By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
WEST CHESTER – The wins keep piling up for the Downingtown West boys’ golf squad. But for the first time this season the unbeaten Whippets had to sweat out a closely contested victory.
West edged host West Chester Henderson 184-187 on Tuesday at West Chester Golf & Country Club. Both sides boasted five scores in the 30s, but the Whippets (9-0, 10-0 overall) got a 1-under-par 34 from medalist Avery O’Neill, and eked out the win thanks to just a tad more depth.
“Our hope was that being on our home turf that a couple strokes would go our way,” said Warriors’ head coach Joel Cummings.
Another interesting storyline was the matchup of some of the best sophomores in the league and district. On this day, Henderson’s 10th graders notched three scores that counted (Charlie Ball, Charlie Isler and Zach Evans), and West just one (Ian Larsen).
“Henderson has a lot of good, young kids who are scrappy and they get the ball in the hole with great short games,” said Whippets’ head coach Nick Wolfe. “It’s always a tough test to come here with some of the uneven lies.”
O’Neill’s rock-solid round included eight pars, and a birdie on the par-5 eighth. The West junior overcame a drive into the trees and an approach shot that sailed the eighth green by executing a nice chip and a putt from about seven feet.
“Avery had a nice round and he is definitely capable of shooting that kind of number,” Wolfe said.
Larsen finished with a 1-over 36 despite some trouble with his irons, and junior Aiden Muir overcame a double bogey on the par-4 fourth to card a 38. Junior teammates Justin Marcus and Dominic Mendez each added 38s for the Whippets.
“It wasn’t Ian Larsen’s best round,” Wolfe said. “He hit some squirrelly iron shots – but that’s golf. There will be days like this, but thankfully we got the win.
“We’ve been working a lot on approach shots. I don’t know if the kids saw the need for it, but our stats will prove today we didn’t hit a lot of greens. We need to hit more, but we did putt fairly well.”
Ball paced the Warriors with an even-par 35, and senior Michael Cugino chipped in a 37. Isler and Evans shot identical 38s, and junior Joey Lynn carded a 39.
“We gave it our best so we have no need to hang our heads,” Cummings said.
“That’s probably (Ball’s) lowest round of the season in a match. Michael Cugino’s 37 was huge, and Joey Lynn’s 39, on his home course – these are great scores.”
Downingtown West has now topped Henderson, Coatesville and West Chester East twice, along with single wins over Bishop Shanahan, Avon Grove and Downingtown East. The Whippets will be heavy favorites in the rest of their C-M National matches, and will then see how they stack up with the best of American Division – Unionville and West Chester Rustin – at the Ches-Mont Championship on Oct. 7.
“This was a good test,” O’Neill said. “We didn’t have a ton of scores that we are really proud of, but local knowledge (of the course) really helps. We all know we can play better.
“But the culture of this team is amazing. We are just trying to have fun in each round but also play the best golf we can. You don’t want to put too much pressure on yourself, so you want to go out and enjoy playing.”
Downingtown West 184, West Chester Henderson 187
Par 35 at West Chester G&CC
Downingtown West: O’Neill 34, Larsen 36, Marcus 38, Mendez 38, Muir 38.
W.C. Henderson: Ball 35, Cugino 37, Isler 38, Evans 38, Lynn 39.
