Dang matches par at Paxon Hollow with a 71 to capture a Philly Junior Tour victory

 

   Helmut Dang of Newtown Square matched par with a 71 at Paxon Hollow Country Club, the classic layout in Marple Township, to capture a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division Aug. 6^th.

   Dang, who has been solid all summer long, made birdies at the first, seventh and 11^th holes and had 12 pars on his scorecard, including five consecutive pars from three through seven. Dang toured the outgoing nine at Paxon Hollow in 1-under-par 34.

   Dang was coming off a runnerup finish a day earlier in a Philly Junior Tour stop at Medford Village Country Club.

   Bobby Stefanski, another Newtown Square guy, made a birdie at the ninth hole, went back-to-back with birdies at 12 and 13 and added another birdie at the par-5 finishing hole as he finished a shot behind Dang in second place with a 1-over 72.

   Stefanski had nine pars on his card, including six straight pars to begin his round. His three birdies on the back nine enabled Stefanski to tour Paxon Hollow’s incoming nine in even-par 36.

   Aidan Maguire of Blue Bell made birdies at the first, fifth,11^th and 14^th holes and had 10 pars on his card as he took third place with a 3-over 74.

   Declan Mayo of Chadds Ford took fourth place with a 75 and Jack Lobley, a Gladwyne resident and a sophomore on the golf team at The Shipley School, was fifth with a 76.

   The trio of Jake Julian of Malvern, Alex Salata of Devon and Jack Burke of Bryn Mawr finished in a tie for sixth place, each posting a 77.

   Lucas Shank of West Chester took ninth place with a 78 and another West Chester guy, Owen Ciesielka, a sophomore on the golf team at Malvern Prep, rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as he finished 10^th with a 79.

   Only eight shots separated first place from 10^th in a very competitive 13-to-15 age group.

   Luciano Follo made it a sweep of the boys divisions for the Newtown Square contingent as he made a birdie at the 16^th hole and had 14 pars on his scorecard, including a stretch of seven straight pars from nine through 15, as he finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division with a 2-over 73.

   A couple of seniors on the Garnet Valley golf team, Jack Ferm, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, and Jack Yantosh headed a group of four players tied for second at 4-over 75, two shots behind Follo.

   Ferm made birdies at the second and 14^th holes and had 10 pars on his card, including a run of five straight pars from three through seven. Yantosh made a birdie at the 14^th hole,  and had 13 pars on his card, including a run of five straight pars from nine through 13.

   Ferm and Yantosh were joined at 4-over by Vaughn Smartt of Bryn Mawr and Ryan Graham, a senior on the Haverford High golf team.

   Smartt made a birdie at the ninth hole and had 12 pars on his card, including a string of seven straight pars from two through eight. Graham made birdies at the first, sixth, 14^th and 17^th holes and had eight pars on his card.

   The trio of Braydon Dolan, a senior on the Springfield golf team, John Thompson, a junior on the Phoenixville golf team and Alexander Liu of Radnor finished in a tie for sixth place, each signing for a 76.

   Jimmy Warmkessel, who wrapped up his scholastic career last fall by helping Episcopal Academy capture the Inter-Ac League crown, and Jack Kessler of Mickleton, N.J. rounded out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each tallying a 78.

   That made it just five shots separating the top-10 finishers in the 16-to-18 division, a testament to the competitive balance among the older junior players who teed it up at Paxon Hollow.

   The best score among the girls at Paxon Hollow came out of the 13-to-15 division as Mia DeCarlo of Glen Mills made a birdie at the sixth hole and had 12 pars on her scorecard, including a string of six straight pars from nine through 14, as she carded a solid 8-over 79.

   DeCarlo was the winner of the Sam Penecale Scoring Average Award while competing in the girls 12-and-under division in 2025.

   Olivia Kirmayer, a sophomore on the Downingtown East golf team, had four pars on her card, three of them coming on Paxon Hollow’s back nine, as she earned runnerup honors with an 87.

   Allison Choi of Penn Valley had six pars on her card as she finished in third place with a 95.

   Eliza Cahill of Wayne took fourth place 103, Gian Patel of Malvern was fifth with a 106, Olivia Cahill, another member of Wayne’s Team Cahill, was sixth with a 108 and Liana Patel, another member of Malvern’s Team Patel finished seventh with a 110.

   Rounding out the field in the 13-to-15 division was Mae Racowski of Newtown Square as she finished in eighth place with a 120.

   Reagan Miller, a junior on the Lampeter-Strasburg golf team, was the lone entry in the 16-to-18 division and she had five pars on her scorecard, four of them on the incoming nine at Paxon Hollow, on her way to an 88.

   Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville made birdies at the first and seventh holes and had five pars on his scorecard, making consecutive pars at two, three and four, as he bested the field of boys 12-and-under nine-holers with an even-par 35.

   Charpentier has often contended for top honors in a very competitive bunch of boys nine-holers this season.

   James Wilson of Wilmington, Del. made a birdie on the sixth hole and had six pars on his card, opening his round with three straight pars, as he earned runnerup honors with a 2-over 37.

   Ryan Kaye of Lansdale had five pars on his card, rattling off five straight pars from the third through the seventh holes, as he finished in third place with a 39.

   A quartet of players finished in a tie for fourth place with 41s, including Grayson Wright of Philadelphia, Michael Antolino of Richboro, Nolan English of Villanova and Niko Muego of Bryn Mawr.

   Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del. took eighth place with a 42 and Cameron Persons of Collegeville finished ninth with a 44.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division was Bennett Choi of Chesterbrook as he finished in 10^th place with a 45.

   Julie Prickitt of Ambler finished up her round with back-to-back pars at the eighth and ninth holes as she bested the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 52.

   Victoria Leonard of Merion Station earned runnerup honors with a 63 and Katelyn Cunningham of Havertown made a par on the eighth hole as she rounded out the field in the girls 12-and-under division by finishing in third place with a 66.