Stern, Andrews make it a 1-2 finish for Souderton in a Philly Junior Tour stop at Bluestone

 

   Landon Stern and Chase Andrews, seniors on the Souderton golf team, finished 1-2, respectively, in the 16-to-18 division in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Bluestone Country Club in Whitpain Township July 29^th.

   Stern made birdies at the eighth, 11^th and 14^th holes and had 12 pars on his scorecard, including five straight pars to open his round, as the matched par with a solid 71 to claim a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 16-to-18 division.

   Andrews, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, opened his round with a bang, making an eagle at Bluestone’s par-5 opener. He added birdies at the fourth and 12^th holes and had nine pars on his card while earning runnerup honors with a 4-over 75 that left him four shots behind his Big Red teammate.

   The foursome of Nolan Murray Jr., who wrapped up his scholastic career at Upper Dublin last fall, Lance Bergin of Wayne, Vaughn Smartt of Bryn Mawr and Alex Fischer of Fort Washington shared third place, each ending up with a 6-over 77.

   Murray made birdies at the 10^th and 16^th holes and had 10 pars on card, including a string of four consecutive pars from three through six. Bergin made a birdie at the seventh hole and had 10 pars on his card.

   Smartt opened his round with a birdie at the first hole, added another birdie at 17 and had eight pars on his card, including a string of four straight pars from nine through 12. Fischer made birdies at the first and 10^th holes and had eight pars on his card, including four straight pars to open his round.

   Another member of the Souderton golf team, junior Declan Henry, headed a trio tied for seventh place at 79 that also included Greg Kriz, a Blue Bell resident and a senior on the St. Joseph’s Prep golf team, and Ian Zuroski, a senior on the Methacton golf team.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was Luca Diez, a Philadelphia resident and a junior on the roster of Catholic League power La Salle, as he finished in 10^th place with an 81.

   Helmut Dang, a talented 13-year-old from Newtown Square, made birdies at the 12^th and 14^th holes and had 11 pars on his scorecard, including four straight pars to close out his round as he claimed a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with a 3-over 74.

   Aidan Maguire of Blue Bell and Brody Campbell, a Plymouth Meeting resident and a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team, shared runnerup honors as they finished in a tie for second place, each ending up a shot behind Dang with a 4-over 75.

   Maguire made a birdie at the 17^th hole and had 13 pars on his card, twice rattling off four straight pars on the first four holes of his round and again from six through nine.

   Campbell made birdies at the first and 13^th holes and had 10 pars on his card, including five straight pars to finish up his round.

   Yet another Souderton player, Daniel Ross, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a freshman last fall, headed a trio of players tied for fourth place at 79 that included Preston Minio of Lansdale and Tucker Detwiler, a West Chester resident and a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team.

   Will Sylvester of Wayne took seventh place with an 80 and Oliver Eckert, a sophomore on the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy golf team, and Chase Maurer of Lititz finished in a tie for eighth place, each signing for an 81.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division were Benjamin Lear of West Chester and Kaycen Subbio of Blue Bell as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each recording an 82.

   Annie Corrigan, a Huntingdon Valley resident and a junior on the Mount St. Joseph golf team, was the lone entry in the girls 16-to-18 division and put together a really solid 6-over 77.

   Corrigan made a birdie at the eighth hole and had 10 pars on her scorecard, including a string of four consecutive pars from four through seven.

   Gabrielle Kim of Ambler made a birdie at the 14^th hole and had five pars on her scorecard, finishing up her round with consecutive pars at 16, 17 and 18, as she earned a Philly Junior Tour victory in the 13-to-15 division with an 88.

   Lila Collingwood, a Collegeville resident and a sophomore on the Villa Maria Academy golf team, and Olivia Kirmayer, a sophomore on the Downingtown East golf team, shared runnerup honors as they finished in a tie for second place, each registering a 91.

   Collingwood and Kirmayer each had three pars on her card.

   Annabelle Barr of Gladwyne took fourth place with a 105 and Katherine Kremser of Doylestown rounded out the field in the 13-to-15 division as she finished fifth with a 117.

   Ryan Kaye of Lansdale made a birdie at the 17^th hole and had back-to-back pars at 12 and 13 as he bested the field of 12-and-under nine-holers with a 7-over 42.

   Sid Joshi of Coopersburg had five pars on his scorecard as he finished a shot behind Kaye in second place with a 43.

   Benny Pollard of Haverford made pars on the 11^th and 13^th holes as he finished in third place with a 45.

   Kash Gray of Eagleville took fourth place with a 46 and the trio of Michael Antolino of Richboro, Andrew Herman of Telford and Andrew DElia of Clarks Summit finished in a tie for fifth, each carding a 47.

   Rounding out the field in the boys 12-and-under division was Nolan English of Villanova as he finished in eighth place with a 50.

   Claire Malbacho of Haverford was the lone entry in the girls 12-and-under division as she posted a 53.

                                                   

 

 

 

 

Powell, Danby the respective boys, girls winners in Junior Tour Championship at Chester Valley

 

   I’ve got a lot of catching up to do when it comes to reporting on the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour events. Just couldn’t stay away from the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club, where I watched some Philly Junior Tour stars from the past teeing it up in the most important amateur event in golf. Proves it’s OK for you Philly Junior Tour kids of 2026 to dream big. You just never know. I’m skipping ahead to the Junior Tour Championship, but I have every intention of reporting on all the Philly Junior Tour events from late July and into August. High school golf has already started and the players getting off to hot starts probably have the Philly Junior Tour events they played in to thank for enabling them to hit the ground running …

   Cole Powell, the PIAA Class AA champion as a sophomore at Scranton Prep last fall, blitzed Chester Valley Golf Club, a classic layout in East Whiteland, Chester County, with a dazzling 4-under-par 66 to capture the boys overall title in the 48^th Junior Tour Championship Aug. 10^th.

   That was the same day that the U.S. Amateur teed off at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course and Philadelphia Country Club in the opening round of qualifying for match play.

   Play at the U.S. Amateur was suspended late in the day and the opening round had to be completed the next morning.

   That stormy weather limited the girls divisions to nine holes and the boys and girls 12-and-under nine-holers were only able to get in six holes.

   Valerie Danby, the talented 12-year-old from Avondale, defeated Harriton junior Megan Choi, who has reached the PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of her first two seasons of high school golf, in a playoff for the overall girls title after they each finished with a 2-over 37 over Chester Valley’s outgoing nine.

   Pretty sure, the Junior Tour Championship is a Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS) event, offering points to the top finishers that can earn them status on some of the higher-profile junior circuits, most notably the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).

   The JGS points go to top finishers in the 13-to-18 age group. The Philly Junior Tour broke out its usual 13-to-15 and 16-to-18 divisions, so I’ll wrap them up while referring to the overall scoring.

   Powell, who has also led Scranton Prep to its second straight PIAA Class AA team crown, was just too good at Chester Valley, once the home of a stop on the PGA Senior Tour (known these days as the PGA Tour Champions).

   Powell got out of the gate with back-to-back birdies at the first and second holes and another at six while touring the outgoing nine at Chester Valley in 3-under 32.

   Powell also made birdies at the 13^th and 18^th holes and had 12 pars on his scorecard, including a pair of strings of four straight pars from seven through 10 and again from 14 through 17.

   His 66 left Powell at the top of the leaderboard in the overall scoring and in the 16-to-18 division and, as it turned out, all of the top-10 finishers in the overall scoring came out of the group of older guys.

   Declan Conner, a senior on the Ridley golf team, and Carson Will, a senior on the Cumberland Valley golf team, shared second place in the 16-to-18 division as each ended up in red figures with a 1-under 69 that left them three shots behind Powell.

   It’s been a big summer for Conner, who qualified for two of the biggest events in junior golf, teeing it up in the Boys Junior PGA Championship at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas and in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Saucon Valley Country Club.

   Conner made birdies at the first, fourth, 11^th, 14^th and 17^th holes and had nine pars on his card.

   Will, a PIAA Class AAA qualifier a year ago, made an early birdie at the second hole and then finished off his round with consecutive birdies at 16, 17 and 18. He had 11 pars on his card, including a run of eight straight pars from the third through the 10^th holes.

   Ravi Gohel of Mount Laurel, N.J. took fourth place among the older guys with a 1-over 71 and the trio of Quinn Gallagher, a Bryn Mawr resident and a senior on the golf team at The Haverford School, Wissahickon senior Ty Sheftic, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, and State College senior Luke McGraw, who finished in a tie for ninth place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall, finished in a tie for fifth, each tallying a 2-over 72.

   The Chester Valley layout seems to fit McGraw’s eye as he lost in a playoff for the overall title in the Junior Tour Championship a year ago.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division and in the overall scoring was the trio of Malvern Prep senior Colby Komancheck, who capped his junior season by claiming the individual title in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Championship at Radley Run Country Club, Souderton senior Chase Andrews, a District One Class AAA qualifier a year ago, and Devon Prep sophomore Logan Turner, a District One Class AA qualifier as a freshman a year ago, as they finished in a tie for eighth place, each signing for a 3-over 73.

   Turner was coming off a victory in one of the major championships on the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s junior schedule, the Jock MacKenzie Memorial at Sandy Run Country Club the previous week.

   Brody Campbell, a Plymouth Meeting resident and a sophomore on the Malvern Prep golf team, made birdies at the third and 17^th holes and had 10 pars on his scorecard as he finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 13-to-15 division with a 5-over 75.

   The trio of Helmut Dang of Newtown Square, Liam Woznicki, a sophomore on the golf team at Hazleton High, and Jonathan Thomas of Landenberg finished in a tie for second place, each ending up two shots behind Campbell with a 7-over 77.

   The 13-year-old Dang, who has been solid all summer, made a birdie at the 10^th hole and had 10 pars on his card.

   Woznicki made birdies at the fourth and 10^th holes and had nine pars on his card, including a string of five straight pars from 13 to 17. Thomas, another talented 13-year-old, made a birdie at the 15^th hole and had 11 pars on his card, finishing up his round with consecutive pars at 16, 17 and 18.

   Aidan Maguire of Blue Bell was another shot behind Dang, Woznicki and Thomas in fifth place with a 78.

   Another Souderton guy, Daniel Ross, a District One Class AAA qualifier as a freshman a year ago, headed a six-player logjam that rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division, as each recorded a solid 79.

   Joining Ross in the group at 79 were Thomas Holt IV of Haddonfield, N.J., Dean Matta of West Grove, Preston Minio of Lansdale, Jack Lobley, a Gladwyne resident and a sophomore on the golf team at Shipley, and Owen Ciesielka, a West Chester resident and a sophomore on the golf team at Malvern Prep.

   That’s only four shots separating the top 11 finishers in the 13-to-15 division with only seven shots separating the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division, a testament to the kind of competitiveness the guys brought to Chester Valley.

   The 13-to-15 division made a little more noise on the girls side, led by Danby, whose 37 on the front nine at Chester Valley left her at the top of the leaderboard among the younger girls. She then defeated Harriton’s Megan Choi in a playoff to capture the overall title.

   Danby, who finished in a tie for third place in the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship at DuPont Country Club last month, made a birdie at the sixth hole and had six pars on her scorecard, twice rattling off three straight pars at two, three and four again at seven, eight and nine.

   Noor Mehta, a sophomore on the Council Rock North golf team, and Emilie Davoli, a talented 12-year-old from Ambler, finished in a tie for second place in the 13-to-15 division and in a tie for fifth in the overall scoring, each registering a 4-over 39.

   Mehta made a birdie at the fourth hole and had four pars on her card. Davoli had six pars on her card, opening her round with four straight pars.

   Raegan Young of Middletown finished in fourth place among the younger girls and seventh overall with a 40.

   Molly Wagner, a Newark, Del. coming off her freshman season at St. Mark’s, took fifth place in the 13-to-15 division with a 43.

   A couple of clubmates at Overbrook Golf Club, Katelyn Bodge, a freshman on the golf team at Notre Dame Academy, and Sara Fanelli, a junior on the Radnor golf team, were joined by Emma Cowan of Moorestown, N.J. in a three-way tie for sixth place, each posting a 44.

   Katelyn Bodge finished in sixth place in the Inter-Ac League Championship at Sandy Run Country Club as an eighth-grader in May.

   Allison Choi, another member of Penn Valley’s Team Choi, took ninth place with a 46 and Gabrielle Kim of Ambler rounded out the top 10 in the 13-to-15 division as she finished 10^th with a 47.

   Megan Choi was solid with a birdie at the fifth hole and had five pars on her scorecard, three consecutive pars at two, three and four and back-to-back pars at eight and nine as she finished at the top of the leaderboard in the 16-to-18 division with a 2-over 37.

   Megan Choi settled for runnerup honors in the overall standings after falling in a playoff to Danby.

   Conestoga senior Jill Burks, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier who led the Pioneers to the state Class AAA team crown last fall, and Ellie Walls, who capped her sophomore season at Indian River by finishing in third place among the girls in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Championship at Baywood Greens in May, finished in a tie for second place among the older girls and in a tie for third in the overall scoring, each ending up a shot behind Danby and Megan Choi with a 3-over 38.

   Jill Burks had seven pars on her card, including three straight pars at the third, fourth and fifth holes and three more in a row to conclude her round at seven, eight and nine.

   Walls had six pars on her card, opening her round with three straight pars.

   A talented trio of Cardinal O’Hara junior Alaina Carson, who has reached the PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of her first two seasons of scholastic golf, Conestoga senior Corinne McReynolds, Jill Burks’ teammate on the Pioneers’ state Class AAA championship team, and Notre Dame senior Kiersten Bodge, the Inter-Ac League and PAISAA individual champion in May, finished in a tie for fourth place in the 16-to-18 division and rounded out the top 10 in the overall scoring by sharing eighth as each signed for a 41.

   Kiersten Bodge was the runnerup in the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship at DuPont Country Club and represented the Philadelphia Section PGA in last month’s Girls Junior PGA Championship in the Texas heat at PGA Frisco.

   Kiera Post, a junior on the Avon Grove golf team, took seventh place in the 16-to-18 division with a 45, Morgan Tyhanic of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. was eighth with a 46 and Reagan Miller, a junior on the Lampeter-Strasburg golf team, finished ninth with a 48.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the 16-to-18 division was Nicole Tarquinio of Bridgeton, N.J. as she finished in 10^th place with a 50.

   Joey Charpentier of Schwenksville made a birdie on the fourth hole and made back-to-back pars at two and three and again at five and six as he bested the field of 12-and-under nine holers by matching par for six holes with a 24.

   Grayson Wright of Philadelphia had pars on the first five holes on his scorecard as he earned runnerup honors, a shot behind Charpentier with a 1-over 25.

   Jace Collins of Spring Brook Township and James Wilson of Wilmington, Del. were another two shots behind Wright in a tie for third place, each tallying a 3-over 27.

   Collins made consecutive pars at the second, third and fourth holes. Wilson made a birdie at the fifth hole and added a par at the first.

   Chase Venne of Moorestown, N.J. and Kash Gray of Eagleville shared fifth place, each recording a 28 and Michael Antolino of Richboro finished seventh with a 29.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the boys 12-and-under division were Victor Wang of Hockessin, Del., Brody Rollins of Milton, Del. and Jack Kolmer of Wayne as they finished in a tie for eighth place, each registering a 30.

   Katelyn Burks, another member of Paoli’s Team Burks, made a birdie at the fourth hole and had pars at one and six as she bested the field of girls 12-and-under nine-holers with a 3-over 27.

   Lillian Fry of Pennsburg had three pars on her scorecard as she earned runnerup honors with a 4-over 28.

   Trisha Lobo, the talented 11-year-old from Collegeville, made pars at the first and fifth holes as she finished in third place with a 31. Lobo was the Philly Junior Tour’s girls 12-and-under division Player of the Year in 2025.

   Addison Sabatini of West Chester took fourth place with a 33 and Skylar Crutchfield of Elkins Park and Aashi Chakraborty of Kennett Square shared fifth, each posting a 34.

   Arianna Testaiuti of Newtown Square rounded out the field in the girls 12-and-under division as she finished in seventh place with a 40.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kovach takes a major step with victory in Patterson Cup at Tavistock

 

   LedgeRock Golf Club’s Brock Kovach, who has been campaigning on the Golf Association of Philadelphia since he was a junior golfer, became a major winner when he prevailed over Saucon Valley Country Club’s Evan Eichenlaub in a sudden-death playoff at Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield, N.J. to capture the title in the 124^th Joseph H. Patterson Cup, presented by Provident Bank, Aug. 7^th.

   The Patterson Cup’s start Aug. 5^th was plagued by a couple of different rounds of rainy weather. Only the morning wave completed play that day.

   The afternoon wave went out early Aug. 6^th with the second round, after the field was cut, teeing off upon completion of the opening round. The leaders teed off a little after 4 p.m. Originally scheduled to be a 54-hole tournament, the Patterson Cup was cut back to 36 holes.

   Kovach and Eichenlaub finished in a tie atop the leaderboard Aug. 6^th, each ending up with a 7-under-par 135 total, but they took different routes to get there.

   One of those leaders when the opening round was finally completed was the 21-year-old Eichenlaub, a senior on the golf team at George Washington.

   Eichenlaub teed off at the 10^th tee and a wild and crazy first nine holes, that featured just a single par, ensued. Eichenlaub made a birdie at the 10^th hole, bogeyed 11, birdied 12 and 13, bogeyed 14, birdied 15, bogeyed 17 and birdied 18.

   Birdies at the fifth, seventh and ninth holes on a relatively calmer front nine gave Eichenlaub, who starred scholastically at Moravian Academy, a 5-under 66 over the 6,844-yard, par-71 Tavistock layout and a share of the lead following the opening round.

   Eichenlaub was joined at the top of the leaderboard by Lehigh Country Club’s Matt Zerfass, a scholastic standout at Emmaus who wrapped up his college career at Villanova in the spring. Zerfass matched Eichenlaub’s 5-under 66.

   Going off in the first group Aug. 6^th after surviving the cut with a 1-under 70 was the 30-year-old Kovach.

   He was still only 2-under for the championship when he headed for the incoming nine at Tavistock and proceeded to catch fire.

   Kovach made birdies at the 10^th and 11^th holes and then got a huge par save at the par-4 12^th hole when he dropped a 10-footer after missing the green long.

   Kovach then rattled off four straight birdies at the 13^th, 14^th, 15^th and 16^th holes. He capped the run by hitting a 5-iron to eight feet at the 187-yard, par-3 16^th hole and converting the birdie try.

   Suddenly, Kovach was 8-under for the championship. He lost a shot when a poor drive led to a bogey at the 17^th hole. A 45-foot birdie putt at the finishing hole came up a roll short, leaving Kovach with a sizzling 6-under 65 and a 7-under total.

   All he could do after that was wait.

   Eichenlaub got his twilight round off to a nice start with birdies at the fifth and eighth holes to get it to 7-under for the championship.

   Eichenlaub lost a shot with a bogey at the 11^th hole, but got that shot back with a birdie at 12. A bogey at the 15^th hole dropped him to 6-under, but a birdie at 17 enabled Eichenlaub to end up with a 2-under 69 that left him in a tie with Kovach with darkness settling in at Tavistock.

   The playoff was the first thing in the morning Aug. 7^th and Kovach and Eichenlaub both made birdies at the 342-yard, par-4 10^th hole.

   Kovach, however, made a par on the second playoff hole, the 440-yard, par-4 18^th hole, to earn his first major victory on the GAP circuit.

   Earlier this year, Kovach prevailed in a three-way playoff to capture the title in one of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s major championships, the 85^th George Dressler Memorial at Out Door Country Club.

   “It’s unbelievable,” Kovach told the GAP website following his Patterson Cup victory. “I’ve been wanting one of these for a long, long time. I’ve been around the top of the leaderboard (for a while). It’s really special.

   “GAP has meant so much to me from being a junior golfer all the way all the way up through amateur, now the mid-am life. So, it feels incredible. That’s the easiest way to describe it.”

   Pretty funny, but I started this post in the early hours of Tuesday before heading up to Stonewall for a loop in a U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship qualifier at the Old Course.

   And wasn’t Brock Kovach and his partner, Eric Edwards of Charlotte, N.C., in our group. And didn’t they fire a 6-under 64 that left them in a tie for medalist honors. It was, however, a three-way tie and only two spots to next spring’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Erin Hills in Wisconsin were available.

   Kovach and Edwards, college golf teammates at George Mason, survived the playoff with a par at the Old Course’s par-3 ninth hole, and are headed for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball for a second straight spring.

   Our group started off the 10^th tee and the pair finished with a flourish, Edwards hitting it close at the par-3 seventh hole and making the birdie putt, Kovach sending his approach at the tough par-4 eighth way up in the air, dropping it three feet from the hole and converting the birdie try and Edwards hitting it close again at the par-3 ninth hole and draining the birdie putt.

   Back at Tavistock and the Patterson Cup, Aronimink Golf Club’s Hunter Stetson, a junior on the North Carolina State golf team, made a solid defense of the Patterson Cup title he won a year ago at Waynesborough Country Club as he added a 3-under 68 in the second round to his opening round of 2-under 69 to finish in a tie for third place with a 5-under 137 total.

   Stetson captured the title in the Bert Linton Memorial for the Inter-Ac League’s individual title in 2021 as a sophomore at Episcopal Academy. The Patterson Cup was a tuneup for Stetson for his appearance in the U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club’s East Course and Philadelphia Country Club.

   Stetson was joined at 5-under by Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Tyler Stahle, who starred on some really good club teams at Villanova, and LuLu Country Club’s Christian Matt, who wrapped up his college career at Saint Joseph’s in the spring.

   Stahle had the same splits as Stetson, adding a 3-under 68 in the second round to his opening-round 69.

   Matt, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Wissahickon, opened with a 3-under 68 before adding a 69 in the second round.

   Never quite got around to giving Matt credit for playing a big role in putting LuLu over the top in the four-team playoff that decided the winner of the BMW GAP Team Matches in the spring.

   Matt and his partner, Kevin O’Brien, were the odd team out in the playoff in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball qualifier at Stonewall Tuesday after recording a sparkling 6-under 64. Matt and O’Brien are first alternates and it’s a long time between now and late May of 2027, so we’ll see.

   Zerfass added a 1-over 72 to his opening round of 5-under 66 at Tavistock to finish in a tie for sixth place with The Country Club of York’s Rij Patel and Saucon Valley Country Club’s Jake Haberstumpf, each ending up with a 4-under 138 total.

   Patel, who played his college golf at Harvard, had matched par in the opening round with a 71 before adding a sparkling 4-under 67 in the second round.

   Haberstumpf, who has had made several stops on his college golf journey, is headed for Liberty for his final year of eligibility. He added a 1-under 70 in the second round to his opening-round 68.

   Overbrook Golf Club’s David Colleran, a Radnor High standout who played his college golf at Drexel, and Richard Riva, a former standout at Saint Joseph’s, finished in a tie for ninth place, each landing on 3-under 139.

   Colleran opened with a 2-under 69 before adding a 70 in the second round. Riva opened with a 3-under 68 before matching par in the second round with a 71.

   Little Mill Country Club’s Troy Vannucci, the Patterson Cup champion two years ago at Concord Country Club, headed a trio tied for 11^th place at 2-under 140 that included Laurel Creek Country Club’s John Stevenson and Aronimink’s Liam Crowley. Vannucci opened with a 3-under 68 before adding a 1-over 72 in the second round.

   Stevenson, a scholastic standout at La Salle who is a junior on the Drexel golf team, carded back-to-back 1-under 70s.

   Crowley, the Bert Linton winner who will help Episcopal Academy defend its Inter-Ac title as a senior with the Churchmen, matched Vannucci’s splits, opening with a solid 3-under 68 before adding a 1-over 72 in the second round.

   Also decided at the Patterson Cup was the Silver Cross Award, GAP’s stroke-play championship for the summer, and it went to Merion Golf Club’s Drue Nicholas.

   Nicholas finished in a large group tied for 14^th place in the Patterson Cup with a 1-under 141 total.

   Nicholas’ rounds at Tavistock, an opening round of 1-under 70 and an even-par 71 in the second round, combined with his scores in qualifying for match play for the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship, a 3-under 69 at Sunnybrook Golf Club and a 1-under 69 at The 1912 Club gave him the Silver Cross Award with a 5-under 279 total.

   Eichenlaub finished two shots behind Nicholas in second place with a 3-under 281 total.

   It was the first Silver Cross Award for the 24-year-old former Drexel standout who already owns titles in four GAP major championships, the Patterson Cup in 2022 at St. Davids Golf Club, the Philly Amateur a year ago at Aronimink, and back-to-back Philadelphia Open crowns at Bidermann Golf Club a year ago and at Lancaster Country Club last month.

   Nicholas joined Merion earlier this year and was given the honor of striking the first drive when the U.S. Amateur teed off at his new home course, the historic East Course at Merion, Aug. 10^th.