EXETER — Ben Boyanoski is going back to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Golf Championships.
This time, he is going as a district champion.
Boyanoski rallied on the back nine on Sept. 29 at Fox Hill Country Club, then won a three-way playoff to claim the Class 2A boys title at the District 2 Individual Championships.
“The past four years, there have been some stacked players and I kind of went into most of those years playing for second or third,” Boyanoski said. “This year, I kind of knew I had the chance to win.”
That plan almost needed to be scrapped when Boyanoski played the front nine in 4-over, 39. He recovered to shoot 3-under, 33 on the back and get to a first-place tie with teammate Guy Rothery and Holy Redeemer freshman Liam Gill.
“My goal was to win from the start,” Boyanoski said. “That kind of started to fade away because I played a pretty poor front nine. I knew going into the back that with how hard the course was playing, anything could happen.”
Boyanoski left his 30-foot putt seven feet away on 10, but knocked that in to save par. A similar two putt on 11 led to the momentum-turning birdie on the par 5 12th, where Boyanoski’s chip hit the stick.
Once in the playoff, Boyanoski tapped in for par after putting it close from just off the green. Rothery and Gill both had bogeys in the playoff.
Boyanoski played in both the individual and team state tournaments last year. He was tied for individually 14th in Class 2A and posted a team-best, 1-under, 71 while leading the Cavaliers to the state team title.
Scranton Prep claimed four of the six individual state berths.
Cole Powell shot 73 to tie Wyoming Area’s Aiden August for fourth.
Jack Pavuk is also headed back to the state tournament after placing sixth with a 76.
The Cavaliers had seven players shoot 80 or better.
Brendan Bell was part of a three-way tie for seventh, missing a playoff for a state berth by one shot after posting a 77.
Bobby Stott finished in a three-way for 10th that included Lackawanna Trail’s Grady June after they both shot 79.
Ben Walsh had an 80 to tie for 13th out of 44 players and Brian James tied for 18th with an 85.
Lackawanna Trail’s William Evans shot a 94.
Class 3A
Ryan Boyd and Seamus Kelley from Abington Heights were among the five state qualifiers from the District 2 Class 3A tournament, which was won by Ryan Roman of Dallas with a 71.
Boyd and Wilkes-Barre Area’s Brady Gerrity shot 75.
Pittston Area’s Patrick Ruane posted a 76 and Kelley grabbed the last of the five available spots with his 77.
The Comets had four of the top seven players with Will Herold and Phillip Matthews tying for sixth with 78s.
William Yoo tied for 11th out of 32 players with an 84.
Connor O’Malley-Kalinoski shot an 87.
