Mustangs down Falcons
Katzeff’s 35 leads Laurel Highlands golfers After six holes, Don Crawford was very concerned.
After the last three holes, Crawford was a bit more relieved, but he still wasn’t completely pleased.
Through the first six holes, his Laurel Highlands golfers were locked in a pretty good battle with Connellsville over the front nine at Duck Hollow, and at that moment, as the old saying goes, anything can happen.
But Connellsville fell short over the last three holes and LH, led by Brandon Katzeff’s par 35, went on to nail a 213-228 win in their Section 2, Division I golf test Tuesday.
Crawford said, “I was very concerned after six. We were up by only three strokes, but then we played steady over the last three while they ran into bogey trouble and we were able to pull away. A win is a win, and I’m happy to see us win, but this is our highest score of the year and if we go to Mount Pleasant next week and shoot this same score we will get beat by 18 strokes.”
Connellsville coach Ken House was “pleased with the team effort we had until the last three holes, then we hit double and triple bogies and that killed us.”
Katzeff’s medal round included two birdies, on four (334-yard, par 4) and eight (514-yard, par 5), two bogies, and five pars.
On both bird holes, he “hit good drives down the middle. On four, I was about 30 yards from the hole, chipped up, and got a two-foot putt.
“On eight I was about 200 yards from the green with my drive, then hit a six-iron to the right. Chipped on, and got a six-foot putt.”
The two birds were offset with bogies on six (322-yard, par 4) and nine (340-yard, par 4).
On six “my tee shot hit a tree and dropped right down. I hit an eight-iron to the front of the green, and got a good chip, but the ball rolled about six feet past the cup. My first putt stopped about three inches from the cup.
“On nine, my drive went left of the green, and a bad chip was short of the green, then I got on and two-putted from four feet. Overall, irons and the putter worked very w ell for me. I had a lot of one and two putt greens.”
Jordan Craig and Jeff Nicholson paced Connellsville with 44s.
Craig noted, “My overall game wasn’t very solid. I didn’t drive very well, although my game got a little better after the drives. My short game made up for some of the driving.
“I didn’t have any birds, although I missed one on two where my second shot landed three feet from the pin, but I missed the putt.”
Nicholson felt “putting was the best part of my game today. I had a good game once I got on the greens, but on some holes it was tough to get there. I did make one long putt, about 30-feet on number two for par. My irons were pretty good, but my driving could have been better.”
For a short time, there was a “mystery” on number nine.
Laurel Highlands golfer Sara Bonchosky hit her second shot to the left, but nobody could find the ball.
Players and coaches joined in the hunt, and finally the ball was found – lodged in the thick needles of a pine tree.
After the allotted moves under golf rules, she hit a good iron shot to the green, about 25 feet to the right of the pin.
Connellsville will be at home today in an exhibition with Frazier, and on Thursday hosts Albert Gallatin in section play.
Both matches are at 4:30 p.m. at Pleasant Valley CC.