Chambersburg's golf streak continues, but on a technicality
Golf is a gentleman's game, a game of integrity, a game of rules.
Thursday afternoon, all of those came into play during a Mid Penn Colonial Division match at Penn National Founders, when it appeared that Chambersburg's impressive streak of wins had come to an end. Ultimately, when the controversy had settled, the Trojans' streak had reached 187 matches in a row.
Led by Karsen Rush and his 3-over par 75, Chambersburg ended up defeating Waynesboro by 11 strokes following a rules infraction called after the match had concluded.
At first glance, Waynesboro had pulled off the upset, 319-320.
Instead, a late ruling determined that an Indian player had taken an illegal drop and was consequently disqualified. Unfortunately, the infraction was not brought to anyone's attention until after the scorecards were turned in.
After much discussion by the coaches, it was determined that the Waynesboro player's score would not count, giving the Trojans the win.
Rush , a sophomore, was the medalist with his 75, which included four bogeys and one birdie.
"I drove the ball well and honestly was pretty solid tee-to-green," Rush said. "The putter gave me some difficulty today."
Mary Kate Norcross posted the second lowest Chambersburg score with 79. Grayson Hopple and Luke Ocker rounded out the Trojans' scores with 81 and 85, respectively.
Waynesboro's Olivia Gardenhour shared second-place honors with Austin Schreffler of Northern York. After a rough start in the first two matches, Gardenhour, a senior, has bounced back quite nicely with scores of 75 and 77, respectively. She went around the Founders course with six bogeys and one birdie.
"I was very happy with the way I drove the ball and putted today, but I struggled with my wedge shots and pitches," Gardenhour said. "I'll spend some time practicing those this week and hopefully get it straightened out."
Robert Sirk, of Waynesboro, carded a career-best 78, followed by Sam Franki (83) and Jonathan Sirk (93).
Other area top 10 scores were turned in by Adam Maring of Shippensburg (81) and Jacob Suder of James Buchanan (83). The Hounds were 10 strokes back of Waynesboro in third place.
The Indians and Trojans will meet again next Thursday when Big Spring hosts the Colonial Division at Eagles Crossing.
Chambersburg coach Mark Yost is confident in his team.
"We just try to put our best foot forward and try our best," he said. When we play our best we are tough to beat and should be able to have a successful rest of the season."