Golf: LL Section 3 – ELCO’s Dolan Finishes Third Overall as Competition Returns to Blue Mountain

 

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ELCO’s Dolan Finishes Third Overall as Competition Returns to Blue Mountain

The Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 golf schedule reached its third stop of the season Monday afternoon, with Northern Lebanon hosting the field at Blue Mountain Golf Course.

Cloudy skies, humid conditions, and periods of drizzle greeted the golfers throughout much of the afternoon as August gave way to September. Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, there were plenty of low numbers posted.

For the third consecutive Section 3 match, Lampeter-Strasburg came away on top.

The Pioneers fired a 314 to sweep the field and improve to a perfect 15-0. Donegal finished second at 325, followed by host Northern Lebanon at 347. ELCO was just three strokes behind the Vikings at 350, while Octorara finished at 358. Lebanon again competed with three golfers and could not post a team score.

While L-S continued to control the team race, two of the day’s strongest individual performances came from Donegal and Lebanon County.

Donegal’s Ryan Smeltz earned medalist honors with a 72, continuing his strong start after shooting a 73 to win last week’s match at Highlands.

ELCO senior James Dolan was not far behind, firing a 77 to finish third overall and lead the Raiders to their best Section 3 team score of the young season. His round represented a significant improvement from the 90 he shot in the season opener and the 93 he posted last week at Highlands.

Senior Grant Wenger, Brady Habecker, and Owen Halpin supplied the Raiders’ other three counting scores as ELCO finished at 350. The fourth-place showing gave the Raiders two more head-to-head victories and moved them to 5-10.

Just three strokes ahead was host Northern Lebanon.

Sophomore Ashton Yeager paced the Vikings with an 84, tying for ninth overall, while freshman Jacob Anspach, sophomore Christian Rizzo, and sophomore Tyler Hornberger completed the four counting scores.

Northern Lebanon’s 347 was good for third place, moving the Vikings to 10-5 through three Section 3 matches and keeping them third in the section standings.

Lebanon once again had three golfers in action. Trinity Leeper led the Cedars, with Noah Cotto and Landyn Strickler also competing.

At the front of the team standings, L-S again used its depth to overcome another team’s medalist performance. Colt Gibson, Reid Shultz, Chase Harsh, and Gabe Trout all shot 81 or better to produce the Pioneers’ winning 314.

Donegal countered with Smeltz’s medalist round and finished second, keeping the Indians in second place in the season standings.

Through three Section 3 matches, Lampeter-Strasburg remains perfect at 15-0. Donegal sits second at 11-4, followed by Northern Lebanon at 10-5. ELCO is 5-10, Octorara stands at 4-11, and Lebanon is 0-15.

There won’t be much time before the teams see each other again. Section 3 returns to action Wednesday when Lebanon gets its opportunity to host the field at Lebanon Country Club.

See below for the leaderboard and all individual scores by team.

 

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Team Scores

Place	Team	Score	Match Record
1	Lampeter-Strasburg	314	5-0
2	Donegal	325	4-1
3	Northern Lebanon	347	3-2
4	ELCO	350	2-3
5	Octorara	358	1-4
6	Lebanon	NS	0-5

Top 10 Individual Leaderboard

Place	Golfer	School	Score
1	Ryan Smeltz	Donegal	72
2	Colt Gibson	Lampeter-Strasburg	75
3	James Dolan	ELCO	77
4	Reid Shultz	Lampeter-Strasburg	78
5	Chase Harsh	Lampeter-Strasburg	80
6	Gabe Trout	Lampeter-Strasburg	81
T-7	A.J. Everly	Octorara	82
T-7	John Usner	Donegal	82
T-9	Ashton Yeager	Northern Lebanon	84
T-9	Tyler Bernhardt	Donegal	84

 

Section 3 Standings

Place	Team	Record
1	Lampeter-Strasburg	15-0
2	Donegal	11-4
3	Northern Lebanon	10-5
4	ELCO	5-10
5	Octorara	4-11
6	Lebanon	0-15

 

 

 

Individual Results