Lions wrap up regular season with 4th straight team victory

Conyngham, Pa. - The Hazleton golf squad wrapped up the regular season on Monday after hosting and taking home the hardware the Hazleton Invitational at Valley Country Club. Following the morning wave of rain, Hazleton took advantage of the receptive conditions and home course knowledge to post a team score of 327, besting their nearest competition by 33 strokes. After placing second in the PSUAC White Course Invitational back in mid September, Hazleton golf has reeled off four straight team wins, including three wins in the last seven days.

Few were better than Hazleton's Jeremy Harper (Mountain Top, Pa.) on Monday. Harper started slow with bogies at the first and second holes but would go even par on his last seven holes to make the turn at plus two. After five straight pars on the back nine, the junior found himself just one shot back off the pace, but pair of late bogies at 16 and 18 kept Harper from closing the gap. Harper failed to capture his first individual win of the season, however another strong showing with a five over par round of 76 was accompanied by a string of consistent scores from the rest of the Nittany Lions. 

Colin Hoy (Harlysville, Pa.) had a number of ups and downs on the day, but ultimately perserverance would pay off and Hoy found his way to post another solid score with an 82. Hoy found his swing late in the round, battling for four pars and birdie on the back nine to card a 39 on the inward half and salvage the round. 

Joey Rebarchick (Hazle Township, Pa.) had some of his best ball striking of the season and finished his day with a score of 84. Rebarchick's ball striking was on point for much of the day, with just three holes accounting for a seven over par stretch for the freshman. Rebarchick went just six over par on the rest of the course, racking up nine pars in the process. Rounding out the top four scores for the Lions was Will Long (Honesdale, Pa.) with a 85. Long kept the big numbers of the card and birdied the 11th hole on the way to another quality outing. 

Taking home the individual medalist honors for the second straight match was Penn State Lehigh Valley's Ian Massenheimer who posted a two over par round of 73 while York's Logan Snyder finished one shot ahead of Harper's 76 for a runner up finish. 

Next up: Hazleton will head to State College, Pa. on Sunday, October 10 for a practice round on the Penn State Blue Course where they'll prepare for the USCAA and PSUAC Championships. The two-day event will then take place on Monday and Tuesday of next week with Hazleton looking to run the table and capture a conference title.