Golf pulls out a victory

The Blair golf team eked out a tight victory over Kennedy, Wheaton and Paint Branch High Schools at Redgate Golf Course on Thursday, September 11. The team improved to 7-0 in three matches.

Blair did not play at their highest level, but shot well enough to earn the victory. Blair's shot a 232, only 9 strokes better than Paint Branch, while Kennedy shot 281 and Wheaton 289.

Senior Ben Payes, playing in the number one slot, shot a 43, the match low and his personal low for the season. Junior Neal Vasilak shot a 45 and junior Bill McManigle shot a 44 to assist in the team win. Senior Zack Mellman struggled during the afternoon but was able to shoot a 48. This score was not up to Mellman's usual excellent play, as last week he had shot a 39 at the Little Bennet Golf Course. Sophomore Danny Gillen shot a 52 and freshman John Conroy's score of 59 did not count towards the team score because it was the team's highest.

The match started out a bit shaky for Blair as the first four golfers had some difficulties with the dogleg first hole. Payes had to hit a provisional, but was able to shoot clutch pars on holes 6,7 and 9. "My game was on until hole number eight, where I lost my focus," said Payes.

Vasilak missed an arms-length putt for birdie on hole 6, but he played a solid round. He attributed some of the team's struggles to the lack of warm-up time. " We needed to get there earlier," said Vasilak.

Coach James Schafer thinks the team needs to elevate their level of play and that they were lucky to win thier match with all their mistakes. "If we want to beat Richard Montgomery we have got to bring our A game," said Shafer.

The golf team's next match is on Thursday, September 16 against Richard Montgomery, Springbrook and Paint Branch. The match begins at 3:30 pm at Northwest Park Golf Club.