Kutztown's Women Claim First Title, IUP's Men Win at PSAC Golf Championships
October 21-22, 2017
Hershey Country Club
Hershey, Pa.
DAY TWO RECAP
HERSHEY, Pa. --- Kutztown’s women and IUP’s men claimed the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Golf Championships Sunday afternoon at the Hershey Park East Course in Hershey, Pa.
KU won its first title in school history after rallying from three strokes back following Saturday’s opening round. The Golden Bears (+70) staved off a feisty West Chester squad (+72) to win the championship.
KU’s Shannon Weber paced the team after she finished second at +12 on the weekend while teammate Jillian Jones produced a pair of 80’s and finished ninth.
Overall, KU had four players finish in the top 15.
California’s Holly Ho won the individual championship and is the fourth Vulcan to accomplish the feat and first since 2012. Cal has had a representative win the individual crown on five occasions. Ho shot one over Sunday and finished the tournament at +6.
Millersville’s Danielle Greene impressed with a 73 after shaving nine strokes off of her opening round.
Greene, Cal’s Sara Suazo, WCU’s Meghan O’Mara and Lacey Bensing all tied for third with identical +13 over the two-day event.
On the men’s side, IUP continued its storied dominance of the tournament after claiming its 28th team championship. The Crimson Hawks are the first PSAC men’s team to repeat since ripping off a six-peat from 2007-12.
IUP concluded the event with three players in the top eight.
IUP improved eight strokes as a team following the first round and posted a +25 for the tournament. Cal earned second at +30 while Millersville finished third at +33.
IUP’s Josh Bartley won the individual title after shooting a remarkable 67 in the second round and finished at -3 overall. MU’s Connor Sheehan posted a 68 Sunday and grabbed second overall at -2.
Bartley is the 15th Crimson Hawk to win the crown since 1993.
Cal’s Ryan Smith played solid both days and finished third overall and shot even-par.
Mercyhurst’s Adrian Larsen (+2) and Pitt-Johnstown’s Michael Gerger (+5) claimed fourth and fifth, respectively.
DAY ONE RECAP
HERSHEY, Pa. --- The first round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Golf Championships concluded Saturday evening at the Hershey Country Club East Course in Hershey, Pa.
West Chester’s Meghan O’Mara paces the field after firing a 75 (+4) in the opening round. O’Mara produced 11 pars and two birdies.
California’s Holly Ho sits one stroke back (+5) following an opening-round 76.
Kutztown’s Shannon Weber and Cal’s Sara Suazo are tied for third after shooting 79.
WCU leads all teams after posting a 321 (+37) while KU (324, +40) and Mercyhurst (329, +45) hold second and third, respectively.
On the men’s side, IUP’s Josh Bartley and Millersville’s Connor Sheehan are tied for the individuals lead after both posted an impressive 72 (+1) to open play.
Cal’s Ryan Smith sits alone in third after turning in a 73 (+2).
Smith’s teammate, Jerome Landry, and Millersville’s Brady Erb are tied for fourth after shooting 74’s (+3).
Cal holds a three-stroke lead (299, +15) over IUP (302, +18). Millersville (306, +22) sits in third.
The men will tee off at 10:18 Sunday on hole 10 while the women will begin play at 10 a.m. on hole 1.
CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
HERSHEY, Pa. --- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships will take place at the Hershey Country Club East Course October 21 & 22 in Hershey, Pa.
The men’s championship will boast eight teams while the women’s will field nine squads.
Both the men and women will play 18 holes on both Saturday and Sunday to make up the two-round 36-hole tournament. The first women's group is slated to tee-off at 10 a.m. on hole No. 10 and the last group will begin play at 12:06 p.m.
The men’s action will commence at 10:18 a.m. from hole No. 1 while the last group will tee off at 11:39 a.m.
In 2016, IUP’s men won their 27th team title after posting a +35 over two rounds. The Crimson Hawks edged West Chester (+37) by a pair of strokes. California (+38) grabbed third.
IUP’s Max Kirsch defeated WCU’s Andrew Patterson in a one-hole playoff after both individuals were tied at +4 after 36 holes.
Millersville’s Connor Sheehan looks to continue his strong career after tying for sixth in the PSAC Championship last season before being one of two PSAC individuals to play at the NCAA DII Championship (Chris Kupniewski, Mercyhurst).
Overall, four returning all-conference athletes will be in the field.
The championship has boasted four different winners in the last four years.
On the women’s side, Gannon looks to win consecutive team titles and its fourth in school history. Only three of the nine PSAC teams (California and Millersville) have claimed team titles since the championship’s induction in 2008.
GU (+60) defeated California by seven strokes while Kutztown finished third.
GU’s Diana Munoz paced the field at +5 while teammate Manuela Quevedo and Millersville’s Danielle Greene tied for second at +9.
Four 2016-17 PSAC all-conference representatives will be in the field.
Three different teams have won the team title in the last three seasons.