Gold standard: PT girls win 5th straight WPIAL golf championship
BELLE VERNON – Dynasty? Did somebody say dynasty? Synclaire Stroyne did and she has the numbers to back up her declaration.
Peters Township won its fifth consecutive WPIAL Class 3A team golf championship – and sixth in seven years – Tuesday at sunny and wind-swept Cedarbrook Golf Club’s Red course.
The Indians won by a whopping 27 strokes over runner-up Fox Chapel. The Foxes defeated South Fayette in a playoff to gain the runner-up trophy.
Peters Township freshman Josie Jeglinski was the medalist on the day, shooting 3-over 74, edging Fox Chapel senior Clara Koteski by one stroke.
The Peters Township boys team finished in fifth place in Class 3A. The Indians shot 399 – 15 strokes behind West Allegheny, which won its first WPIAL golf championship.
When asked if PT’s championship run qualifies as a dynasty, Stroyne, the Indians’ head coach and a former standout player in the program, wasn’t shy about her evaluation.
“We would like to think so. We work really hard,” she said. “Hard work and expectations are the key. We have certain expectations for the girls, we have practices, they all play in tournaments throughout the summer. This isn’t just a fall activity for our girls. This is a year-long lifestyle of golf. It’s not just girls who play golf during these couple of months.”
A good example of the golf lifestyle of the Indians is junior Betty Glyptis, who last month played in the Pure Insurance Championship held at the venerable Pebble Beach Golf Links. Glyptis shot 80 at Cedarbrook and afterward said the Mon Valley course was more difficult than Pebble Beach.
On this day, perhaps Glyptis wasn’t joking. The course was wet in spots and wind gusts of up to 20 mph made approach shots difficult to gauge.
“The conditions weren’t great,” Stroyne said. “The course wasn’t in great shape. It was really wet out there, so to shoot the scores we shot today … The wind and wetness … I mean it’s October in Pennsylvania, you expect that. But the sun was shining, so it was still a good day. Can’t be too picky.”
Annie Higgins, another freshman for Peters Township, shot 83 and sophomore Autumn Merck had a round of 89. Senior Olivia Ondrejko had the throw-out score of 90, which was the best non-scoring round of the event by a large margin.
Jeglinski’s round of 74 included only one birdie, but it helped her finish strong as she birdied the par-4 18th. She reached the green in two, putting her approach shot to within five feet of the hole. Her round included 13 pars. She played the front nine in 36 and the back side in 38.
“I just had fun out there,” Jeglinski explained. “I hit greens and fairways, made some putts and had fun with the people I played with. I just rolled with it.”
“They all knew what was on the line,” Stroyne said. “A freshman, Josie shot 74. I couldn’t have asked for her to do anything else, especially with that pressure as a freshman. That was a tremendous addition to the efforts. I’m really proud of her and the other girls hung in there as well. They shot good scores. They didn’t go super low but they all fought for every single shot. They didn’t leave any out there, so I’m really proud of them.”
Glyptis, the WPIAL individual runner-up, and Higgins will have busy schedules next week as they have qualified for the PIAA individual tournament and will be playing with the Indians in the team event.
While her coach was calling PT’s championship run a dynasty, Glyptis wasn’t so sure, but was equally proud of the Indians’ accomplishments.
“I don’t think we should call anything a dynasty. Everything comes and goes and this is truly dependent on one day of golf.”
Sophomore Emma Nickolas had the low round of the day for South Fayette, shooting 85. All five golfers for the Lions are underclassmen.
The PT boys were led by senior Ty Ondrejko and junior Kaden Holleran. Each shot 5-over 77.