Peters Township’s Colton Lusk makes 7 birdies, shoots 67 at Oakmont to win WPIAL title
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Tuesday, October 1, 2024 | 6:59 PM
Peters Township’s Colton Lusk watches his tee shot on No. 10 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship on Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Peters Township’s Colton Lusk smiles after winning the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Peters Township’s Colton Lusk celebrates after winning the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Pine-Richland’s William Hilton watches his tee shot on No. 12 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Baldwin’s Micahel Quallich eyes up his putt on No. 12 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Pine-Richland’s William Hilton hits from a greenside bunker on No. 11 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
North Allegheny’s Christopher Hoffman lines up his putt on No. 14 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
North Allegheny’s Ravi Desai hits out of a bunker on No. 14 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Peters Township’s Colton Lusk lines up his putt on No. 14 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Peters Township’s Colton Lusk watches his tee shot on No. 18 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Plum’s Wes Lorish pumps his fist after making a long putt on No. 9 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Fox Chapel’s Carson Kittsley watches his tee shot on No. 12 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Plum’s Wes Lorish hits out of a bunker on No. 17 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Franklin Regional’s Colin Holt hits his tee shot on No. 15 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Plum’s Wes Lorish watches his putt on No. 9 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
North Allegheny’s Ravi Desai watches his tee shot on No. 10 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Belle Vernon’s Seth Tomalski checks the distance on his fairway shot on Hole 18 during the WPIAL Class AAA boys golf championship on Tuesday, Oct. 1 2024, at Oakmont Country Club.
South Fayette’s Sam Bishop hits his approach on No. 18 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Belle Vernon’s Seth Tomalski watches his fairway shot on Hole 18 during the WPIAL Class AAA boys golf championship on Tuesday, Oct. 1 2024, at Oakmont Country Club.
Fox Chapel’s Carson Kittsley eyes up his putt on No. 9 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Peters Township’s Colton Lusk watches his approach on No. 18 during the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Fox Chapel’s Carson Kittsley shakes hands with Peters Township’s Colton Lusk after finishing their round at the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club.
Peters Township senior Colton Lusk was worried when he began his final round at the WPIAL Class 3A Golf Championship on Tuesday at historic Oakmont Country Club.
He never expected to card seven birdies and breeze to the title.
Lusk shot a 4-under-par 67 and finished the two-round event, which started at Southpointe Golf Club on Sept. 24, at 2-under 141. He was five shots better than Baldwin sophomore Michael Quallich and Pine-Richland senior William Hilton, both of whom finished at 3-over 146.
Fox Chapel sophomore Carson Kittsley and North Allegheny senior Christopher Hoffman tied fourth for at 4-over, Plum senior Wes Lorish was sixth at 5-over and Franklin Regional junior Collin Holt was seventh at 8-over.
Lorish and Holt caddie at Oakmont.
The top 14 finishers qualified for the PIAA championship Oct. 21-22 at Penn State.
Others to qualify were Upper St. Clair senior Connor McKenzie (eighth), West Allegheny freshman Nico Ward (ninth), South Fayette junior Sam Bishop (ninth), North Allegheny junior Ravi Desai (11th), Peters Township senior Griffin Hansberry (11th), Central Catholic senior Regan Logan (12th) and Belle Vernon Jordan Mocello (14th).
Mocello needed a par on a sudden-death playoff hole to defeat Thomas Jefferson freshman Ty Hartman and earn the final spot.
Lusk did not allow the tradition of Oakmont get into his head. He just stayed focused.
After the birdie on No. 1, he followed with three consecutive birdies (Nos. 2-4). He ended his front nine with a birdie on No. 9.
“I hit a really good tee shot on No. 1, but I caught the bunker on the left,” Lusk said. “I didn’t let it bother me, though, because I knew I was going to birdie at least one more hole. I didn’t think I’d have seven birdies, but it wasn’t playing tough.”
Because of six consecutive days of rain, the course softened up, which allowed the golfers to attack the pins.
Lusk began the back nine with a double bogey on No. 10 and then birdied Nos. 14, 16 and 17.
Lusk is the second Peters Township boys golfer to win a WPIAL title. Hunter Bruce was the first in 2015. It was a sweep for Peters Township as Ellie Benson won the girls Class 3A title Monday.
“This is really good for the program,” Lusk said. “Our teams have been doing well. Last year we won the state title. There have been a lot of great golfers come through the program over the years. It is nice to keep it going.”
Kittsley began the final round a shot ahead of Lusk. But a triple bogey on the first hole had him battling from behind the entire round. He did get a shot back on No. 2 with a birdie, but he could not track down Lusk.
“I had to do some catch up,” Kittsley said, “but I wasn’t feeling too good with my putter.”
Kittsley said now he’ll look forward to the state tournament.
“I just want to go there, play my best and have some fun,” Kittsley said. “I just want to play my game and see where it takes me.”
The first hole also gave Lorish problems as he recorded a double bogey.
He rallied with two birdies on the front nine (Nos. 5 and 9) to finish the front nine even. He added a birdie on No. 11 but had three bogeys to finish 2-over 73 on Tuesday and 5-over 147 overall.
“I just didn’t play my best golf the past two rounds,” Lorish said. “I had a few errant tee shots and got into trouble. I just have to refocus for Penn State. I have to work on my putting.”
Holt had a wild front nine. He started with three consecutive bogeys and then ended with three birdies and three more bogeys. He began the back nine with five consecutive pars and ended up with a 5-over 76 to finish 8-over 149.
“I started with three consecutive bogeys, which is something you don’t want,” Hot said. “But I was hitting the ball well, so I knew birdies would come and they did.”
“After a birdie on No. 4, I settled down. Once I made the turn, I started playing well.”
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
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