H.S. GOLF: Chambersburg's Karsen Rush fires 70 at Whitetail
MERCERSBURG >> A different driver has made a big difference for Chambersburg freshman Karsen Rush.
He used the big stick to his advantage on Thursday afternoon, overpowering Whitetail Golf Resort to fire a 2-under par 70 and capture medalist honors at the Mid Penn Colonial Division event.
"I just switched drivers a couple of weeks ago, and I was hitting it really well today," Rush said.
James Buchanan coach Mark Wise said, "I was very impressed with Rush's 70. I believe it is one of the few under-par rounds we have seen in the past few years and definitely one of the first at Whitetail."
Rush scored six birdies, on Nos. 1, 4, 10, 11, 13 and 15, to shoot his best-ever score at Whitetail.
And it could have been a little better.
"I got a little nervous on the last hole and three-putted from about 20 feet (for a bogey)," Rush said.
Trojan coach Mark Yost said, "That was a real nice round. We played the white tees, but they weren't all up. After the initial rain, the course was a little softer and it wasn't real hot. I see that seven kids shot under 80, which is pretty solid."
Of those seven, five were from Chambersburg, and the Trojans eased to another team victory, giving them 153 straight wins. Luke Ocker (75), Jordan Shaffer (77), Tom Shearer (78) and Brady Hunt (79) broke 80 for Chambersburg, as did Jacob Suder of JB (75) and Nick Franki of Waynesboro (76).
Yost said, "Ocker was our sixth man, so his score didn't count, but a 75 was a real solid round."
Wise said, "Jacob's 75 was a really good score on a wet and rainy day."
Waynesboro took second by just two strokes over Greencastle-Antrim. Shippensburg was one stroke back of Big Spring in fifth, and two strokes up on JB.
John WIlliams (81) had G-A's best score (81) and Dillon Labonte shot 86 for the Hounds' top score.
For the girls, Olivia Gardenhour of Waynesboro led with a 90, followed by the Maidens' Erika Cauffman and Greencastle's Amanda Steier at 94.
Mid Penn Colonial Div. match
At Whitetail resort, par 72
Team Scores
1.Chambersburg (15-0) 305, 2.Waynesboro (12-3) 345, 3.Greencastle-Antrim (9-6) 347, 4.Big Spring (6-9) 379, 5.Shippensburg (2-13) 380, 6.James Buchanan (1-14) 383.
Top Individuals
1.Karsen Rush (C) 70, 2.(tie) Luke Ocker (C), Jacob Suder (JB) 75, 4.Nick Franki (W) 76, 5.Jordan Shaffer (C) 77, 6.Tom Shearer (C) 78, 7.Brady Hunt (C) 79, 8.Evan Vink (C) 80, 9.John Williams (G) 81, 10.Ian Patterson (C) 84, 11.Chad Harbaugh (G) 85, 12.Dillon Labonte (S) 86, 13.Josh Paisley (BS) 87, 14.Jacob DeCarli (G) 88, 15.Paul Steiger (W) 89.
Other Greencastle-Antrim scorers: Kurt Kline 93, Ethan Clever 98, Logan Moon 109.
Other James Buchanan scorers: Toby Sowers 90, Hunter Reath 109, Kyle Buchanan 109, Spencer Dofflemyer 115.
Other Shippensburg scorers: Jim Smith 92, Tanner Greenawalt 97, Evan Mowery 102, Adam Maring 105, Carson Helfrick 108, Casey Gigious 116.
Other Waynesboro scorers: Sam Franki 90, Robert Sirk 100, Jonathan Sirk 113.
Girls scorers: Olivia Gardenhour (W) 90, Amanda Steier (G) 94, Erika Cauffman (W) 94, Isabelle Macioce (BS) 96.