Silver lining: PT’s Glyptis, C-H’s Jaskulski finish 2nd at the WPIAL girls golf championships
McMURRAY – Peters Township junior Betty Glyptis walked off the 18th hole having recorded a disappointing double bogey but was still holding a one-shot lead.
Then she had to sit, wait and see what happened behind her.
And what happened was Moon’s Olivia Degori holed out for an eagle on 16 to leapfrog Glyptis and made a birdie on 17 to cement her lead.
Degori finished off her round with a par on 18 and went on to win the WPIAL Class 3A girls golf championship, Monday at Valley Brook Country Club.
She finished the two-round event at plus-11, while Glyptis was second at 13 over par.
Both qualified for states. Trinity junior Izzy Lesako and Canon-McMillan sophomore Jordyn Larkin finished in a tie for fifth at plus-22 and both qualified for the state championships. Peters Township freshman Annie Higgins also qualified for states with a seventh-place finish.
In Class 2A, Chartiers-Houston’s JoJo Jaskulski placed second, one shot behind Shady Side Academy’s Alyssa Zhang, who won her third WPIAL championship in a row.
Glyptis, a junior, settled for second place for the second consecutive year. She said she felt like she had a bigger margin to work with going into the 18th hole and went with driver off the tee instead of playing it safe.
“I thought I had more room, so I decided to do some things that probably weren’t smart,” Glyptis said. “My coaches told me on 17 that I had a big lead, so I thought I could be more aggressive.
“I really wanted to go after it and see what would happen if I was aggressive and play the shots that I’d only do in practice. I was considering taking 5-wood off the tee, but this is my home course, so I knew that there was room up to the right and I thought I could hit it there if I bailed out.”
While Glyptis was decompressing after her round, DeGori made her move.
She holed out from 40 yards for an eagle on 16 and made a 15-foot putt to birdie 17.
DeGori finished at one-over par 73 for her round. Glyptis shot 6-over par, 79.
“Liv played incredible, so I’m happy she won,” Glyptis said. “We played together last week and it was fun, but I’m definitely regretting doubling the last hole.”
Larkin had the lead going into the final round, but slipped to fifth with a round of 88 on a difficult course in windy conditions.
Lesako shot 85 to earn a spot in the state championship for the first time. She made nine pars in her round.
“We had a few ups and downs on the front, but stayed in it and finished pretty strong on the back nine,” Lesako said. “I was really proud of myself for staying with it.”
Lesako purposely avoided looking at any leaderboards at the turn or asking where she stood in the field. At 18 she found out she would be making it to states.
“It was really exciting to know I made it,” Lesako said. “My family was really proud and my coaches. It was nice to see all of them here. I have a great support system.”
Class 2A
Jaskulski made Zhang earn it on the last hole by draining a 25-foot, downhill putt. But Zhang knocked in a three-footer for par to claim her third straight title.
Zhang shot 75, while Jaskulski shot 78.
“Whenever I was standing over that last putt, I was just thinking to myself ‘I have to make this to even have somewhat of a chance’,” Jaskulski said.
It’s the second year in a row that Jaskulski has finished runner-up to Zhang, but this one was much closer than last year.
It was a back-and-forth afternoon. Jaskulski entered the final round as the leader, but Zhang took control on the front nine with birdies on the second and ninth holes.
Jaskulski gained those two strokes back with pars on 13 and 14, while Zheng bogeyed both.
That had the pair tied going into 16, which ended up being the turning point.
Zhang birdied the hole, while Jaskulski hit her approach shot past the hole, which led to a bogey. It made for a two-shot swing.
“I took the wrong club and ended up shooting it over the green,” Jaskulski said. “I used a 54 (degree wedge) instead of a 58 and it just took off. There’s not much I can do about it now.”
Even though she fell short again, Jaskulski closed the gap on Zhang. Both are juniors and will likely be battling for gold again next year.
“I would say it was all mental today,” Jaskulski said. “I got into my head a little bit on the front nine, I’m not going to lie, but I was able to get it back on the back nine, but then I lost it for a second before getting it back on the last hole.
“I enjoy playing (Zhang) because it’s always competitive.”