Sudden champ
PENN TWP — Latrobe's Ben Gjebre didn't have to sit around and wait before Wednesday's WPIAL Boys Golf Championship at Butler Country Club went into sudden death.
Having finished his 18 holes in the 13th of 16 threesomes, Gjebre tied Corey Wagner of Central Catholic with a 2-over-par 73 in regulation.
Wagner posted his score earlier in the day and had to wait more than 1Z\x hours before someone else equaled his score.
In sudden death, Gjebre, a senior, captured the WPIAL crown on the second hole when Wagner's putt came up short.
"I just don't like standing around," Gjebre said. "I kept putting, kept loose and swinging the clubs."
As for the four Butler County participants, Freeport's Zach McQueen, Seneca Valley's Aaron Zimmerman and Jason Fitzpatrick and Christian Locher of Mars, McQueen had the best chance to advance, finishing in a sixth-place tie for 23rd place with an 82. But he lost a playoff and had to settle for 25th and an alternate slot. The top 24 finishers advance to the PIAA Western Regional Oct. 21.
Gjebre knew he was cutting things close but didn't want to know how close he was in the latter stages of regulation play.
"I didn't look at the scoreboard on 16," Gjebre said. "I was playing very well and I didn't want to think about winning. I was just in a groove."
Wagner, also a senior, went out with the fourth threesome of the morning. He overcame a pair of 6s on the front nine, but had just two 5s over the entire 18 holes.
Sitting around in the cool, windy weather didn't help matters.
"I just had lunch with my family, started to hit a few putts," Wagner said.
In the playoff, it was Gjebre who started the first playoff hole in good shape, but he couldn't finish. On the second playoff hole, Wagner got off to the good start, but Gjebre, who was eighth in his semifinals round last week with a 75, won the hole and the title.
"I've always dreamed about this," said Gjebre. "When I got to the first tee (Wednesday), I thought, 'OK, let's break 80.'"
In the first playoff round, Hempfield's Chris Cline won with a birdie and took the 23rd spot. Josh Valentic of Trinity took the 24th spot and McQueen earned the first alternate slot and settled for 25th place.
McQueen had a 40 on the front nine and a 42 on the back. He was in the same threesome — the third group to tee off for the day when wind conditions were at their worst — as Mars' Jason Fitzpatrick and Seneca Valley's Blake Henderson.
McQueen, the lone golfer from Section 1 Division 2, had a feeling an 82 or 83 would be the cutoff point Wednesday, but he just fell short in grabbing one of the top 24 spots."Compared to last week, this was nice," said McQueen, who took part in the semifinals last week in cold and rainy weather "I was hoping to get into the same mind-set."Fitzpatrick and Planets teammate Christian Locher carded an 83 and 84, respectively. They could only watch as some of the later golfers put up solid scores that dropped them to 29th and 35th out of the 48 finalists."I figured the low 80s would get you through," said Fitzpatrick, who worked for two years at Butler Country Club. "I knew it would be tough, but it was tough for everyone."I felt like I struck the ball well, but had trouble on the greens," he added. "There was a stretch I felt bad (a pair of 6s on holes 6 and 7). I think I lost four holes."Locher, who teed off almost one hour after McQueen, Fitzpatrick and Henderson, had three 6s as well as a 7 on 16, but he continued to plug away."At one point I was 9 over, but I just kept playing," said Locher. "The greens killed me. The greens were slower on Sunday (when he played a round at BCC).""Jason didn't start out well with a 44, but he finished strong on the back nine with a 39," said Mars coach Tim Tyler. "It was cold, but it was the same for everyone. They both played real well until today."Henderson was consistent on both the front and back, registering identical 44s."Blake didn't hit the ball well," said Seneca Valley coach Steve Mayes. "He hit two fairways all day. He just had a bad day. When you are not striking pure, it'll hurt you severely."The entire event, which took more than 7Z\x hours to complete, is definitely a waiting game. It can take its toll or help, as in Gjebre's case.But Fitzpatrick took it in stride."I'm not real nervous. I can't do anything now," said Fitzpatrick while waiting for the championship to play out. "If someone comes back and beats you, then they deserve to go."
