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Hazleton heats up with strong effort week 5 effort

Grant Culbert (left) with a T-1 finish Shown right, Hazleton team champions with York Athletic Director Jeff Barkdoll.
Grant Culbert (left) with a T-1 finish Shown right, Hazleton team champions with York Athletic Director Jeff Barkdoll.
October 4, 2024

Hazleton, Pa. - The Nittany Lion golfers were in action twice this week, tackling the Penn State Blue Course in the annual PSUAC invitational and claiming their first win of the season at Heritage Hills Golf Resort in the Penn State York Invitational. Strong efforts from veteran's Joey Rebarchick and Grant Culbert led the way with newcomer Jake Babinchak and second year Bobby Kaufman bringing in solid efforts as the squad approaches the final stretch of the golf season. 

Collectively the Lions brought in a team score of 325 in State College on Monday. Despite some struggles on the greens, Rebarchick still managed a score of 81 but fortunately for the Hazleton team, Culbert picked up the reins to score a season best, round of 76. Culbert fell to a third place finish on a match of cards, but regardless of the tough luck post-round, the Pine Grove, Pa. native secured a T-1 individual finish for the first time during the regular season. Bobby Kaufman came in third for Hazleton with a round of 83 while Jake Babinchak totaled 85 strokes on the day to round out Hazleton's top four scores on a rainy monday in State College. The Lion's efforts landed Hazleton in third place for the day, trailing Penn State Shenango by five shots and Penn State Mont Alto by a total of 12. 

Two days later, Hazleton was back on the road, traveling to the Penn State York Invitational at Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York, Pa. There Hazleton saw Rebarchick get back into form, notching a six over par round of 77 for a second place finish. If not for two late miscues, Culbert could have challenged for another medal, but a double at the last pushed his score to plus eight for the day and a fourth place finish, with Babinchak and Kaufman adding rounds of 82 to finish out the top scores for Hazleton. Once again the Lions played through mist and rain but this time, came out on top, besting Penn State York for their first win of the season with a team score of 321. 

Hazleton continues to move in the right direction and will look to continue that trend next week when the Lions host a field of 54 players at the Valley Country Club for the annual Clark Luis Invitational.