Ben Reese recaps the 2016 PIAA Golf Championships that included a trio of SOL athletes.
By Ben Reese
YORK -- David Kim's final hole at the 2016 PIAA Golf Championship almost became a big stumbling block for the Upper Dublin senior.
He hit his drive in the fairway on the par-4 ninth hole, his 18th hole of the second day of the tournament at Heritage Hills Golf Resort. But he pulled his second shot into the trap to the left of the green.
He blasted out of the trap but his shot went long, finishing on the back part of the large green and leaving him with a long putt. Kim stepped up and rolled the putt into the hole for a final par and a score of 76.
That coupled with his first-day score of 78 gave him a total of 154, 12 shots over par, good enough for a tie for ninth place. North Penn's Ron Robinson put together an 81 and a 76 for a 157 and a tie for 14th. Cristea Park of Wissahickon took 12th place in the girls tournament with an 83-89--172.
The boys AAA champion was Kevin Scherr of Nazareth area with a 2-over 69-75--144. Taking the girls AAA title was Mia Kness of Peters Township with an even-par 72-72--144.
Getting back to Kim's problems on the final hole, it wasn't just the shots or the score on the hole. It was something altogether different.
"I was trying to calm myself down," Kim said, "because, after I hit the tee shot in the fairway, I kind of paused and realized that this was the last hole of my high school career. Got nervous, I guess.
"I didn't want to hit a bad shot but I did. I pulled it left.
"I was walking kind of slow coming up the fairway. After I made the putt, I was kind of looking around because I wanted to remember it."
Kim is the only member of the Suburban One League threesome who had been to the states before. And his showing in 2015 still haunts him (he shot a 165).
"Better than last year, so I'm happy with that," he said. "This is my second time coming so I knew the course.
"It was my last time coming so there was a little bit of pressure to finish on a high note instead of finishing poorly like I did last year. It still wasn't as good as I wanted to finish but I'll take it."
Robinson struggled all day on the greens. In the final analysis, he just didn't like them at all.
"I just didn't have the greens figured out," he said. "All day I felt like I was hitting the ball fine.
"There were just a couple of putts. I couldn't stop my ball on the last hole.
"You can't be above the hole on this course at all or you're going to struggle and I definitely struggled.
"I four-putted the 16th hole and on 17, I couldn't even stop my putt and it went 20 feet by."
Kim wasn't in Robinson's corner on the greens.
"They're tough," he said, "but I putted pretty well so I'm kind of a fan of them now.
"Last year I probably would have agreed with him, but I guess all the putting practice helped."
Park – only a sophomore - is the only one who has a chance at redemption at the state level.
"I'm hoping to come back next year, and obviously I'll know the course so it's going to be an advantage for me, I guess," she said. "I'm just going to try hard next year."
One thing all three could agree on was the wind. It gusted all day, blowing very hard for prolonged periods of time.
"It blew my ball in weird directions sometimes," Park said, "but yesterday was worse. I'm not complaining."
"Definitely (a factor)," said Kim. "On the par 3s especially, since the tees were all elevated, there was a lot of wind in your face or downwind. It was really hard to pick a club."
How about the greens?
"There were a few holes where we would stop and reread the putt because the wind had blown pretty hard," Kim said.
Robinson agreed.
"The wind was definitely a factor on a lot of holes," he said. "It was definitely a two-club wind. I was hitting knock-downs a lot of the time and trying to keep the ball below the hole."
This year was an off year for SOL golfers, who have, in the recent past, won three championships. Pennsbury's Vinay Ramesh captured the boys crown in 2014 and Erica Herr of Council Rock North took two consecutive girls titles in 2011 and 2012.
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