Semifinal complete, golfers now turn to final 18 holes
Daniel Sethman only played Hannastown Golf Club once before the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals.
“I played it for the first time on Saturday in my practice round,” Sethman said. “I had the whole course memorized from the one time, so I knew where I could miss and where I couldn’t miss.”
His memory didn’t fail him, that’s for sure, as the Brownsville junior shot a 4over 70 to finish tied for first place with Derry senior Hunter Jurica in the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals.
Or, if you prefer, WPIAL moving day.
This season, the WPIAL added a semifinal round to both the boys and girls individual finals in both classes. The semifinals will essentially act as the first round of what amounts to a 36-hole final with the second 18 holes to be played at a later date.
Scores for the semifinals and finals are cumulative.
In Class 2A, the event shifts to Oakmont Country Club on Tuesday for the second 18 holes. In addition, because of the venue, there was also a cutdown from 90 initial qualifiers from the sectionals to 36 players who move on to the final round.
Oakmont neither budgets space nor bends its membership rules to allow practice rounds for competitors in advance of WPIAL events.
That means players like Sethman, who have not played the venerable course, have to get creative.
“I’m going to have to make my best guesses where my best guesses are,” Sethman said. “I already watched all of Dustin Johnson’s shots from whenever he won [the 2016 U.S. Open], so I know a little about the course.”
Watching an old YouTube video is not the same as actually playing at Oakmont. At times the greens can be like putting on glass, hitting in the rough can lose you a couple of strokes — or even a ball — and sometimes you have to be willing to accept a bogey rather than force a shot and end up with a crooked number.
“I’m pretty confident that, if I can keep my game where it’s at, I’ll be in a good position to make something happen,” Sethman said. “It’s going to be a great experience. I’m so excited for it.”
His best advice heading in may be just using what he told himself at Hannastown as he reflected on what he took from his fifth-place finish at Allegheny Country Club in the 2021 WPIAL Class 2A final.
“I learned so much last year and I benefited so much from it,” Sethman said. “I was going through my round [at Hannastown] and telling myself what not to do. I made sure I kept it slow, kept calm and collected and, if you make a bogey, just recover and keep playing your round.”
Though Sethman and Jurica may have the lead, they are far from invulnerable. Juniors J.P Tusai of South Park and Logan Voytish of Uniontown are only a shot back, while Belle Vernon’s Rogan Maloney is only two behind.
Then again, considering how dangerous Oakmont can be, any of the 36 qualifiers, even the ones a dozen shots back, can find themselves in the hunt.
That’s what makes Oakmont the course it is.
Class 3A girls
Marissa Malosh has set reasonable goals for herself this season, but even the South Fayette senior and defending WPIAL Class 3A champion was a bit surprised at her performance at Youghiogheny Country Club in the Monday semifinals.
“My goal was to shoot 75 and I shot 75, so I did just what I wanted to do, which was fine. I’m happy with that,” Malosh said. “I really didn’t think I was hitting the ball well in my practice round [Sunday], so I was happy I was able to wrap it up together and make it work.’
Malosh will head into the final round on Tuesday at Valley Brook with a twostroke lead over Seneca Valley junior Lihini Ranaweera and three over 2021 state qualifier Katie Rose Rankin of North Allegheny.
What may be the biggest challenge for the competitors isn’t the course itself, but the anticipation of playing the course. Having eight days to prepare for the final could benefit some but could also give others too much time to think about what lies ahead.
“It’s going to be weird waiting over a week,” Malosh said. “I don’t want to get a big head, I don’t want to get down. Usually I just sleep on it, but now I have to sit on it for a week. Now I just want to be the low scorer again.”
Still, extending the tournament to 36 holes is a truer test of the competition.
“I’m so happy that it’s two rounds because I don’t think you can truly judge a winner off one round in a tournament like this,” Malosh said. “I think it deserves two rounds.”
Class 2A
Hopewell alumna Jodi Figley may have to move over.
She may be getting some room in the rarified air she has had all to herself for 36 years.
Figley is the only player to ever win WPIAL golf titles all four years and she did it from 1983-86 when there was only one classification. But Quaker Valley senior Eva Bulger is one round away from potentially joining her with a career sweep. Bulger shot an 80 at Youghiogheny C.C. on Monday and has a four-shot lead over Geibel senior Claire Konieczny and five over Greensburg Central Catholic junior Izabela Aigner.