Wins over Penn Charter lift CHA golf to 7-1

by TOM UTESCHER

Chestnut Hill Academy’s hopes for a stake in the Inter-Ac golf championship seemed more tangible at the end of last week, after home and away wins over Penn Charter boosted the Blue Devils’ league record to 7-1.

On their home course at Sunnybrook, the Devils won 234-251 on Monday afternoon, and the next day they prevailed 247-258 at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, the Quakers’ home venue.

The two remaining league bouts for CHA (9-1 overall) will be played during the third week of May against Haverford School, which shared the 2004 Inter-Ac title with Malvern Prep. After last week’s matches, Charter owned an overall record of 6-8, as well as a 3-5 league mark that included a split with Haverford.

The Blue Devils, who tend to perform well in wet, cool conditions, got off three rounds in the 30’s in Monday’s victory. Jason Ochroch and Mike Soowal each posted a par round of 36 at Sunnybrook, with Ochroch shooting par on seven holes and balancing a lone bogie with a birdie on the third.

Soowal went over on two holes, but birdied the sixth and the eighth, while CHA’s Robert Robertson put up seven pars en route to a round of 38. Nick Pearson birdied the second and came in with a 40, and the Devils received a 41 from Steve Wetherill and a 43 from Chip Culp.

Leading a young Penn Charter squad were sophomore Brett Falkoff, with a 38, and freshman Mike Blechtschmidt, with a 40. Falkoff’s classmate and partner for the match, Tim Walling, carded a 41, while eighth graders Steve Harrington and Sam Lerner contributed a 43 and a 44, respectively for the Quakers. A 45 by sophomore Ben Katz completed Charter’s score.

CHA’s top tandem, in terms of combined score, had been Ochroch and Wetherill in the fourth foursome. This pair would come through again the following day to save the Blue Devils’ bacon at Huntingdon Valley, where Penn Charter was leading the match with six men from each team in the clubhouse.

First to finish for the Quakers were Falkoff and Walling, who shot a 38 and a 44, respectively, while CHA received a 40 from Soowal (birdie on the fourth) and a 48 from Eric Dzeingelski which was dropped from the team total later on.

The second foursome produced another 38 and 44 for Penn Charter, this time from Tedd Meyer and Blechtschmidt. Meyer birdied the third hole, as did CHA’s Pearson, who came in at 39. There was also a 46 from Chestnut Hill’s Hoyes which the Devils were eventually able to discard.

As the third quartet appeared on the final green, CHA’s Robertson and PC’s Harrington were both flummoxed by the par-four ninth hole. Each eventually found the cup on his eighth stroke, Robertson coming in with a 45 and Harrington with a 48. A birdie on the fourth helped Culp fashion a 42 for Chestnut Hill, while a 49 by the Quakers’ Katz would be scratched out in the final tally.

In the final foursome Charter received its second 48-stroke round (from Lerner), which was left out of PC’s total, but the Quakers had to include a 46 by Matt Tausch. Meanwhile, Wetherill and Ochroch gave the Hill lads a decisive finishing kick, with a 40 and a 41, respectively. Wetherill, a freshman, birdied the par-three sixth hole, and then wrapped it up with a par on the ninth.