Mount club crew climbs to 5-0

by TOM UTESCHER

CLUB-SWINGING SISTERS for the Mount St. Joseph golf team. Back row, left to right: Christen, Nicole and Jaclyn Kouch. Front row: Angela and Christina Koerper  (photo by Tom Utescher)

Last Wednesday the Mount St. Joseph golf team completed the first round of Catholic Academies matches with a flawless 5-0 record, defeating Gwynedd Mercy Academy (1-4) by a score of 291-363.

Sophomore Victoria Arena carded a 43 and junior Moira Bryers scored a 45 to pace the Magic on their home course at Whitemarsh Valley, where par for the front nine is 37. MSJ senior co-captains Angela Koerper and Nicole Kouch were on the course but were not official participants in the match, as they were working on specific parts of their game in preparation for the upcoming District 1 tournament.

Gwynedd was already in trouble after the first foursome to finish arrived at the clubhouse, since the combined score of 88 put up by Arena and Bryers was 33 strokes up on the figure of 121 turned in by freshmen Bridget Welz (56) and Melanie Reynolds (65) of the Monarchs.

Next to reach the ninth green for the Mount were seniors Courtney Hain and Aly Friel, who shot a 50 and a 51 respectively. In this quartet the visitors were represented by a pair of juniors, Lexy Chiarantona (55) and Christine May (59).

Out of the third foursome, only one individual score for each school was ultimately included in the team totals, a 52 by MSJ junior Christina Koerper, and a 65 by Monarchs senior Maureen Clearkin. The teams discarded rounds by Jaclyn Kouch, a Magic junior, and Jen Gonsior, a GMA senior.

This gave the hosts an almost insurmountable lead, and when the fourth foursome turned in their cards, a 50 by sophomore Christen Kouch completed the Magic's team score, while Gwynedd counted a 63 by sophomore Elyse McCabe into its final reckoning. MSJ senior Katie Bailey and Monarchs sophomore Megan Payton were the other members of this last quartet.