BACK TO BACK! Men’s Golf Wins Second Straight AMCC Title
PRESTO, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's golf successfully defended its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference title, as the Lions won the conference for the second year in a row with a first-place finish in the AMCC Championships at The Club at Nevillewood.
Leading by 11 shots after Monday's round, Penn State Altoona expanded its margin to 25 during the second and final day of the tournament on Tuesday, shooting 324 to finish in first place out of seven teams. The championship win is Penn State Altoona's seventh in program history, and it gives the team the AMCC's automatic bid to compete in the NCAA Division III Championships in May in Kentucky.
"I'm so proud of our team for repeating as conference champions," said Penn State Altoona head coach Tom Koehle. "Nevillewood was a difficult test, and our players responded. We look forward to representing Penn State Altoona and the AMCC in Kentucky."
Penn State Altoona compiled a two-day score of 651 to finish atop the seven-team pack of AMCC competitors. Mount Aloysius College was the conference runner-up, finishing with a combined score of 676, and Pitt-Bradford placed third with 695. Penn State Behrend (fourth place, 704), Hilbert College (fifth place, 707), La Roche University (sixth place, 749), and Pitt-Greensburg (seventh place, 799) filled the bottom four spots on the team leaderboard.
The Lions' Trey Heffelfinger (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) won the AMCC individual title by nine shots, putting together a two-round score of 150 to place first out of 34 total golfers. Heffelfinger shot an even-par 72 on Tuesday for the lowest round of any individual in either day of the tournament.
"Trey really played like a champion today, especially making birdie on 18," said Koehle. "It was a clinic tee-to-green, and he handled the pressure of leading us like a number one should."
Jack DiTrani (Hinsdale, IL/Benet Academy) took the AMCC individual runner-up spot, placing second among all conference golfers with a two-day score of 159 after shooting 81 in Tuesday's round. Joey Toth (South Park, PA/South Park) shaved five strokes off of his first-round score, firing 80 on Tuesday to finish with a two-day score of 165 that put him in fourth place on the individual leaderboard.
"Jack and Joey earned all-tournament honors. Joey eagled 15, which allowed him to get into the top five," Koehle said. "Jack was the key to our team round yesterday, and I'm thrilled for him to take second."
Peter Nusbaum (Pittsboro, NC/Thales Academy) finished the tournament in 20th place, carding 95 in Tuesday's round to total 181. Owen Wise (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) came in 21st place, shooting 91 on Tuesday to finish with a combined score of 183.
Next, the Penn State Altoona men's golf team will break for the remainder of the semester before returning to action in the spring to prepare for the NCAA tournament in May. The Lions will add several spring dates to their schedule to tune up for the national postseason tournament.
Penn State Altoona will finish its season at the NCAA Division III Championships for the second straight year. This year's championships are set for May 16-19 at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Ky.
