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Indians make way to WPIAL team finals

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UNIONTOWN – After a disappointing effort in the WPIAL Individual Golf Championships with only one qualifier at Allegheny Country Club, the Peters Township High School golf team got some revenge Tuesday.

On a pristine day at Duck Hollow Golf Club, the Indians again showed why their program is one of the best in the WPIAL.

Peters Township’s top five golfers shot no higher than 80 and the Indians took first place in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals, qualifying them for the team finals Thursday at Cedarbrook Golf Course. The winner of that team event qualifies for the PIAA Championships, which will be held Oct. 17 and 18 a Penn State’s Blue & White course.

The top three teams yesterday qualified to compete at Cedarbook. Mars, with a score of 401, was second and Moon, at 408, was third.

Nick Wetzel led the Indians with a 77 over the hilly and narrow 6,470-yard par 72 course. Colton Lusk shot 79, and Griffin Hansberry, Nick Haught and Ben Miller turned in 80s.

Austin Malley had the throw-out score of 82, which would have been first or second place on six of the nine participating teams.

Still, Peters Township head coach Dave Kuhn expected better.

“We really expected to be in the low 380s,” Kuhn said. “We obviously weren’t. And that just came down to us collectively not executing the game plan on the back nine. We made mistakes, put ourselves in poor position and that cost us.

“The score we shot on the back nine – and don’t get me wrong – it’s tough and extremely challenging. We knew what we wanted to do but our score collectively on the back nine was the highest of the year by 15 shots.”

Fortunately for Peters Township, the scores over the front nine were some of the best of the season.

“There were a couple challenging holes (on the back nine) where we didn’t put the ball in the right position,” he said. “If you don’t put the ball in the right position, you’re going to pay.”

Wetzel was nine shots better on the front nine, Miller and Haught were eight and Hansberry six.

“The back nine had some rocky areas and the front nine was pretty easy. You could attack a lot of pins,” Hansberry said.

Hansberry had two birdies, one on the par-4 fourth and the par-5 13th.

“I had a great front nine,” said Wetzel, who carded a 1-under-par 34. “The back nine was more of a struggle. I couldn’t get any of the wedges in the right spot or the putts to fall. So that led to a lot of bogeys.”

South Fayette finished in eighth place with a score of 450. Noah Nicklaus shot 80 and Sam Bishop carded an 82. Both are freshmen.

“I definitely could have done better,” Bishop said. “The front nine was easy but the back nine was hard. The last four holes were tough, tighter. They were easier to mess up on.”

Bethel Park finished in sixth place after shooting a 434. Chan Yoon led the Black Hawks with a 76, that included an even-par 35 on the front.

Blake Bertolo was medalist, shooting an even-par 72. He shot two-over 37 on the front and two-under 35 on the back.

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