Sep 22, 2009 4 min read

BELLE VERNON – Three Jefferson-Morgan golfers led the way and two each from Waynesburg Central and California joined them in qualifying for the WPIAL boys golf individual semifinals out of the Division II, Section 8 qualifying round Monday at Cedarbrook Golf Course. Rockets senior Josh Kokoska shot a 5-over par 77 for medalist honors. He was three strokes better than JM sophomore Zack Berkstresser who came in at 80. Another JM sophomore, Alex Rush was third with an 83.

Waynesburg Central senior Jackson Gardner carded an 87, one stroke better than three others who tied for the fifth and last available qualifying spot. In that group was Waynesburg Central freshman Loren Dukate and California’s Alex Roach, a junior, and Zac Edmiston, a senior.

The top five, plus ties, were earmarked for a trip to Champion Lakes for the semifinals on Wednesday, Sept. 30. None of the other 32 golfers advanced.

Jefferson-Morgan coach John Curtis was pleased to have three of his golfers advance.

“Those three are the reason we are 9-2 in our matches,” Curtis said. “I couldn’t watch them today because I was with another group, but I told them over breakfast that if they shoot their game, they should be OK. Scores overall were up because of the weather (light rains fell off an and on all day). Those three worked hard all summer and through the season so far.”

“I’ve played this course the last six years, but this was the hardest I’ve ever played it,” Kokoska said. “There was a lot of rolling on the greens. They were pretty fast. Overall, it was a good day. My drives were strong again for me.”

“That’s a good score for me,” Berkstresser said of his 80. “I could have done better on the back nine, but some iron shots hurt. Once I was done, I was excited to see that I had made it.”

Berkstresser knew he had advanced before the rest of the field finished because all scores of 82 and under automatically qualified.

Rush made it this year after missing by three strokes last year. He played Cedarbrook on Sunday and shot a 91, so he took eight strokes off that number on Monday and advanced.

“I didn’t know whether that was going to be good enough until I saw the higher scores coming in,” Rush said. “It’s nice to be going to the next round with a couple of teammates.”

Waynesburg Central coach John Garber was pleased to see two of his golfers advance.

“Loren is a freshman, so it’s nice to see him advance,” Garber said. “Jackson is our seventh player, with Emily Rohanna in there as our six. Eighty-seven is a good score for him. He had a 4-over on the back nine, which is good.”

It was somewhat bittersweet for California coach Bill Fabbri because his two qualifiers didn’t include Dave Beck, who was ill and finished with an 89, one stroke behind the qualifiers.

“He just didn’t feel well today and it showed in his score,” Fabbri said. “He shoots a 38.6 average and is one of the best golfers in our section. But I’m happy that we got two golfers through. The scores were really high today, which surprises me because the course is in really great shape. There is a lot of pressure on these kids and I think they got tense. When you get tense in golf, you hit bad shots. Both of these kids, Zac and Alex, work hard and I’m glad to see them move on.”

As the host school, Fabbri also heaped praise on the facilities and staff at Cedarbrook.

“It’s nice for our kids to play on our home course, but the people here really treat the kids well,” Fabbri said. “The course is always in good shape and they always treat the kids very well.”