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Dallastown's golf team was consistent throughout its lineup and took the first YAIAA Division I match of the season, besting South Western by one stroke Wednesday.
Jordan Donaldson paced the Wildcats with even-par 71 as they turned in a 412 for the day at South Hills Golf Club in Hanover.
"I had a 4-putt, two bogeys and a double. It could have gone a little bit better, but I was happy with it," Donaldson said.
Donaldson is in the midst of working on his swing and said he was going to a lesson soon after Wednesday's match and hoped to be even better next week.
The Mustangs, on their home course, didn't shoot their best golf. The No. 4 golfer, Brady Leppo, had the best score, a 6-over 77, good enough for
"I'm thrilled with Brady shooting 77, and I would have thought my other three top guys would have been there," coach Tom Miller said.
Dallastown battled with Central York last year as the top two teams in the division, but the Panthers lost their top golfer in David Denner.
South Western was a consistent third to those two teams in 2008, but has quickly shown it will be at the top this year.
Unhappy with how his lineup did Monday at Overlook Golf Club in Lancaster, Miller changed his lineup for Wednesday's match.
"All in all, I'm happy with how they played," Miller said. "I think I might have fouled up playing a sophomore and junior rather than playing the two seniors. It might have been my mistake. I take the credit for that."
The Nos. 5 and 6 golfers for the Mustangs will be the hinge this season. On Wednesday, they turned in scores of 90 and 95.
"Our lineup is fairly set for our top four," Miller said. "... What we do now is we practice tomorrow, and I'll talk to them about things we need to work on. Next week, I'll have a three-day playoff for those two spots."
But the Mustangs' top four golfers all finished in the top 10 at their home course.
With Denner gone, Central slipped to finishing fifth at South Hills. That opened the door for other teams to step up and fill the open slots.
Spring Grove, mired at the bottom of the division last year, was one of those teams that made a move. The Rockets finished fourth Wednesday. Two players tied for the team lead. Nathan Senft and Jordan Herndon each shot an 86. Two others shot an 89, surprising first-year coach Dwayne Warehime.
"This is definitely a good building block," Warehime said, "when we can have as many as we had in the 80s, breaking 90. I'm really excited for what we can do in the future here."
Red Lion's Brandon Stine shot an 73, helping the Lions to a third-place finish.
New Oxford has some work to do in the division. It finished in seventh place in the first match. Its top golfer was Aaron Fuhrman, who finished tied for 10th, but the next closest teammate was 15 strokes behind Fuhrman.
