by Tom Utescher

In Inter-Ac League boys’ golf, the 2018 schedule of team tournaments closed out last Tuesday at Huntingdon Valley Country Club. Each of the six league schools takes a turn at hosting the other five teams, and the final league event took place on Penn Charter’s home course.

There are eight participants from each school playing a nine-hole round at these outings, and the sum of the five best individual scores is the official team tally.

Last week at Huntingdon Valley, Haverford School completed am impressive team sweep of the 2018 tourneys, posting three one-over-par rounds of 36 and coming away with a team score of 183, a total of eight over par combined for the five scorers. The Fords actually had to drop one of their 38-stroke rounds from their team score.

Unfortunately for fans on this side of the Schuylkill, the other two Main Line schools have occupied the other two spots in the top three this fall. In the final outing, Episcopal Academy was close behind Haverford with a score of 186, and Malvern Prep turned in a 194.

As in most of the league events, Germantown Academy secured fourth place, this time with a score of 203. Junior Dante Messina broke into the 30’s with a 39 to lead the Patriots, who received a 40 from freshman Luke Marvin and two 41-stroke rounds from senior Wills Jordan and freshman Seth Roth.

Senior Nick Schnur is the captain of the 2018 Germantown Academy golf team. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

For their fifth individual round to complete their team total, the Pats had their choice of a pair of 42’s produced by senior Nick Schnur and junior Eric Lafond.

In fifth place with a score of 208, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy was led by a two-over-par 37 turned in by sophomore Andrew Lauerman. Senior Jake Webster and junior Justin Dougherty each went around in 40 strokes, and the Blue Devils also counted a 45 from Dan Levin and a 46 from Andrew Wolfe, who are both seniors.

In sixth place with a 217 was event host Penn Charter. The Quakers were hit hard by graduation last spring, with one of their losses being number one Brian Isztwan, a four-year varsity golfer now playing at Harvard.

Isztwan’s brother Patrick, who became the Inter-Ac individual champion as a freshman in 2017, fired a 36 on his home course to lead the Quakers last Tuesday. After him came senior Dylan Topaz (40) and sophomores Josh Felter (44) and Ryan Yeatman (48). To complete the official team score, Charter added in one of the 49-stroke rounds offered up by senior Tom Bradbeer and eighth-grader Holden Hummel.

In the Inter-Ac opener this season, Springside Chestnut Hill took fourth place on its home course at Sunnybrook Golf Club on September 11. The next afternoon, GA began to emerge as the top team on this side of the river. Schnur, the team captain, shot a par round of 35 on Malvern’s home circuit at Waynesboro Country Club, leading the Patriots to the fourth-place position they maintained in future league outings.