SF’s Corey Long Takes WPIAL Class AAA Golf Gold In A Playoff

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 2, 2013 | 4:12 PM

In one of the best finishes in the WPIAL Individual Golf Championships, Corey Long of South Fayette bogeyed the fourth playoff hole to defeat Matt Holuta of Indiana to claim the Class AAA title at Diamond Run. The players stayed even thru the first three playoff holes, after their tee shots, Long hit wide of the green on number 4, Holuta bladed his approach shot into an unplayable lie and had to take a drop. Long had trouble on his third shot but was able to putt out for the win.

Long said his goal was just to hit fairways and greens and make pars, he finished with a par on the final hole of regulation. The senior finished 26th in last year’s championship, he said that was a big learning experience going into this year.

Both Holuta and Long went out early in the day, Holuta in the third group and Long in the fourth, both had to wait to see if or how many would be in the playoff for the title. Thomas Steve of Upper St. Clair finished one shot back at 68, he was tied going into the final hole after a birdie on 17, but got into some trouble off the tee and had to settle for a bogey on 18 and third place.

Holuta and Long took different paths to get to the playoff. Holuta had seven birdies and five bogies on the round, he said he got into some trouble early but finished strong with two of those birdies and a par on the final three holes. He saw he was in position to go for the championship and went after some pins on the closing holes. Holuta finished second for the second consecutive year, he was in the lead at one point at the PIAA State Championship and finished in the top ten. The senior is headed to Rutgers University.

Long made 14 straight pars to start the round, then nailed three straight birdies to get into position to tie Holuta and start the waiting process.

The top 14 players qualify for the PIAA Western Regional at Tom’s Run Golf Club in Blairsville, the PIAA Championships will be held in York at Heritage Hills Golf Club. There was a playoff for the final two playoff spots, Josh Katarincic birdied the first playoff hole and Zach Taylor was able to qualify on the third hole to move on.

Here are all of today’s scores.

(Top 14 qualify for the PIAA Western Regional)
Corey Long – South Fayette 34-33   67 (won the championship on the 4th playoff hole)
Matt Holuta – Indiana  34-33   67
Thomas Steve – Upper St. Clair 68
Grant Engel – Upper St. Clair 69
Nick Cuny – Pittsburgh Central Catholic 71
Patrick Sheerer – Fox Chapel 71
Shasha Lobel – Alderdice 72
Javon Trout – Hempfield 73
Kyle Grube – Indiana   74
Luke Wallace – Uniontown 75
Josh Bartley – Mars  76
Josh Verner – Peters Township 76
Josh Katarincic – Shady Side Academy 77 (won a playoff to qualify)
Zach Taylor – Baldwin  77 (won a playoff to qualify)

Other Scores:
Fisher Bagiatis – Hempfield 77
Harrison Laskey – Laurel Highlands  77
Adam Partrick – Thomas Jefferson  77
Ben Mullins – Mars  78
Andy Roshkosh – Hempfield 78
Ben Setar – Canon McMillan  78
Tyler Vidak – South Fayette 80
DJ Dietrich – Fox Chapel  81
Josh Linsenbigler – West Allegheny 81
Billy McCracken – Trinity  81
Gabe Nass – Mt. Lebanon 82
Bryce Egger – Blackhawk 83
Tyler Paunovich – Kiski Area 85
Brett Pompeani – Hopewell 85
Jake Solon – Peters Township 85
Sean Gramley – Shady Side Academy 86
Bob Guiliani – Gateway  87
John Louis Gatti – Indiana 88
Ben Huber – Hampton  88
Andrew Reynolds – Plum 88
Cody Ruffing – Peters Township 88
Jordan Alfrey – Fox Chapel withdrew after three holes.