Boys’ Golf Team Finishes Second At Both Week 1 Megamatches (08/28/2018)
(By CSZ Sports Writer Kenn Staub) The Clarion boy’s golf team opened the KSAC season with megamatches on back-to back days last week. On Wednesday, August 22 the team took on the 2,514 yard, par 34 Foxburg Country Club, with action shifting to the 3,118 yard, par 36 front nine of Clarion Oaks Golf Club on Thursday, August 23.
Wednesday, August 22, 2018: Foxburg Country Club
The big news out of Foxburg on Wednesday was junior Josh Craig’s 39, which earned him medalist honors by three strokes over Clarion-Limestone’s (C-L) Hayden Siegel. Craig was joined in the top ten by teammates Lake Staub and Jackson Fox, who both carded 48s to finish tied for tenth with Cam Walney of Cranberry, Josh Whitmire of Karns City, and Tyler McFadden of Moniteau.
Craig, a junior, was all-conference the past two seasons. Bobcat coach Jay Kerle said, “I’m expecting him to lead the way and put up some solid scores.”
According to Coach Kerle, Staub, a junior, and Fox, a sophomore, “both have potential to compete with Josh and throw up scores. They put a lot of hard work in this summer and I look to have a good year with them.”
Clarion’s team score of 242 was good enough for second place, seven behind Moniteau. Mitch Geiger contributed a 51 to the team tally and Login Dehner a 56.
Geiger and Dehner round out a top five of returning players for Coach Kerle. Geiger, a junior, is entering his third season on the team and Dehner, a senior, his second.
New to the team his freshman Cam Lapinto. Coach Kerle noted, “This is his first year golfing but he’s enjoying it and working hard at it.” Lapinto shot a 59.
Coach Kerle is anticipating a good season from his squad, saying “Team-wise I’d like to think that we’re going to finish in the top three (in the KSAC). I’d like to win it, but C-L’s going to be tough to beat. We should have pretty solid one, two, and three spots and I expect our four, five, and six spots to step up and throw in some good scores to help us out.”
Forest Area (243) finished a stroke behind Clarion for third. C-L was fourth with a team score of 258 and Cranberry rounded out the top five with a 271.
Thursday, August 23, 2018: Clarion Oaks Golf Club
For the second consecutive match a Clarion golfer claimed medalist honors. Playing on the Bobcats’ home course Jackson Fox stepped to the fore and shot a 41, sharing first place with Clarion-Limestone’s (C-L) Hayden Callen.
“I did pretty good off the tee and my short game, putting, and chipping saved me a lot. My irons were iffy but my short game came around and helped me,” said Fox following the round.
Josh Craig, medalist the day before, posted a 42 to stake his claim to third.
Assessing his round, Craig said, “I played alright. Putting was a little difficult, I didn’t putt very well. My drives were pretty good all day. I probably hit four or five greens in regulation. Chip game was alright. It was a pretty solid round and the people around me played pretty good. I think that really affects how you play.”
Lake Staub was the third Clarion golfer to have a top-five round, as his 44 tied him for fourth with C-L’s Ian Callen.
“My second shots were good, but my driver wasn’t quite there today. That bailed me out pretty good,” said Staub.
As a team, the Bobcats (236) finished four strokes behind the winning C-L Lions. Cam Lapinto (54) and Mitch Gieger (55) put up scores that counted to Clarion’s overall five-player tally. Login Dehner finished the day with a 57.
Clarion was eight strokes ahead of third place Forest Area (254). Moniteau (255) was fourth and Cranberry (263) fifth.
After two events, Clarion leads the KSAC with 16 team points. Moniteau and C-L are tied for second with 15. Forest Area is a strong fourth with 14 and Cranberry is fifth (9.5).
Three Bobcats are among the KSAC top ten in scoring average so far this season. Craig is ranked in the top spot with an average of 40.5, followed by Fox, who’s tied for fifth with a 44.5, and Staub in eighth with a 46.0.
The KSAC boys are scheduled to play a magematch today (Wednesday, August 28) at Cross Creek Resort in Titusville and Thursday (August 30) at Hunter Station Golf Club (Tionesta).