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Tobias win helps Elco to county title


Cody Tobias brings a lot of competitive fire to the golf course, so the Elco junior usually doesn't need any extra motivation when it comes time to tee it up.

But he found some anyway prior to Monday's Lebanon County Tournament, when he caught a glimpse of the plaque that would go to the event's individual champion.

Whether he ultimately needed the additional incentive or not, Tobias got what he came for, capturing his first Lebanon County title by firing a one-over par 73 at Pine Meadows Golf Complex. The six-birdie round, which also included two temporarily disheartening double bogeys, gave Tobias a five-shot victory over teammate Ryan Woelfling  and helped the Raiders to their first-ever county team championship.

The girls' individual crown went to Skylar Hanford of Cedar Crest, who repeated after shooting 98 and becoming the only one of the nine females to break 100.

The best golf of the day, though, by a long way, was played by Tobias, who now turns his attention to the District 3 Championships that begin on Friday.

"I told myself I wanted that I wanted that plaque before I even went out," Tobias said with a smile. "I wanted to get it. I wanted that plaque. It looked so nice."

Though his pursuit of the plaque would prove successful by a comfortable margin, it was not without some adversity. After teeing off on the 8th hole and enjoying a strong start, Tobias went bogey-bogey-double bogey on holes 12 through 14, before the righting the ship for the rest of his front nine.

Another double bogey popped up on No.3 but Tobias responded with a par on 4 and a birdie on the par-5 5th and was home free from there.

"I wasn't really happy about that," he admitted, of the double bogeys. "But I did have six birdies. I just wanted to get back to even par as much as I could."

Equally gratifying for Tobias was the team title he combined on with Woelfling and Blaine Weaver, who shot 84 to give Elco a 235 score, 22 strokes better than runner-up Annville-Cleona.

"We talked about it every day at practice, that we had a good chance at winning it," he said. "That's what we wanted from the start."

"It's great for all the kids in our program, because the overwhelming majority of them care so much about golf," said Elco coach Dave Meyer, whose squad finished a strong second in Section 3 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League to powerful Lancaster Catholic. "Our van rides during the season, practices, matches, they're all talking golf. It's really neat."

Meanwhile, winning a second straight county title was pretty neat for Hanford, who bounced back from a rough showing at lat week's L-L tourney to produce a four-shot victory over Palmyra's Kelsey McConaghy.

"It's very exciting," Hanford said. "I know I'm not the best player but I try hard. I think I just had an off day (at the L-L tourney) so I just came with a positive attitude. I know this course is really hard, so I was like, 'work hard, every hole is a new hole.'"

Lebanon County Golf Tournament
at Pine Meadows

Boys Individual Results
1. Cody Tobias, Elco 73
2. Ryan Woelfing, Elco 73
3. Andrew Alquist, Palmyra 79
4. Nolan Hoover, Cedar Crest 80
5. Eli Setlock, Annville-Cleona 83
6. Blaine Weaver, Elco 84
7. Cole Felty, Northern Lebanon 86
7. Adam Hartman, Cedar Crest 86
7. Mason Moore, Annville-Cleona 86
10. Ben Miller, Annville-Cleona 88
10. Quinton Leonard 88
12. Nick Georgelis Palmyra 92
13. Ben Miller, Annville-Cleona 98
14. Tyler Bender, Lebanon Catholic 100
15. Seth Walmer, Northern Lebanon 101
15. . Andrew Ward, Palmyra 101
17. Willy Earp, Cedar Crest 109
17. Christian Weaner, Northern Lebanon 109
17. Ryan Knapp, Cedar Crest 116
20. Tim Spangler, Lebanon 119
Team Scores
1. Elco 235
2. Annville-Cleona 257
3. Palmyra 259
4. Cedar Crest 275
5. Northern Lebanon 290
6. Lebanon Catholic, Lebanon N/S
Girls Individual Results
1. Skylar Hanford, Cedar Crest 98
2. Kelsey McConaghy, Palmyra 102
3. Amber Kintzer, Northern Lebanon 103
4. Danika Boltz, Elco 105
5. Delaney Hess, Annville-Cleona 120
6. Faith Kostow, Lebanon Catholic 124
7. Kerrigan Klopp, Cedar Crest 133
8. Emma Dissinger, Cedar Crest 141
8. Annika Neufeld-Kreider, Cedar Crest 141