Dubacher and Probst top District 11 golfers
Hunter Probst cruised through the first 10 holes of Monday's first round at the PIAA Golf Championshipsat Penn State' s Blue Course. He had three birdies and seven pars in cloudy, breezy conditions.
Then, the Stroudsburg junior missed a few short putts, missed a few fairways and “really could have just stayed more focused.”
Probst bogeyed Nos. 11, 12, 15, 16 and 17.
But the Mountaineer's grit never waned, which allowed him to survive the wild back nine. He birdied 14, then drilled a driver, hit a 9-iron to 7 feet and made the eagle putt to finish his round with a 1-under 71.
“I've played here a lot of times to know what I need to do and what I need to hit,” Probst said. “I didn't really do that much on the back nine.”
Probst is tied for 10th in Class 3A, five shots behind co-leaders Aidan Farkas of St. Joe's Prep and Wes Lorish of Plum. He finished tied for 10th in last year's tournament.
The two-day tournament concludes Tuesday with 18 holes. Top eight in each class and gender earn medals.
Probst's round nearly spiraled after he missed a 3-footer for par on the par-4 15th. He then bogeyed the next two before his stellar finish. It was one of eight eagles recorded by the 3A boys field on the Blue Course's finishing hole.
Moravian Academy's Mara Dubacher also used experience to her advantage in the 2 A girls competition. She fired a 2- over 74 for a tie for fourth, two shots behind firstround leader Sasha Petrochko of Hickory.
Dubacher had her lone birdie at the par -3 fifth hole, recovered after a double-bogey par-4 eighth to finish with nine pars among last 10 holes.
“Overall, it was a good day,” she said. “Last year helped me a lot just knowing what to expect with the environment. I wasn't like the little girl figuring out where to go.”
Dubacher settled into the round with a solid 9-iron to the 125-yard fifth hole before making the short, downhill putt for birdie.
On the eighth hole, Dubacher overcuta6-ironintothepar-4eighth and was left with a near-plugged lie in the bunker. She took two shots to get out, then missed a 5-footer for bogey.
But the Lions sophomore recovered and parred the top five holes (Nos. 1, 2, 7, 9 and 17).
“I had a lot of birdie opportunities during the whole round but just didn't make them,” Dubacher said. “I did make a few good par saves so that equaled things out.”
Dubacher tied for 21st last year.
Putter challenges: Many of the other District 11 players' struggles were tied to one specific area — the greens.
“My driver was good all day,” Nazareth's Zach Miller said. “My irons were good. My putter, I just had a lot of missed opportunities. Putts weren't falling.”
Miller birdied the first hole, bogeyed the second, then made 15 consecutive pars before lipping out for bogey on the last hole.
It was a fittingly painful way to end his round. The junior was strong tee to green, but know she left a lot of shots out there with his putter.
“I was just burning edges all day,” he added. “It was like, ‘How many more can I have?'”
Moravian Academy's Collin Schreiber went right from the scoring area to the putting green after signing his card because that's where he suffered, too.
He had a 15-foot, uphill putt for birdie on the par-3 14th, but threeputted for bogey. That summed up his round of 83.
“I played so much better than I scored,” he said. “My drives were in play all day. I just couldn't get any putts to drop. I was leaving putts short.”
Schreiber doubled Nos. 1, 5 and 9, and had bogeys on 8, 11, 13, 14, 16 and 18. His lone birdie came on the par-3 12th.
“I just couldn't put the ball in the hole,” he said. “It's more mental, honestly. After so many times thinkingI can get a birdie then walk away with bogey and par, over and over again, it just mess es with your brain .”
Notes: Colonial League girls champion Emma Xu of Moravian Academy shot an 87 in the 2A girls competition . ... District 11 boys champion D re wKo kinda of Panther Valley shot 86 . ... The PIAA Golf Team Championships are Wednesdayat PS U' sB lu ea nd White courses. District 11 champions Southern Lehigh (3A) and Moravian Academy (2A) lost in their respective subregional rounds . ... No. 2s and 16 on the White Course did not yield a birdie for the 2A girls field. No. 2 on the Blue did not see a birdie for the 3A girls. No. 5 on the White did not give up a birdie for the 2A boys. No. 3 on the Blue saw one birdie, 10 double bogeys and three others for the 3A boys.