By BEN REESE
Upper Dublin has stormed through most of its Suburban One League American Conference schedule and currently sports a 12-0 record.
You could attribute that to the outstanding play of senior Andrew Carber, who is second in the SOL in handicap differential, trailing only Council Rock North's Zach Herr 0.11-0.34. And that assumption wouldn't be far from wrong.
But it wouldn't be exactly right, either.
The Cardinals are more than a one-man team. They have two other seniors in Tommy O'Brien and Jake Kieserman.
“Tommy O'Brien and Jake Kieserman have been steady, shooting in the low 40s, about 5-over-par,” Upper Dublin coach Dave Koch said.
But it is two additional players that have Koch smiling. They are freshmen Michael Reed-Price and Cole Swiger.
“They have just come in and provided a spark for our team,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. “The freshmen are quite a surprise, quite a gift.
“They have played a lot of golf. One plays at Sunnybrook and the other at Huntington Valley Country Club.”
The addition of these two newcomers has given the Cardinals a lift and provided needed depth.
“We have a nice balance between seniors and freshmen,” said Koch. “Balance leads to depth.
“When it comes to playing in the Suburban One League, you have to have lots of depth. Our 1, 2 and 3 are about equal to other teams, but the 4 and 5 have to be better and I attribute that to our depth.”
The two freshmen have not been cowed by the competition at the varsity level. Reed-Price is seventh in the league in handicap differential, and Swiger is in the 15th spot.
This season has been a continuation of Upper Dublin's finish of last year. The Cards lost early in last season to Wissahickon 202-206 but then ran the table to finish 13-1.
This year is more of the same.
“We have a target on our back,” Koch said.
The Cardinals next match, on Friday, is against Plymouth Whitemarsh at LuLu Country Club. Both teams are undefeated and vying for the top spot in the American Conference.
“It should be a great match,” Koch said. “If our kids play the way they can, we should win. But, on any given day …
“You never know. You have to play it on the course. It will be a great match.”
Short Irons
Since the last golf notebook, there have been a lot of great rounds reported. The top single round belongs to Central Bucks East's Stew Rickenbach, who fired a 33 on the front nine at Pinecrest this past Wednesday against North Penn. But also checking in with low nines were Hatboro-Horsham's Tom Fisher with a 34 against Central Bucks South at Talamore Country Club, Zach Herr of Council Rock North also with a 34 on the front nine at Middletown Country Club against Neshaminy, CB East's Ashley Cassidy with a 35 at Fox Hollow vs. Quakertown and Vinay Ramesh of Pennsbury also with a 35 at Pinecrest.
Pennsbury has reported two matches with all five players turning in cards under 40. The first came back on August 29 against North Penn. With Ramesh shooting 35, Jason Millen and Eric Hermann fired 37s, Jackie Rogowicz a 38 and Dylan del Vecchio a 39.
The Falcons followed that up with a 187 against Neshaminy this past Wednesday. Hank Kaufmann led off with a 36, Rogowicz added a 37, Ramesh a 37, Ryan Foll a 38 and Craig Meschell a 39.
Just a reminder to coaches around the league, it is only with your assistance that this notebook gets written. Please continue to send in your information on a timely basis.
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