One more round: Mikes qualify for WPIAL Class AA golf championship
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Carmichaels’ Liam Lohr hits off the 17th tee at Duck Hollow Golf Club during Monday’s WPIAL Boys Class AA Team Golf Championship. Lohr and the Mikes finished third with a team total of 419 for a berth into the WPIAL Class AA Team Championship Thursday at Cedarbrook Golf Course.
Carmichaels’ Remmey Lohr reacts as her par putt on the 17th green at Duck Hollow Golf Club just misses the cup during Monday’s WPIAL Boys Class AA Team Golf Championship. Lohr and the Mikes finished third with a team total of 419 for a berth into the WPIAL Class AA Team Championship Thursday at Cedarbrook Golf Course.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Waynesburg Central’s Evan Davis chips from a ditch through the trees toward the 17th green at Duck Hollow Golf Club in Monday’s WPIAL Boys Class AA Team Golf Championship.
Carmichaels' Remmey Lohr chips onto the 16th green at Duck Hollow Golf Club during Monday's WPIAL Boys Class AA Team Golf Championship.
Waynesburg Central's Evan Davis reacts after his putt curled around the cup on the 16th green in Monday's WPIAL Boys Class AA Team Golf Championship at Duck Hollow Golf Club.
Carmichaels’ Remmey Lohr stares at her ball after her par putt on the 18th green at Duck Hollow Golf Club slipped by the cup during the WPIAL Boys Class AA Team Golf Championship on Oct. 12. Despite the near miss, the Mikes advanced to the district team finals for the second time in three years and placed third. Lohr was the only golfer who was a member of both of those squads. (Photo by Jim Downey)
The Carmichaels boys golf team extended their season by at least one more match after the Mikes finished third Monday in the WPIAL Boys Class AA Team Golf Championship semifinals at Duck Hollow Golf Club.
Carmichaels finished third with a team total of 419 on the par-72 course, one stroke behind Derry and two strokes ahead of fourth-place Greensburg Central Catholic.
Sewickley Academy finished first with 408 behind Tim Fitzgerald’s medalist round of 3-under 69.
Liam Lohr led the way for Carmichaels with a consistent round of 6-over 78. The freshman played the front in 2-over 37 and the back in 4-over 41.
Lohr said his round met the expectations on his scorecard.
“I wanted to shoot in the 70s, and I did. I shot that in my two practice rounds,” said Lohr, who was only one of five golfers to break 80.
Lohr said his play off the tee set the tone for his round.
“My driver was good. I killed it,” explained Lohr. “I didn’t hit one bad drive all day.”
He had one birdie on No. 13, a par-5, and stayed away from big numbers.
“I struggled putting on one hole. Other than that, my putting was pretty good,” said Lohr. “I could’ve two-putted every hole. I set myself up pretty good.”
Lohr’s older sister Remmey added one more round to her stellar career after finishing with 84, including an eagle on No. 13. Remmey Lohr explained the impact just one shot can have on a round, especially in team play.
“The eagle … If I make par, that’s a playoff,” said Lohr, who was named homecoming queen a couple Fridays ago.
“I hit my drive down the middle, stuck my second shot and putted for three,” Lohr said of the eagle.
The eagle came on the tougher of the nine holes at Duck Hollow, with Nos. 14 and 17 two of the toughest holes on the course.
“The back nine is just tough,” said Remmey Lohr, who shot 45 on the back after finishing the front in 39. “I had just one bad hole, No. 15, the par-5. I five-putted.”
Lohr had a case of the shanks in the WPIAL Girls Class AA Individual Golf Championship at Allegheny Country Club, but had no such issues on Monday.
“I hit the ball really well, but a couple holes I chunked a couple chips,” said Lohr.
Lohr and the Mikes played in the team final in 2018, and she said the chance that her bogey tap-in on No. 18 might be her last shot for Carmichaels never entered her mind.
“I didn’t think about it at all. I’m playing in college, so it didn’t phase me,” said the senior, who will choose from either the University of Charleston (W.Va.), West Virginia Wesleyan or West Liberty State (W.Va).
No matter what happens in the championship Thursday, Lohr had nothing but positive thoughts about her career for the Mikes.
“Whatever happens (in the finals), happens. We’re excited. It’s the second time we’ve played in the WPIALs for teams,” said Lohr, adding of her career, “It was awesome. It was so much fun. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
Waynesburg Central, the second-place team to Carmichaels in Section 8-AA, placed seventh with a team score of 459.
Evan Davis was the low man for the Raiders with 88, one shot better than teammate Matt Ankrom.
“I played a lot better on the front,” said Davis, who carded 5-over 40 on the opening nine holes. “The back was tighter and the greens are a little harder.”
Davis had mixed results on the tough two holes on the back, although junior played out of a trouble spot on No. 17 when he landed in a ditch behind trees about 20 yards short of the green. He managed to muscle out of his predicament, only to have a tough time on the green.
“I think I played No. 14 pretty good, but I got an eight on No. 17,” said Davis.
“I was thinking mid-80s,” Davis said of what he expected to shoot.
Hudson Boris (92), Braden Benke (93), and Dawson Fowler (97) rounded out the scoring for the Raiders. Hayden Church’s 105 was not used.
In the Class AAA semifinals, Central Catholic, behind Rocco Salvitti’s 1-under 70, finished first at Champion Lakes Golf Course with a team total of 384. Franklin Regional trailed by one stroke in second place, and Peters Twp. grabbed the third and final berth into the district final with a team total of 401.
Uniontown placed seventh with a team score of 448. Adena Rugola was the low Red Raider with 10-over 81.
Logan Voytish (86), Gage Brugger (85), Michael Mercadante (96), and Maddie Myers (100) also had scoring rounds for Uniontown. Nate Moody’s 127 wasn’t used.
Shady Side Academy won the other Class AAA semifinal hosted by River Forest Country Club with a team total of 381. Fox Chapel (388) and Norwin (396) also advanced to the Class AAA championship.
Belle Vernon finished eighth with a team score of 442.
DIVOTS: The Derry Area School District will be closed until next week after school district personnel tested positive for Covid-19. According to reports, all athletic contests are canceled until Monday, Oct. 19, placing the golf team in limbo. The decision on whether the Trojans will compete in Thursday’s Class AA championship will be made by school administrators this morning.