Unionville grabs 5th straight team crown; Henderson’s Kochis wins tense playoff
EAST WHITELAND >> The Unionville boys’ golf machine continues to hum along at full capacity, capturing its fifth consecutive Ches-Mont team title on Tuesday at Applecross Country Club.
The Indians also came tantalizingly close to capturing the individual crown, but West Chester Henderson’s Dylan Kochis sank an improbable 30-foot-plus birdie putt on the third playoff hole to edge Unionville’s Jack Cooley in truly stunning fashion.
“I was just trying to get it to the hole, get it close and two-putt, but … I made it,” Kochis said moments later. “I am still in shock about all of this. But I am really happy.”
The putt from the right fringe of the 411-yard 16th hole tracked over a pronounced ridge and then died into the cup. On the previous hole, Cooley kept the match alive with a spectacular up-and-down par to extend the playoff. But his birdie try at 16 came up slightly short from about 20 feet.
“It was pretty exciting to watch,” said Henderson head coach Joel Cummings.
“You knew that whoever made a big putt at the end was going to be the winner,” added Unionville head coach Jimmy O’Rourke. “A guys makes a 35-footer by hitting it the perfect speed and on the perfect line, you tip your cap and call him champion.”
The race for the team championship wasn’t much of a question, however, as the Indians’ top five all broke 80 at the par-72 venue to win it by 11 strokes over West Chester Rustin, 379-390. Downingtown East placed third at 401, edging Henderson and West Chester East by a couple strokes. It was good enough to give the Cougars the Ches-Mont National Division title in the process – Downingtown East’s fourth in the last 10 years under head coach Scott Yard.
“We had an advantage in that five of my guys are members here (at Applecross), and we also play out of Whitford (Country Club), which is by far the toughest golf course anybody in the league plays on.”
Cooley paced Unionville by carding a 2-over-par 73 to get into the playoff with Kochis, who finished birdie, birdie, par on the final three holes of regulation, which came on holes 3, 4 and 5.
“I thought the winning score would be under par,” said Kochis, who is just 15-years-young.
“Dylan is tough-minded,” Cummings added. “He knows how to conjure up the toughness to play.
“He is a great golfer. For him to be doing this as a 10th grader is insane. He’s got special talent. There is no reason he won’t eventually be a (NCAA) Division I golfer.”
After halving the first playoff hole (No. 18), Kochis appeared to have the edge after sinking a routine par putt at No. 15. But Cooley – who sent his approach shot over the green – knocked in a clutch 14-footer for par to stay alive.
“(Cooley) is a good player and I kind of expected it, actually,” Kochis said.
“That is the last place you want to be on that hole,” Cooley admitted. “The chip rolled out more than I thought it would. But I had an idea of the line because I had a similar putt earlier in the day.”
At 16, both hit fairway woods and found the fairway. Kochis hit an 8-iron into the green from 152, but it leaked right, setting the up clincher.
“Right from the start it felt good and I knew it had a chance to go in,” Kochis recalled. “I hit it right over my mark, it went straight up the ridge and … whew.”
Cummings added: “It was downhill and it was most likely going to leak to the left. When it hit the pin and dropped in, I was like: ‘I think he just won this hole.’
“For Dylan to make such a clutch putt like that, it was huge. That’s the way you want to win it.”
Unionville’s Roy Anderson tied for third overall with a 75, along with the Rustin duo of Ryan Dariano and Eric Miller. Defending champion Matt Feeney (also Rustin) fired a 76 and tied for sixth place overall along with three others, including Unionville’s Ross Charlton and Jon Passarello.
“This team is comprised of guys who handle the pressure well,” O’Rourke said.
“Two years ago, when we went on to win the state title, we shot a 380. (Monday) we were 379 so that’s pretty darn good.”
Even though only the top five scores counted in the team competition, the Indians are sending six of its top eight to the District 1 3A Tournament. That’s because Stephen Starnes (79) and Will Hage (81) also placed among the top-25 overall.
“Stephen Starns — our fifth guy today — grinded over the summer to get a lot better. He was probably one of our worst on the team last year and now he is top-five,” Anderson pointed out.
“At the start of the season we really weren’t sure what kind of team we would have,” Cooley admitted. “We lost six seniors from that team, so we did pretty well here. We’re excited.”
Downingtown East was led by Evan Drummond’s 76. But he got some help from a couple unlikely sources.
“Evan had been very consistent for us all season,” Yard said. “And we had two guys who have been marginal this season – Andrew McCook and Jake Leon – who shot 80 and 79 (respectively).”
As for the team champs, Yard marveled at Unionville’s continued consistency and depth.
“There is a culture at Unionville where their kids play competitive golf fairly early,” he said. “And up until this season, they didn’t even have a course they could practice on.
“They played their matches at Kennett (Square Golf & Country Club), but they couldn’t practice there. They just would just go to their own home courses and then beat the heck of out everybody else in the Ches-Mont.”
2019 Ches-Mont Boy’s Championship
- Unionville 379; 2. West Chester Rustin 390; 3. Downingtown East 401; 4. West Chester Henderson; 4. West Chester East 403; 6. Kennett 421; 6. Oxford 421; 8. Great Valley 428; 9. Downingtown West 436; 10. Bishop Shanahan 441; 11. Avon Grove 447; 12. Coatesville 496.
Individual
- Kochis (WCH) 73*; 1. Cooley (U) 73; 3. Anderson (U) 75; 3. Dariano (WCR) 75; 3. Miller (WCR) 75; 6. Drummond (DE) 76; 6. Passarello (U) 76; 6. Charlton (U) 76; 6. Feeney (WCE) 76; 10. Stypulkowksi (WCE) 77; 10. Cinnamond (WCH) 77; 12. Mullen (K) 78; 12. Seggers (BS) 78; 14. Starnes (U) 79; 14. Madden (O) 79; 14. Leon (DE) 79; 17. McCook (DE) 80; 18. Martin (WCR) 81; 18. Hage (U) 81; 18. Giannangelo (O) 81; 21. Diehl (GV) 82; 21. Walsh (DE) 82; 21. Harper (DW) 82; 21. Gallagher (WCE) 82; 21. Caufield (WCH). * won playoff
