MANCHESTER, Pa. — "For all you freshmen, welcome. You're going to have the start of a fun and exciting four years. And for all of you seniors, good luck today, you're first match of your last year, we're going to miss all of you," welcomed Northeastern Golf Coach Nate Blanchette at Thursday afternoon's YAIAA Div. 1 Tournament at Royal Manchester Golf Links.
In a sports world that's day-to-day, the sights and sounds of any high school sports are always welcomed.
"After what we went through last year we're just glad to get the season," recalled Dallastown Coach Brooke Shoffner. "They could've canceled everything. We were lucky last year. This year's a lot more normal."
York-Adams Division One golf teams are among the first to tee off in the Keystone state this school year.
There's less talk about unknowns this season, and plenty of talk about what each team is capable of in 2021.
"Our expectations are pretty high," said South Western Coach Joey Wildasin. "We're looking to compete for the league title and we think we have a very good shot, so we're just excited to get going and do some good things."
Of course, golf still has its old adversary, Mother Nature, who kept everyone on their toes after this week's less than ideal weather.
"We were expecting to be rained out today so this is wonderful," added Shoffner. "Today is better than the first three days and they were iffy."
"Anytime we get around fall, we can get some crazy storms, so the first thought was all the bunkers are going to be washed out and how we were going to play there, but we took care of that and the kids are just excited to play," said Wildasin.
Starting off the season at a challenging course like Royal Manchester provides plenty of opportunities for some early lessons learned.
"Just try to play smart with all the high fescue and everything," said Shoffner.
"It's nice to get the challenges out of the way in the first match. It's a good thing. With a lot of fescues that's around here, we definitely learn the rules really quick," said Wildasin.
Both Dallastown and South Western learned quickly as the Wildcats took first and the Mustangs finished second, with plenty to build off with a whole season ahead of them.
TEAM RESULTS:
1.) Dallastown - 307
2.) South Western - 327
3.) Central York - 335
4.) Northeastern - 351
5.) Red Lion - 373
6.) Spring Grove - 391
7.) New Oxford - 395
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
T1.) Lane Krosse - 74 (Dallastown)
T1.) Bobby Nicholson - 74 (Dallastown)
3.) Evan Twyman - 75 (South Western)
T4.) Noah Shultz - 76 (Central York)
T4.) Reed Krosse - 76 (Dallastown)
6.) Ryan Hilyard - 81 (South Western)
T7.) Caden Blanchette - 82 (Northestern)
T7.) Nevin Nardo - 82 (Central York)
9.) Makensy Knaub - 83 (Dallastown)
T10.) Jimmy Anthony - 84 (Spring Grove)
T10.) Ryan Small - 84 (South Western)