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High school golf season set to tee off
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| Mike Staugaitis/Staff PhotoSouthern Columbia’s Shane Yeager tees off on the 11th hole during the District 4 championship at the White Deer Golf Course. Yeager won the district championship in a playoff. |
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For a guy who has only been golfing for not quite three years, Southern Columbia junior Shane Yeager has had his fair share of success.
Yeager, the defending District 4 champion, begins defense of that title today when the Tigers visit Mill Race Golf Course in Benton for their first match of the season and their first match in the new Heartland Conference.
All four area schools which have golf will have matches today. Shamokin will travel to Rolling Pines, formerly Willow Run, with Central Columbia the host, in a Heartland Division II match, Lourdes Regional plays at Nativity in a Schuylkill League match at Schuylkill Country Club, and North Schuylkill takes on Jim Thorpe in a Schuylkill match at Mahoning Valley.
Yeager finished second in the district tournament as a freshman, and has his sights set on winning the title again and advancing past the PIAA Eastern Regional qualifier this year.
“I worked a lot on my short game (since last year),” Yeager said Sunday. “That’s the biggest part of the game. I tried to work out a lot too to get a little more distance off the tee.”
Yeager had a 77.7 average in six North Central Pa. Golf Association Junior tour events this summer, winning the final event at Clinton Country Club and capturing the overall season championship.
“I tried to play all the NCPGA events and I played for the Sunbury Elks in a tournament in Pittsburgh. I tried to play every day, just to keep that competitive feeling,” Yeager said.
Yeager said he feels some pressure at being the defending champ, but that that’s natural.
“Everybody has to feel a little pressure,” he said. “You’re on top and everybody is gunning for you.”
Yeager said the game took hold of him almost from the first time he played.
“It’s the game itself,” he explained. “Anybody that plays will tell you it just hooks you.”
Southern coach Bob Medon said he thinks Yeager has a solid supporting cast as well.
Senior Randy Witcoskie and junior Brandon Talisesky were both active in NCPGA events this summer too.
“We were fairly successful last year,” Medon said. “We lost two seniors but I expect a pretty strong team. Witcoskie and Scott Rogers should set up some big scores as well as Shane.”
“I agree,” Yeager said. “We have a lot of talent there. Some of the other guys need to get a little sharper around the green. If they do, I think we’re going to be good.”
Veteran Shamokin Area coach Paul Losiewicz isn’t sure what to expect as the Indians begin play in the Heartland Conference after a long stay in the Schuylkill League. The Indians have four lettermen, including Scott Marcinek and Bryant Tomcavage, from a team which was 3-10, and what Losiewicz thinks is a talented group of younger kids.
“We’re going to be playing all new courses,” Losiewicz said. “We only get a week of official practice, so there’s not a whole lot of developing you can do in that time. The kids have to get out and play in the summer. Golf isn’t the kind of sport where you can put your clubs away for a long time and then just come out and be as good as you were.”
The Indians are in Division II of the Heartland Conference with Central Columbia, Hughesville, Lewisburg, Loyalsock, Montoursville, and Warrior Run.
Lourdes, which once again has a co-op program with Mount Carmel, will count on senior Billy Ditchey for leadership in Division I of the Schuylkill League. Other teams in the division include Blue Mountain, Minersville, Nativity, Pine Grove, Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven and Williams Valley. Ditchey finished fourth in the Schuylkill League Tournament last year, a spot behind Mark Costello, who went on to qualify for the Eastern Regional as a senior.
The Red Raiders have two other lettermen, sophomores Neal Khanna and Chris Loftus, but Loftus had recent shoulder surgery and will miss most, if not all, of the season.
“We would have been very competitive with Loftus in there,” said Lourdes coach Ron Ososkie. “A lot will depend on Ditchey now. He’s bigger and stronger, and has lofty goals.”
North Schuylkill is now in Division II of the Schuylkill League, along with Jim Thorpe, Mahanoy Area, Marian, Panther Valley, Tamaqua and Weatherly.
“We have a good mix,” said North Schuylkill coach John Cuthie. “We have three seniors who have been playing together for a couple of years and five guys with varsity experience.”
Yeager, the defending District 4 champion, begins defense of that title today when the Tigers visit Mill Race Golf Course in Benton for their first match of the season and their first match in the new Heartland Conference.
All four area schools which have golf will have matches today. Shamokin will travel to Rolling Pines, formerly Willow Run, with Central Columbia the host, in a Heartland Division II match, Lourdes Regional plays at Nativity in a Schuylkill League match at Schuylkill Country Club, and North Schuylkill takes on Jim Thorpe in a Schuylkill match at Mahoning Valley.
Yeager finished second in the district tournament as a freshman, and has his sights set on winning the title again and advancing past the PIAA Eastern Regional qualifier this year.
“I worked a lot on my short game (since last year),” Yeager said Sunday. “That’s the biggest part of the game. I tried to work out a lot too to get a little more distance off the tee.”
Yeager had a 77.7 average in six North Central Pa. Golf Association Junior tour events this summer, winning the final event at Clinton Country Club and capturing the overall season championship.
“I tried to play all the NCPGA events and I played for the Sunbury Elks in a tournament in Pittsburgh. I tried to play every day, just to keep that competitive feeling,” Yeager said.
Yeager said he feels some pressure at being the defending champ, but that that’s natural.
“Everybody has to feel a little pressure,” he said. “You’re on top and everybody is gunning for you.”
Yeager said the game took hold of him almost from the first time he played.
“It’s the game itself,” he explained. “Anybody that plays will tell you it just hooks you.”
Southern coach Bob Medon said he thinks Yeager has a solid supporting cast as well.
Senior Randy Witcoskie and junior Brandon Talisesky were both active in NCPGA events this summer too.
“We were fairly successful last year,” Medon said. “We lost two seniors but I expect a pretty strong team. Witcoskie and Scott Rogers should set up some big scores as well as Shane.”
“I agree,” Yeager said. “We have a lot of talent there. Some of the other guys need to get a little sharper around the green. If they do, I think we’re going to be good.”
Veteran Shamokin Area coach Paul Losiewicz isn’t sure what to expect as the Indians begin play in the Heartland Conference after a long stay in the Schuylkill League. The Indians have four lettermen, including Scott Marcinek and Bryant Tomcavage, from a team which was 3-10, and what Losiewicz thinks is a talented group of younger kids.
“We’re going to be playing all new courses,” Losiewicz said. “We only get a week of official practice, so there’s not a whole lot of developing you can do in that time. The kids have to get out and play in the summer. Golf isn’t the kind of sport where you can put your clubs away for a long time and then just come out and be as good as you were.”
The Indians are in Division II of the Heartland Conference with Central Columbia, Hughesville, Lewisburg, Loyalsock, Montoursville, and Warrior Run.
Lourdes, which once again has a co-op program with Mount Carmel, will count on senior Billy Ditchey for leadership in Division I of the Schuylkill League. Other teams in the division include Blue Mountain, Minersville, Nativity, Pine Grove, Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven and Williams Valley. Ditchey finished fourth in the Schuylkill League Tournament last year, a spot behind Mark Costello, who went on to qualify for the Eastern Regional as a senior.
The Red Raiders have two other lettermen, sophomores Neal Khanna and Chris Loftus, but Loftus had recent shoulder surgery and will miss most, if not all, of the season.
“We would have been very competitive with Loftus in there,” said Lourdes coach Ron Ososkie. “A lot will depend on Ditchey now. He’s bigger and stronger, and has lofty goals.”
North Schuylkill is now in Division II of the Schuylkill League, along with Jim Thorpe, Mahanoy Area, Marian, Panther Valley, Tamaqua and Weatherly.
“We have a good mix,” said North Schuylkill coach John Cuthie. “We have three seniors who have been playing together for a couple of years and five guys with varsity experience.”
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| Point races coming to end of line |
