Golf: Entries open for Schuylkill County Junior Golf Championship

From left, Lourdes' Vivian Reiprish (high school girls' division), Schuylkill Haven's Talan Spittler (overall, high school boys' division) and Blue Mountain's Austin Marrongelle (elementary division) pose after the 2024 Schuylkill County Junior Golf Championship. (Photo by Leroy Boyer)

Youth golfers, now is your time.

The 2025 Schuylkill County Junior Golf Championship will be held Monday, July 28, at the Schuylkill Country Club with a 10 a.m. shotgun start.

The official entry deadline is Monday, July 21, but late entries will be accepted until Friday, July 25. To enter, fill out a form including name, school, grade entering in the 2025-26 school year and division (male or female, high school, junior high, elementary). Forms may be dropped off at the Schuylkill Country Club, Hidden Valley Golf Course, White Birch Golf Course or Mountain Valley Golf Course. Golfers also may send their information to their high school coach, and that coach can forward entries to the tournament director.

The entry fee is $20 (cash only) and includes an 18-hole round of golf, a hot dog and a drink.

The Junior Championship is open to any Schuylkill League student-athlete who is entering 12th grade or lower in the 2025-26 school year. The event will have three divisions and is based on the gender and grade the student-athlete is about to enter:

***High School (10th to 12th grade) — Males play 18 holes from the Yellow Tees; females play 18 holes from the Red Tees;

***Junior High (7th to 9th grade) — Males and females play 18 holes from the Red Tees;

***Elementary (6th grade and below) — Males and females play 9 holes from the Red Tees.

Student-athletes may play up a division if they so choose. For example, a 9th grader may choose to compete in the high school division.

Last year, Schuylkill Haven’s Talan Spittler shot an even-par 69 to capture the overall championship held at White Birch Golf Course, Barnesville.

Spittler, then a senior, won his first county junior title and placed first in the High School Boys’ Division by two strokes over North Schuylkill then-junior Jude Maziekas, who carded a 71.

Tamaqua’s Sam Vinc, then an eighth-grader who played up in the High School Division, was third with a 72, followed by Blue Mountain then-senior Cole Yelinek (74), Schuylkill Haven then-sophomore Alan Evans (74), Pottsville then-junior Maxum Direnzo (76) and Tamaqua then-senior Noah Steigerwalt (76).

Lourdes then-sophomore Vivian Reiprish carded an 81 to win the High School Girls’ Division, with Blue Mountain then-junior Delaney Walborn (87) placing second and Nativity then-senior Carleigh Palmieri (90) taking third.

Blue Mountain’s Austin Marrongelle, then a fifth-grader, took top honors in the nine-hole junior high boys’ tournament, shooting a 42. Weatherly then-sixth-grader Jaren Hinkle was second with a 58 while Pottsville then-third-grader Bryce Freed was third with a 65.