card while struggling a little in the second round at the Presidential Course.

   Sam Nelligan, an incoming freshman at Boyertown playing not far from his Gilbertsville home, and Connor Bates of Schwenksville, had identical splits, each opening with an 80 at the Ambassador Course and adding an 83 in the second round at the Presidential Course, to finish two shots behind Ryan Comly in a tie for second place with a 163 total.

   Nelligan made a birdie at the seventh hole and added an eagle at the par-4 15^th at the Ambassador Course. He had nine pars on his card. Nelligan had 10 pars on his card in his second round at the Presidential Course.

   Bates made birdies at the 10^th and 15^th holes and had eight pars on his card in his opening round at the Ambassador Course. Bates made a birdie at the fifth hole and had eight pars on his card in his second round at the Presidential Course.

   Leonard Anthony of Center Valley finished two shots behind Nelligan and Bates in fourth place with a 165 total as he added an 80 in the second round at the Presidential Course to his opening-round 85 at the Ambassador Course.

   Jack Shea of Harleysville and Stephen Comly III, another member of Newtown Square’s Team Comly, were a shot behind Anthony in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 166.

   Shea bounced back from an opening-round 87 at the Ambassador Course with a solid 7-over 79 in the second round of the Presidential Course. Stephen Comly opened with an 83 at the Ambassador Course and matched that score in the second round at the Presidential Course.

   Joseph Hoynoski IV of Hatfield opened with an 82 at the Ambassador Course and added an 88 at the Presidential Course as he finished in seventh place with a 170 total.

   Toby Parker of Chester Springs finished a shot behind Hoynoski in eighth place with a 171 total as he added an 85 in the second round at the Presidential Course to his opening-round 86 at the Ambassador Course.

   Aidan Maguire of Blue Bell and Nolan Johnson of West Chester shared ninth place, each tallying a 178 total.

   Maguire bounced back from an opening-round 95 at the Ambassador Course with an 83 in the second round at the Presidential Course. Johnson opened with an 86 at the Ambassador Course before adding a 92 in the second round at the Presidential Course.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Ryan Englehart of Schwenksville as he bounced back from an opening round of 102 at the Ambassador Course with a 93 in the second round at the Presidential Course to finish in 11^th place with a 195 total.

   Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr capped a remarkable week by besting the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers for the fourth straight time with a 3-over 75 total.

   Muego began his week with a victory at The Berkshire in Reading July 13^th, claimed a win the next day at the Cobbs Creek Q School Short Course and finished first at Pennsauken Country Club July 15^th before closing out the week with a victory in the two-day Hickory Valley Open.

   Muego made a birdie at the third hole and had seven pars on his scorecard, closing out his round with a run of six straight pars, as he matched par in the second round with a 36 to rally for the victory.

   Muego made a birdie at the sixth hole and had four pars on his card in an opening round of 3-over 39 at the Ambassador Course that left him a shot behind Ryan Stefanski of Newtown Square and Samuel Karas of Blue Bell going into the second round.

   Jack Kolmer of Wayne had six pars on his card as he matched Muego’s 3-over 39 in the opening round at the Ambassador Course. Kolmer had five pars on his card on his way to a 40 in the second round at the Presidential Course that left him in second place, four shots behind Muego with a 7-over 79 total.

   Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville made a birdie at the fourth hole and had four pars on his card as he closed with a 4-over 40 at the Presidential Course to finish two shots behind Kolmer in third place with an 81 total. Charpentier had five pars on his card in an opening-round 41 at the Ambassador Course.

   Stefanski added a 44 in the second round at the Presidential Course to his solid opening-round 38 at the Ambassador Course as he finished in fourth place, a shot behind Charpentier with an 82 total.

   Karas, who had grabbed a share of the lead with Stefanski with an opening round of 2-over 38 at the Ambassador Course, added a 46 in the second round at the Presidential Course to finish two shots behind Stefanski in fifth place with an 84 total.

   Kash Gray of Eagleville carded a pair of 45s on the two courses to take sixth place with a 90 total.

   Nolan English of Villanova added a 48 in the second round at the Presidential Course to his opening-round 44 at the Ambassador Course as he finished in seventh place with a 92 total.

   Cameron Persons of Collegeville added a 46 in his second round at the Presidential Course to his opening-round 48 at the Ambassador Course as he finished in eighth place with a 94 total.

   Bennett Cho of Chesterbrook added a 49 in his second round at the Presidential Course to his opening-round 51 at the Ambassador Course as he finished in ninth place with a 100.

   Jacob Salansky, playing not far from his Gilbertsville home, rounded out the field in the boys 12-and-under division as he added a 52 at the Presidential Course to his opening-round 57 at the Ambassador Course to finish in 10^th place with a 109 total.