Hurricanes end stellar campaign with silver
YORK — Jordan Barker exorcised a small demon when his 8-foot putt Monday afternoon found the bottom of the cup on the 18th green.
His birdie to finish his round at the PIAA Class 3A team golf championships was in contrast to the bogey-5 he finished with six days earlier that costhimamedalatthestateindividual tournament.
It was more important to Barker, though, that the birdie, which capped his 1-over-parroundof72, gaveLiberty a ray of hope in the race for team gold on a dreary, raw day at Heritage Hills Golf Resort.
CoachSteveBradley’sLibertysquad pulled within twoshotsofErie Cathedral Prep thanks to Barker’s strong finish.
Both coach and the lone participatingseniorcouldonlywatchasthelong, par-418thholewonthebattlewiththe rest of the Hurricanes: bogey, bogey, triple bogey and bogey.
“I was the first to finish and just watched a lot of shots being missed and scores go up,” Barker said. “That wastoughtosee,butIthinkeverybody held their own.”
Indeed,thetoughfinishdidnottake awayfromLiberty’sstellar season that ended with silver medals.
Matt Vital (3-over-par 74), Michael Vital (75), JimmyBarker (81) and Jase Barker (82) followed Jordan Barker.
Erie Cathedral Prep led from the start and won with a four-man score ofplus-13297,fiveaheadofLibertyand Unionville.
Despite the less-than-desired finish on 18, Liberty players flashed smiles afterward realizing all they accomplished this season.
“They got to come here as a team,” Bradley said, “which they’ve been dreaming about since they were 8 years old golfing together in Bethlehem.
“Their dream came true today and they almost nabbed gold. They had a shot. They really did. They gave away some strokes on 18. That’s where the match was lost.”
It wastheonlyloss Liberty endured this fall. The Hurricanes, which also included senior alternate RyanEvans, were unbeaten in EPC play, won the
District 11 and PIAA Class 3A subregional tournaments to reach the state event.
Liberty’s finish matches Nazareth in 2016. The Hurricanes are just the third District 11 3Aboys team to reach states (Parkland wasfourthin2008).
Jordan Barker hadhis usual slow start with bogeys on Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 7, but kept things in check until he warmed up by making birdie on Nos. 2 and 8. He made a 15-footer on No. 2 andhit a7-iron within twofeet on No. 8.
The senior then strung together nineconsecutivepars, including one on No. 9, before his finishing birdie. Inthestate individual tournament, Barker five-putted for a triple bogey on the ninth to knock him out of first place. But like he did last week, he played well on the back nine.
Matt Vital offset bogeys on Nos. 1 and 9 with birdies on Nos. 2, 7 and 10 for a 1-under round heading to 13, where he four-putted for adoublebogey. He then bogeyed 16 and 18.
“I had a really good first 12 holes,” he said. “After [13], it just wasn’t much better than that.
“But I did save a few strokes on the last few holes.”
It was that perseverance by Vital andothers, including Jase Barker’s 3-footer for bogey on the last hole in case there was a tie-breaker for second place, that allowed Liberty to perform so well all season.
It showed the individuals’ desire to play for one another, no matter how one’s round might be unraveling.
“I’m super proud of them of how they hung in there to take second place,” Bradley said. “We got beat by a worthy opponent, but when they had tohangontosecondplacethey did.Theypulledforeachother.
“This is such a great group of kids.”
Jimmy Barker birdied the first two holes before three doublebogeysandtwobogeys to end his front nine. He birdied No. 11.
Jase Barker knocked four shots offhisscoreatlast week’s state individual tournament for Liberty, whichreturnsfour ofthefivewhoplayedMonday in 2021.
“It’s hard to replace Jordan and Ryan,” Bradley said, “... but the four who are back are going to be even better next year. They love it.”