Sep 21, 2010 By Mike Ciarochi 4 min read

CARMICHAELS – Loren Dukate of Waynesburg Central and Beth-Center’s Austin Smith each shot a 78 to lead seven golfers who qualified for the WPIAL Division II Championships at the Section 8 qualifier held Monday at Carmichaels Golf Club. Forty golfers played the front nine twice, as stipulated by the WPIAL to make Carmichaels Golf Club a viable site for the event. The qualifying standard at the par-70 layout was 80, meaning the top five golfers, plus all scores below 81 advanced to the next round.

The Division II Championships will be held at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29, at Youghiogheny Country Club in McKeesport.

Behind Dukate, a sophomore, and Smith, a senior, were First Love Christian sophomore Jess Vensel at 80, Jefferson-Morgan junior Alex Rush at 81 and three golfers – Carmichaels junior Brandon Wolfe, California senior Nick Roberts and Waynesburg Central sophomore Aaron Haywood – carded matching 82s to qualify.

Low score among non-qualifiers was an 85 posted by Zach Berkstresser of Jefferson-Morgan, while 87s by Beth-Center’s Matthew Sabatini and Waynesburg Central’s Ben Virgin and 88s by Beth-Center’s Alex Antonio and California’s Blake Mudry were the other sub-90 scores.

Waynesburg Central coach John Garber was the only coach who got more than one golfer through, but he said he expected to have a pair make it.

“I’m not really surprised,” Garber said. “Both Loren and Aaron are capable golfers and both put up consistent scores all year long.”

Jefferson-Morgan coach John Curtis said he hopes Rush can make the most of the experience he gained last year.

“Alex made it last year, so he has a little experience behind him,” Curtis said. “He’s a hard worker, a great student and an all-around good kid.”

Smith rode a strong front nine into an automatic qualifier with his 78, even though he overcame some tough moments on the second time around the layout.

“I almost blew it on the last hole,” Smith said. “I chunked two shots and took a double bogey, but I had enough of a cushion to make it.”

Dukate also struggled a bit more on the second time around than the first, as he followed a 37 with a 41 for his total.

“My drives were really good today, which was good to see because I had been struggling with them,” Dukate said. “Today, they were straight and true.”

Vensel felt confident coming into the qualifier, based on a couple of practice rounds.

“I played here Friday and Saturday and shot a 75 Saturday, so I felt pretty good about my chances,” Vensel said.

The other four qualifiers had to wait for the remainder of the golfers to finish before knowing for sure they had advanced. That led to a few harrowing hours of waiting.

“Hopefully, it’s good enough,” said Rush. “My back nine was better than the front. I knew where to play them the second time around.”

Plus, he was a stroke ahead of the three golfers who ended up tied for the fifth and last spot.

Wolfe admitted that he was “still holding my breath,” as scores came in, but felt more confident as the day progressed. “I hit an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 6 the second time,” Wolfe said. “That was probably my best hole.”

Roberts had a right to be nervous, but overcame his nerves to post a solid score.

“This is my first time in this event, so it wasn’t too bad. I found out that out-of-bounds is not your friend,” Roberts said. “Overall, it was a good day.”

Emotions went back and forth for Haywood.

“I left a couple of shots out there,” Haywood said, referring to short putts he missed on Nos. 2 and 5 the first time around. “I was thinking that 81 would make it, so when I came in at 82, I was wondering about those putts. But as the day went on, I started feeling more confident.”

As for the next round, Garber and Curtis agreed that it is a greater challenge for their golfers.

“The key is to get a practice round in,” Garber said. “The greens are probably faster and more undulated than we have here at Carmichaels. We’ll have to be able to putt their greens. Loren is pretty accurate and he has a good short game. Aaron is a little bit longer.”

“Alex doesn’t hit it real far, but he hits it pretty straight, so he should be OK,” Curtis said. “Youghiogheny is a tough course, but if you hit it straight there, you should be OK. I think he’ll represent our section well.”

In Division II, Section 2 action, Geibel Catholic’s Mike Noonan fired a 82 for fifth place at Mount Odin Golf Course.