C-H’s Kane surprises himself, finishes 3rd at WPIAL tournament
Luke Campbell/Observer-Reporter
Chartiers-Houston’s Spencer Kane eyes down a putt in the WPIAL Class 2A boys individual golf championship at Allegheny Country Club.
Chartiers-Houston’s Spencer Kane approaches his putt on the 10th hole in the WPIAL Class 2A boys golf championship at Allegheny Country Club.
Luke Campbell/Observer-Reporter
Chartiers-Houston’s Spencer Kane escapes from the bunker on the par 3 No. 12 hole at Allegheny Country Club.
Chartiers-Houston’s Spencer Kane hits a tee shot in the WPIAL Class 2A boys golf individual championship at Allegheny Country Club.
SEWICKLEY – Before any of the 32 golfers teed off Thursday morning at the WPIAL Class AA Championships, many already had their mind made up that they were chasing three-time defending champion Skyler Fox of Riverside.
Chartiers-Houston’s Spencer Kane changed that.
Rolling in a tricky 20-foot putt to birdie the downhill par-3 No. 3 hole, Kane followed that with a pair of approach shots that each landed a foot from the cup and led to tap-in birdies.
The field was now chasing him.
Using the three consecutive birdies at the beginning of his round, Kane averted danger, played smart and led a majority of the way before finishing at 3-over 73 and finishing in third place at Thursday at Allegheny Country Club.
“In the back of my mind I wanted a top-five finish,” Kane said. “Third place I was not expecting. I also wasn’t expecting to be three-under through five holes. A third-place finish is a dream come true, honestly.”
Kane led after nine holes before Sewickley Academy’s J.F. Aber, the eventual champion, came on strong to start the back nine. Aber made a knee-buckling putt from less than 10 feet on No. 18 to shoot even par 70 and hold off a fast-charging Fox by one stroke.
The top 18 advanced to the PIAA Western Regional Oct. 15 at Tom’s Run Golf Course in Blairsville. Part of that group included Kane’s teammate, Jack Hritsko, and Carmichaels’ Remmey Lohr. Hritsko had a pair of 38s on the front and back to shoot 76, good for seventh place. Lohr, who is thought to be the first girl to compete in a WPIAL individual boys golf championship, finished 13th with an 81. Jefferson-Morgan’s Kyle Clayton shot 81 and tied for 20th place.
It was the third time Kane took on the daunting course in the WPIAL Championships. He finished in 22nd place as a sophomore and needed a long birdie putt late in his round last year to finish in a tie for 17th and sneak into the West Regional.
The results this year come after admitting he’d had a rough season despite winning the Section 4 qualifier. Much of the season consisted of Chartiers-Houston forfeiting its team matches because it couldn’t assemble a full team.
“Golf is definitely a game that will mess you up mentally,” Kane said. “During the season, I was just making some stupid mistakes. That came from me not practicing. I play golf and soccer and am pretty committed to both. I didn’t have time to strictly commit to golf, spending the hours you really need to perfect shots and fix mistakes. I have just embraced the pressure of tournament play.”
Kane dropped back to even par on No. 12, a slightly uphill par-3 hole with the wind blowing into his face. His tee shot went into a bunker and he three-putted for double bogey.
“That hole gave me a problem last year, too,” Kane remembered. “I knew I had to play it smart. As I stood back there, I was overthinking it. I didn’t have the same attitude on that hole that I had the entire day, which was to just have fun. I’ve been playing long enough to know that you have to bounce back.”
It’s the second consecutive year Kane and Hritsko each advanced to the regional.
“My short game saved me today,” Hritsko said. “I wasn’t hitting it great off the tee and my approaches weren’t too good. I made the up and downs and some nice putts.”
The two have had friendly competitions this year.
“We are definitely competitive with each other,” Hritsko joked. “We kept that competitiveness even though we couldn’t compete against teams. We’ve gone back and forth a lot.”
Lohr chose to compete in the boys championship because her sister, Delaney, is in the Class 2A girls championship next Wednesday at Diamond Run Golf Club in Sewickley.
The two have competed in separate championships because only one of them is eligible to compete at the girls golf individual finals because Carmichaels doesn’t field a girls team. They both play on the boys team throughout the season.
Remmey Lohr competed in the girls finals as a freshman and sophomore, placing third in the WPIAL and 14th in the state last year.
“I wanted to stay in the 70s but think I played the best that I could and was pretty consistent,” she said. “It feels pretty cool. I feel like I did something right. I already made history and I did something even better to make it (to Tom’s Run).”