Rohanna leads Waynesburg to WPIAL team golf finals
Remember that old World War II slogan about not repeating what you heard for it was said that loose lips could sink ships. Robert Rohanna will be quick to tell you that lips can also get you in trouble on the golf course.
Waynesburg High’s leadoff golfer ran into some “lip” trouble Tuesday but still had an outstanding day at the Duck Hollow Golf Club, shooting a two-under-par 70, as he led the Raiders into the WPIAL team championship finals later this week.
Rohanna was almost perfect on the front nine, hitting a par, a bogey, then seven consecutive pars to finish the nine, plus two more to start the back nine, followed by birdies on four of the last seven holes to finish 36-34-70 and earn medal honors for the day.
Rohanna’s 70 led the Raiders to a 414 team total, one stroke ahead of runner-up Serra Catholic’s 415 as both moved ahead to the championship round Thursday. Pepe was 37-35 for par 72, joining Rohanna and Neshannock’s Andrew Rickard (39-38-77) as the only golfers in the field to break 80 over the par 35-37-72 course.
Rounding out the field were Freeport with a 422, Neshannock, 428; Burgettstown, 434; Sewickley Academy, 439; Bentworth, 469 and Center, 473.
Rohanna was one over with a 36 on the front with a bogey on two (340, 4), then hit his stride on the back nine. He parred 10 and 11 then hit successive birdies at 12, 13 and 14, a bogey on 15, a bird on 16 and then parred out.
Rohanna ran into his first bit of “lip” trouble at two, where, with the wind in his face, he “hit a five-wood out to the corner then a wedge to about 25 feet from the pin, which was on a down slope. When I hit the ball, it went past the cup and downhill about eight feet. Coming back I lipped the cup and ended up three putting.”
Then came nine successive pars before starting his birdie run at 12, a layout that was troublesome for many in the field, with the pin placement in the front on a slight rise.
On 12 (144, 3), Rohanna “hit a wedge to about 30 feet left of the pin and then had about a six-foot break on the putt, which dropped in. On 13 (456, 4), I hit a driver and seven iron to about 15 feet from the pin for the chance at an eagle. But the putt lipped out, and I got a 2-foot putt for bird. I hit a good drive on 14 (300, 4), trying to put it on the green, but it hooked to the left and hit a big tree, dropping straight down. I hit a sand wedge about 90 yards to 10 feet from the pin, then got a three-foot break on the putt and made it.”
A bogey on 15 (548, 5) offset one of those birds. Rohanna said, “This looks like an easy par five, and I hit a five-wood about pin high to the left. But then I hit too short and got a good chip to about eight feet away then missed the putt.”
That bogey was offset by a bird on 16 (165, 3), where he “hit a seven-iron to about two feet, and made the putt.”
Rohanna called the round “my best ever on this course. The only bad thing was, I had seven lipouts on the front and three more on the back. I hit good shots all day, maybe a little erratic off the tees, but the irons made up for it. I didn’t do anything perfect; it was just consistency in all parts of my game.”
Pepe had three birds and offset them with three bogies – the latter attributed to “just everything going wrong on those holes.”
He birdied 13 with “a good drive to the left in some trees, then got out with a good six-iron shot to about 20 feet from the pin and two-putted (the last from 4 feet) for the bird. On 15, I hit a three-wood both off the tee and on my second shot then missed an eagle when my sand wedge third shot stopped two-inches from the cup for an easy tap-in birdie putt. On 18 (302, 4), I hit a three-wood left into the rough, then put a sand wedge within 12 feet and got the putt.”
Pepe felt that he “putted really well. I hit my irons pretty well. I didn’t drive all that well, but the irons picked me up.”
With the last foursome still out, Serra had the chance to catch Waynesburg, trailing by the one stroke that would be the final edge. Ryan Beabout came in with 98 for WHS, and Dan Quinn had an 89 for Serra. Since only the five lowest scores are counted in team play, both were discarded. But it was close right to the end with Quinn going bogey and double-bogey on the last two holes. One stroke off each of those and Serra has a tie.
Waynesburg coach John Garber, happy that his team advanced to the WPIAL finals for the third year in a row, said, “Our goal coming in here today was to just be one of the top two teams, and we achieved that. Robert did very well with his two-under score, Kellen Haines (80) played solid, and Aaron Pyle, our number five player, getting an 83 was a real big help.”
Play gets under way at 10 a.m. Thursday, at Lindenwood Golf Course with the four Division I finalists going first, followed by the four Division II entries.