By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
@NeilMGeoghegan on Twitter
EAST MARLBOROUGH >> It may not be as inevitable as death and taxes, but it’s close. The Ches-Mont League American Division boys golf title race seems to come down to Unionville and West Chester Rustin every season, and 2023 doesn’t look like an outlier.
They tangled for the first time this season Tuesday at Kennett Square Golf & Country Club, and the host Longhorns eked out an impressive 184-187 victory by counting four scores at 38 or better. The duo will go at it again on Thursday, but this time at the Golden Knights’ home course: Penn Oaks Golf Club.
“I don’t know that anybody in our league has a bigger home advantage than Rustin at Penn Oaks,” said Unionville head coach Jimmy O’Rourke. “It’s tough as nails – it’s long and tight.
“(Knights’ head coach) Joe Paris and I know that every single match we play is going to come down to a couple strokes somewhere. And it’s like that every single year, at their place and at our place.”
A pair of promising sophomores – the ’Horns’ Charlie Barrickman and Rustin’s Anesti Kalderemtzis – shared medalist honors with identical even-par 35s. Barrickman ended his round with a 2-putt birdie on the 447-yard par-5 ninth hole.
“Anesti is playing very good golf. He is very committed and he is going to play college golf someday,” Paris said.
“I am pretty happy with my round,” Kalderemtzis added. “I hit the ball well, but I have to work on my putting a little bit. I had a lot of missed birdie opportunities.”
Kalderemtzis also rallied late, and his highlight was a 300-plus yard drive on the par-4 eighth, and a 54-degree wedge from 102 yards that resulted in a tap-in birdie.
“I feel great about how I played. I was just having a good time out there,” he said.
“I figured out my swing after the seventh hole. I had a great drive on the eighth and I stuck it to a foot.”
Juniors Jax Puskar and Michael Keller chipped in with a 36 and 37, respectively, and senior Rex Opdahl and junior Tre Lesperance carded 38s to round out the scoring for a deep Unionville squad that is now 5-0 in the league (6-0 overall).
“It’s good that we got (Rustin) here, and it’s definitely going to be close on Thursday,” Barrickman said. “Our mindset this season is to make easy pars and try not to chase birdies.”
Juniors Sam Feeney and Nick Linkchorst fired 37s for the Knights, who fall to 2-1 in the league and overall.
“Unionville is a very solid team and they are very difficult to beat here (at Kennett Square G&CC),” Paris said. “As soon as we got off the bus, I told the kids that every stroke is going to count.
“But we are tough at Penn Oaks, and I think this team is ready to rally there. So we will see what happens.”
Unionville 184, West Chester Rustin 188
Par 35 at Kennett Square G&CC
W.C. Rustin: Kalderemtzis 35, Feeney 36, Linkchorst 37, Berry 40, Keiser 39.
Unionville: Barrickman 35, Pukar 36, Keller 37, OpDahl 38, Lesperance 38.
