May 31, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Malvern tops CHA for Inter-Ac golf title
by TOM UTESCHER

With half of the scores recorded at last Thursday’s pivotal Inter-Ac League golf match, the Chestnut Hill Academy Blue Devils held a 13-stroke advantage over host Malvern Prep on the Friars’ home course of Waynesboro Country Club.

However, CHA’s margin dwindled to six shots when the third foursome arrived at the clubhouse, and the final quartet brought Malvern a pair of one-over-par 36’s by two tenth graders, boosting the Friars to a 226-232 victory that allowed them to clinch the 2007 league championship.

In the Inter-Ac, the title goes to the team with the best record in a double round of regular-season matches, and Malvern finished out its schedule with a record of 9-1. CHA, which had fallen to the Friars on its home course in late April, owned a 7-2 mark after Thursday’s encounter, with a road match against Haverford still to be played.

Haverford was the 2006 champion, but the Fords were missing two veteran players for the first part of this season, and they dropped out of the chase after suffering four league losses. Chestnut Hill had beaten Haverford early in the ’07 campaign, and the Fords split their home-away series against Malvern.

For Thursday’s bout between CHA and Malvern, the weather was relatively cool, with little wind. From the first foursome to complete the course, each team received a two-over round of 37 from a player named Steve; Wetherill for the Blue Devils, and Frey for the Friars. CHA’s Mike Soowal shot a 40, helping his squad assume a one-stroke edge as two-time individual Inter-Ac champ Kevin Huntington, a senior headed for Penn, came in with a 41 for Malvern.

Due to a line of thunderstorms that had passed through the area the previous afternoon and evening, there were some wet patches on the course, and the greens were, in Soowal’s words “slow, but smooth.”

With a 34 and a 37, respectively, CHA juniors Chip Culp and Rob Roberston gave the visitors a 12-stroke boost in the second foursome, which yielded a 40 and a 43 for the Friars courtesy of Joe Bernard and Lee Zoeller. Culp birdied the first and fifth holes, bogied the third, and struck par on the other six to record the best round of the day. Tabulating the eight scores handed in up to that point, Chestnut Hill had a 148 to Malvern’s 161.

The third foursome arrived at the ninth green, and the Friars turned up the heat on the Devils, who saw more than half of their lead evaporate. Jim Johnson handed the hosts another 37 and colleague Tucker Koch carded a 40, while CHA received a 41 from Ed McCrossen and a 43 from Penn Steel.

The Blue Devils now had all of their viable scores on record; both of their players in the final foursome shot in the mid-40’s, and their scores were discarded.

Could sophomores Marty Hayden and Andrew Zoeller pull out a win for the Friars? To CHA’s dismay, the answer was yes, as the Malvern duo turned in matching 36’s to put their team over the top.

UPDATE

In their last regular-season match, the CHA Blue Devils defeated Haverford School, 230-245, on May 21, to finish as the Inter-Ac League runner-up with a record of 8-2. With a one-over round of 36, Soowal led the way for Chestnut Hill on Haverford’s home course at Gulph Mills Golf Club (par 35).

McCrossen, Robertson, Steel, and Wetherill each finished up in 38 strokes, and Culp scored a 42. The Fords played the Monday match without senior standout James Kania, who had participated in a tournament in Florida over the weekend.

With the loss to CHA, Haverford closed out its league campaign at 5-5, slipping to fourth place in the final standings as Penn Charter was left alone in third with a 6-4 record. Germantown Academy and Episcopal Academy, who split in their two head-to-head matches, shared a 1-9 mark in the Inter-Ac.