Gavin Haibach

BRADFORD — On Saturday, the Warren boys golf team traveled to the Pennhills Club for the annual Bradford Invitational. This event consists of three-man teams where all three scores count toward the team total.

After 18 holes of play, Warren’s Gavin Haibach shot the low score for the day at 73, but was tied with St. Marys’ Louis Nedzinski. This meant there was to be a sudden-death playoff to determine the medalist.

The playoff started on the 302-yard 18th hole at the Pennhills Club. Haibach pumped his tee shot roughly 275 yards over the creek that cuts through the hole. Nedzinski hit his drive a little on the toe and the ball bounced into the hazard. He had to take a drop, and was hitting his third shot from the fairway. Louis’ third shot got onto the green where he had about a 25-footer to save par, where Haibach hit his short pitch shot to 7 feet past the hole. Nedzinski’s putt narrowly missed the cup, and all Gavin had to do was two-putt for the victory. The Dragons junior nestled his birdie putt 6 inches from the hole, where he tapped in for the victory.

Haibach was not only congratulated by his teammates, but also his father Scott Ruland and grandfather David Ruland.

“I was definitely nervous during the playoff hole, but my thoughts were to stay calm, focus, and play the hole like any normal hole,” Gavin Haibach said. “After that last putt dropped, it was a huge sigh of relief.”

In team action, the three-man team of Haibach, Zane Carlson (84) and Michael Palmieri (80) shot a score of 237, good for fourth place out of 14 teams in attendance. Xander Russell and Hayden Hendricks played as individuals in the event and fired scores of 79 and 84, respectively. “This team score of 237 is actually two shots better than when we won this event two years ago with a 239,” Warren head coach Nate Sandberg said. “It just shows how much the District 9 teams have improved lately. I give all the credit to these kids that put in the time and effort to improve their games.

“We love coming over to District 9 territory because this is one of the shortest drives we have all season, and the kids get to play a great course,” Sandberg added. “I was impressed with newcomer Xander Russell’s 79 today in just his second competitive golf event for the year. Hopefully we can keep the ball rolling with some important events coming up in the next few weeks. I am very proud of the team today, especially Gavin’s ability to stay focused during the playoff. He is a good kid and a great leader.”

The Dragons return to play Tuesday when they travel to the Meadville Invitational at the Country Club of Meadville.