Menhart leads Mikes past Maples
CARMICHAELS – Joey Menhart had the right “medicine” to give his team a big boost, and at the same time provide an extra dose to a relative. Menhart was both team- and match-medalist with a 3-over-par-40, as Carmichaels defeated Mapletown, 218 to 235, in Division I, Section 8 golf play Tuesday over the front nine at Carmichaels Golf Club.
Joe Clites led Mapletown with 42, including two birdies.
The win left Carmichaels 3-2 overall, 2-2 in section, and Mapletown 0-4, 0-6.
Menhart said, “Driving was the best part of my game today. I hit fairly straight on every hole, plus my putter helped a lot.”
His card included birdies on six (475, 5), seven (426, 5), where he just missed an eagle, and nine (508, 5), but a double-bogey on eight (157, 3) kept him from breaking 40.
On the sixth, Menhart “got to the green in two with a good drive and a 4-iron from 210 yards out, that landed about 20-feet from the pin, and I two-putted. I also had a good drive on seven, but my seven-iron second shot went over the green about 20 feet. I chipped back to within one foot of the pin, just a foot away from an eagle. But I got the putt for a bird. Then on nine I had another good drive, then hit a four-iron about 15 yards off the green, hit on with a wedge, and got a four-foot putt.”
Menhart added, “I got a double-bogey on eight. I had a good tee shot to the fringe, but my chip hit the pin and I three-putted from about 10-feet.”
Of his win, Menhart said, “I was glad I could help our team today with the medal score, and I would also like to present it to my grandfather, Joe Sereg, who underwent surgery and is a patient in Morgantown Hospital.”
Clites, who also had birdies on six and seven, felt “putting was the best part of my game today. The best club in my bag. I had two bad shots to start six, then my sand wedge third shot from 120 yards out landed 25-feet from the pin and I dropped the putt. On seven, I hit another good drive, then hit a gap wedge from about 125 yards out to about eight feet from the cup and got the putt.”
Clites was not pleased with his start on the day, shooting a triple bogey seven on the first (332, 4), where “I hit the green in two, but the ball rolled off the green. My first chip was bad, then I chipped to within 10-feet and three-putted. Without that triple I could have been under 40, but other than that one hole I had a good game.”
Mikes coach Tom McCombs called the decision “a good overall section win.
“We scored higher than we did the last time we were here, but we are going to have to cut that score way down. We play Albert Gallatin and California in our next two matches, and we have to get under 200 if we expect to win.”