PT’s Kness ties for fourth at PIAA golf championships
The unforgiving greens of Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York can turn a golfer’s round from good to average or worse, but that’s not news for Peters Township junior Mia Kness. This season’s PIAA Individual Golf Championships marked her third trip to the course and though she turned in the best round in Class AAA on day one, an inconsistent short game Tuesday cost her a shot at the state championship.
Kness shot a 10-over-par 82 in the final round of the tournament and an 11-over-par 155 overall to tie for fourth at the PIAA championships. She shot a 1-over-par in her first round and led eventual champion Brynn Walker of Radnor by one stroke. She was one of two golfers from Washington and Greene counties to finish in the top 10. Charleroi senior Mike Kondratik took seventh in Class AA.
Kness finished 13th as a freshman and third last year at the championships.
“Going into (the final round), I told myself that I needed to focus on me and not worry about what the other girls were doing,” Kness said. “I just didn’t really have it today. My putting was not good and my irons weren’t as great as they were on the first day. I kind of just had to grind it out.”
After a first round that put her atop the leaderboard, Kness was placed in the first group with Walker, the defending PIAA champion. Even with high expectations, Kness did not change her approach, but the challenging course, including fast, downhill greens, were difficult to navigate in the finals.
She had seven bogeys and two double bogeys, but unlike in previous years, there were no nerves or jitters.
“It’s was a great experience,” Kness said. “(Walker) is the defending state champion and she knew she was in position to comeback to win. I was pretty relaxed, but it wasn’t the outcome I wanted. Overall, I’m happy with the way I played, but I obviously wantd to finish it off.”
She won’t have to wait a year for another shot at a state championship. The Peters Township girls golf team will compete in the PIAA Team Golf Championships Thursday at Heritage Hills. The tournament was originally scheduled to begin today, but rain and thunder in the forecast forced PIAA officials to move it back a day. Peters Townships’ boys team, which won the WPIAL Class AAA title, will also compete in the team championships.
“Her scores improved and she was more relaxed out there,” Peters Township head coach Brian Farrell said. “It’s hard to even reach the championships with all the great golfers in the WPIAL and for her to be in the first group in the final rounnd is an experience to learn from. She has another year to get it done.”
In Class AAA boys, Peters Township senior Alec Stopperich finished 14th by shooting a 14-over-par 156 for the tournament. He carded a 7-over-par 78 in the final round and finished nine strokes behind Holy Ghost Prep’s Steve Cerbara, who won a one-hole playoff to claim the state championship. His teammates, senior Connor Schmidt, who won the West Region last week, tied for 26th with a 22-over-par 164 and junior Tanner Johnson finished 34th with a 25-over-par.
In Class AA, Kondratik had the fourth-best round in the final round, shooting a 6-over-par 77 with three birdies, but finished seventh for the tournament with a 17-over-par 159. He had a 36 on the front-9 Tuesday. Cody Dobbin, a senior at Avella who competes for Burgettstown’s golf team as part of a co-op, finished tied for 13th with a 21-over-par 163 and his classmate, Austin Lis, tied for 31st with a 30-over-par 172.
Bentworth freshman Luke Dziak tied for 28th by shooting a 28-over-par 170 and Carmichaels junior Liam Shea shot a 33-over-par 175 to tie for 34th.