This week’s notebook highlights conference champions Upper Dublin and Pennsbury. Check out the Golf Gallery for SuburbanOneSports.com to view almost 850 photos from the SOL Championships held at Indian Valley CC….click here for a direct link to the gallery.
By Ben Reese
There is a flag on the flag pole which stands outside the clubhouse at LuLu Country Club.
It congratulates the champion Upper Dublin Flying Cardinals. For the past two years, it has been a fitting tribute.
The Cards have won the Suburban One League American Conference crown the last two seasons, going 13-1 in 2013 and a perfect 14-0 this year. Those two years are the culmination of some determined efforts by both coach Dave Koch and the members of the team.
"I think the stars and the moon aligned perfectly about 15 years ago and we just have a class of (senior) kids," Koch said. "They started as freshmen and they've grown together over the years.
"These kids who were freshmen four years ago have put it all together. Over the last two years, they've done a great job.
"We've had a good mix. Senior leadership and juniors, sophomores and freshmen have made a wonderful mix together and they back each other up."
That they have each other’s backs can be verified by the team's record over the last four years. Upper Dublin has gone 58-4 over the last four seasons.
Senior Mark Lunney has been through all four of those years. He knows what had to be done to achieve all that the team has gotten.
"From the start, we've always had a solid run, but this year we were really able to put everything together," Lunney said. "I think this is just the beginning of our season looking forward; we're trying to take it into districts and hopefully states.
"Overall, we all have great relationships together. We're all friends, both on and off the golf course.
"Just to know that they always have your back – if you're not playing well one day, the other seven guys can go out there and put up a number."
That is something Koch has emphasized.
"When we have a tough time at the top of our lineup, the bottom comes through," the coach said. "I really don't worry about who's playing well because I know somebody's going to pick up the slack."
Jack Melville, who has played No. 1 for the Cardinals this season, realizes that this year has been special.
"It's been a very good year," he said. "Everyone's performed every day. Everyone's been clicking.
"Every year we've worked very hard and the results show. We all love our coach. We all bond around him, and we all just play golf and have fun. Having fun is when you play well."
Lunney had some more to say on the idea.
"It's an individual sport," he said, "but we have come together as a team more than I expected. The ability to rely on everyone to come in with a low number, there's nothing more you could ask for.
"Being able to go out and just play your own game free from the stresses of 'I need this number' – you can just go out and play."
Melville looked at the undefeated season and the SOL championships in a different light.
"It's going to give us some confidence," he said. "This doesn't mean much when you go in after the league (season).
"You kind of put this away and kind of redo everything. That would be cool of we could potentially go to states (as a team)."
That's one way of putting it.
Repeat: Pennsbury is another team that went through the league season without a defeat. The Falcons also finished 14-0 in the SOL National Conference.
They wrapped things up with consecutive wins over Council Rock North on back-to-back days.
Those wins were enough to preserve the perfect season and wrap up the title.
The obvious lynchpins for Pennsbury are Jackie Rogowicz and Vinay Ramesh. But those two couldn't have carried the team all by themselves.
They needed the contributions from the other golfers on the team. And they got them on Monday, Sep. 22, and Tuesday, Sep. 23.
Of course, Rogowicz and Ramesh played their usual stellar golf. Rogowicz had a 36 on Monday and a 34 on Tuesday while Ramesh shot 37 on Monday at Yardley and 36 on Tuesday at Jericho National.
But it was the contributions of players like Logan Buell, Justin Friedman, Craig Meschal, Ryan Kim, Eric Herrmann and Alex Simon that proved the difference in those two matches and in the other 12 victories that the Falcons collected.
Championships: The Suburban One League championships got underway Monday at Indian Valley Country Club with the boys’ championship. The girls’ championship will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at LuLu.
Those lead into the District One tournament on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 6 and 7. The boys play at Turtle Creek and the girls at Gilbertsville.
Golden Oaks in Fleetwood again hosts the Eastern Regional tourney. It will be on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
The PIAA Championships are again at Heritage Hills in York. The two-day event will be Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 20 and 21.
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