SALAMANCA — The first installment of this year’s Penn-York Golf Junior Golf League is in the books, with a battle between two Cardinal Hills golfers highlighting the chase for the first Division I boys title of the summer.

Griffin Nelson (Randolph/Cardinal Hills) recorded a 38 on his first nine holes, then shot a 39 on the back nine for a round score of 77 which tied him with Cattaraugus-Little Valley golfer Owen Wright (Cardinal Hills) and Louie Nedzinski (Bavarian Hills).

Wright reached the score of 77 after he scored a 34 on the front nine, but fell behind the pace on the back nine with a score of 43.

Nelson and Wright remained tied after an initial playoff hole, but after a second, the tie was broken and Nelson claimed the first league win of the summer for the boys’ Division I.

“I played pretty good, I played pretty consistent, that was my goal coming in,” Nelson said of his performance. “I just wanted to play pretty consistent. (I had) a couple bogeys here and there, but I got the job done.”

Consistency is something Nelson noted he is aiming to focus on throughout the summer.

“Consistency, not having too many horrible errors,” Nelson said. “I can work with little errors here and there but that’s just what I’ve been working on and what I’m going to be working on.”

Other top local finishers included Allegany-Limestone’s Ryan Lechner (Bartlett) who shot a 79 and Michael Peterson who carded an 80 on 18 holes.

Makenna Heckman (Pennhills) claimed victory in the girls’ Division I after she recorded a score of 34 after nine holes, 11 strokes ahead of second-place. Heckman was humble when speaking on her game and noted that there are still areas where she would like to improve.

“I played OK, I had one bad three-putt, but other than that I was putting good (and) the drives were going straight,” Heckman said. “My irons were a little rough today, I barely hit many greens, so there was a lot of scrambling.”

Olean’s Sophie Bartman (Bartlett) and Bolivar’s Rylee Thompson tied for third on the day with scores of 46 after nine holes.

Much like Division I, the boys’ Division II first and second place trophies were both claimed by Cardinal Hills golfers. Matthew Beaver (Cardinal Hills) and Cody Slade (Randolph) took first and second-place respectively.

Matthew Beaver was consistent, shooting a 41 on the front nine and 42 on the back for a combined score of 83. Slade was in front of Matthew Beaver in the standings after the first nine holes, having recorded a score of 40, but fell behind on the back nine where he carded a 44, falling one stroke short of forcing a playoff.

Cameron Bartman (Bartlett) finished fourth in the boys’ Division II with a score of 89.

The boys’ Division III was won by Kael Riekofsky (Smethport) after he carded a 39 after nine holes. Placing second was Donovan Palumbo (Emporium), who scored a 47.

Luca Vecchio (Bartlett) finished fifth in Division III with a score of 53.

Allegany’s Kennedy Honeck (Bartlett) won the girls’ Division III with a score of 58. Molly Leslie (Bartlett) took second after she carded 62 after nine holes.

Courtney Obergfell (Olean) finished fourth, carding a 69 after nine holes.

The boys’ Division IV came down to a playoff between Randolph’s Kaysen Beaver (Cardinal Hills) and Keegan Smith (Bavarian Hills) after both golfers shot a 37 after nine holes.

After a playoff hole, it was Kaysen Beaver that emerged victorious. While he was happy getting a win in the first match of the season under his belt, Kaysen Beaver is still eyeing the score of 36 his shot in the competition last summer.

Jossalyn Pentz (Eagle Ridge) won the girls’ Division IV with a score of 58.

A special addition to this year’s competition is that each golfer was gifted a sleeve of balls, courtesy of the Frank Williams Memorial Golf Tournament.

Penn-York’s next stop will be Monday, July 8, at Pennhills Country Club in Bradford, Pa. The top-10’s at Elkdale are listed below:

BOYS

DIVISION I (16-18)

Score Points

1. G. Nelson (Cardinal Hills) 77 10

2. O. Wright (Cardinal Hills) 77 9

3. L. Nedzinski (Bav. Hills) 77 8

4. R. Lechner (Bartlett) 79 7

5. L. Howard (Smethport) 80 4.5

5. M. Peterson (Bartlett) 80 4.5

5. P. Chamberlain (Kane) 80 4.5

5. T. Salvaggio (Cardinal Hills) 80 4.5

9. J. Obenrader (Bonas) 82 2

10. C. Riekofsky (Smethport) 84 .5

10. E. Bailey (Wellsville) 84 .5

DIVISION II (14-15)

1. M. Beaver (Cardinal Hills) 83 10

2. C. Slade (Cardinal Hills) 84 9

3. L. McArdle (Caledonia) 87 8

4. C. Bartman (Bartlett) 89 7

5. N. Beaver (Cardinal Hills) 92 5.5

5. G. Preston (Canadea) 92 5.5

7. C. Bakus (Caledonia) 93 4

8. C. Carls (Bartlett) 95 3

9. K. Caskey (Bavarian Hills) 99 2

10. K. Streich (Coudersport) 105 1

DIVISION III (12-13)

(9 Holes)

1. K. Riekofsky (Smethport) 39 10

2. D. Palumbo (Emporium) 47 9

3. D. Martin (Smethport) 51 8

4. K. Caskey (Bavarian Hills) 52 7

5. L. Vecchio (Bartlett) 53 5.5

5. A. Kuhn (Pine Acres) 53 5.5

7. E. Myers (Pennhills) 55 4

8. C. Lundgren (Pennhills) 58 3

9. D. DiCerbo (Bartlett) 62 2

10. A. Rupp (Rolling Hills) 65 2

DIVISION IV (11-under)

(9 holes, modified)

1. K. Beaver (Cardinal Hills) 37 10

2. K. Smith (Bavarian Hills) 37 9

3. H. Honeck (Bartlett) 42 8

4. G. Blocher (Bartlett) 45 6.5

4. K. Caskey (Bavarian Hills) 45 6.5

6. K. McArdle (Caledonia) 46 4.5

6. G. Beaver (Cardinal Hills) 46 4.5

8. J. McDow (Bartlett) 51 3

9. A. Wade (Elkdale) 53 2

10. Z. Streich (Coudersport) 54 1

GIRLS

DIVISION I (14-18)

(9 holes)

1. M. Heckman (Pennhills) 34 10

2. S. Benjamin (Bavarian Hills) 45 9

3. R. Thompson (Bolivar) 46 7.5

3. S. Bartman (Bartlett) 46 7.5

5. R. Lineman (Pennhills) 49 6

6. S. Krise (Bavarian Hills) 51 5

DIVISION III (12-13)

(9 holes)

1. K. Honeck (Bartlett) 58 10

2. M. Leslie (Bartlett) 62 9

3. A. Sikora (Orchard Park) 68 8

4. C. Obergfell (Olean) 69 7

5. C. Wilson (Bartlett) 71 6

6. A. Henzel (Bartlett) 80 5

7. S. Vecchio (Bartlett) 83 4

DIVISION IV (11-under)

(9 holes, modified)

1. J. Pentz (Eagles Ridge) 58