ORWIGSBURG – The setting was perfect for the Schuylkill County Golf Championships at one of the great courses in Eastern Pennsylvania.

The Donald Ross-designed Schuylkill Country Club lived up to its reputation – unyielding, with fast greens and the need to keep the ball in play. In other words, there was little room for error.

Albe Evans knows the course all too well. After all, this is where the newly revised Schuylkill Haven golf team plays its home matches. So when 48 golfers teed it up Monday morning, Evans knew all eyes were upon him. And the pressure?

“Yes I did feel it coming into the match,” the senior said after shooting a round of 79 and winning the league title for the third straight year.

For the handicappers, it was a given that Evans was the player to beat. Why not? Teams and players have been chasing the Hurricane on the course all season.

“Part of that pressure was the fact that I am a senior, and this is the first year that we brought (golf) back as a sport at our school, so I really wanted to win it for our team and this was my last year,” said Evans.

Of course there were challengers, including Lehighton sophomore Jack Lorenz, who was in contention all day. Lorenz played as well as anyone, but just couldn’t catch Evans, finishing second overall with an 83.

Lorenz needed a special sudden death playoff hole to dust off a pair of highly respected Blue Mountain golfers, Connor Gherghel and Derek Yuengling. Lorenz held off Gherghel and Yuengling on the first hole, shooting a par-4, while Gherghel carded a 5 and Yuengling a 6.

“I played the course during the season, shooting a 78, but it was from the blues, today we shot from the whites,” said Lorenz.

It was a special day for Lehighton and coach Mark Maholick, who has revved up the Indians golfers. And they showed it, with an overall score of 424.

“These kids have dedicated themselves to be good,” said Maholick. “It was a great experience at a beautiful place. The kids were really into it, they were excited to play. I knew Lorenz made himself a golfer over the summer; he changed his game around and (he) helped the other golfers (get better).”

The Schuylkill Girls’ also were crowning an individual championship, and it came down to Pottsville’s Victoria Fuss and Marian’s Emily Reaman. Only three strokes separated the two, with Fuss shooting a 100, and Reaman a 103 to finish second. Third place went to Tamaqua’s Megan Schoener (109), followed by Nativity’s Leyan Warner (110) and Marian’s Bella Lesante (119).

“I was definitely happy with what I did,” said Reaman.

Lesante thought it was a great learning experience, as well.

“The course is very tough, but I really enjoyed it today … I shot a 113 here before (today),” she said.

Reaman also thought her driving was very good on this day. “That was my strong point,” said the Marian senior.

Long time Marian coach Len Brylewski said he had Reaman on the course Sunday to try and tweak a few things.

“We really worked on the drive, and the results showed today,” said Brylewski. “I really thought she did very well … they played back (from the white tees) and it was a little further than we normally play.”

HITTING IT STRAIGHT … Lorenz hit a big drive in the sudden death playoff right down the middle and that put him in a good spot with a wedge to the green and a 2-putt for the par.

SOME GOOD SOME BAD … Weatherly’s Ashton Gerhard was hoping to make the cut to get a shot at the District 11 qualifying round next week. “I had some good ones and some bad ones,” he said of his round of 93.

IT WAS A GOOD OVERALL DAY … “Today we had our top girl place third (Megan Schoener) and we had three others who never played before (in leagues),” said Tamaqua girls’ coach Matt Stine.

A GOOD YEAR … Weatherly coach Brain Kaminski said it was a good year for Gerhard. “He played solid throughout the season.”

ON TAP … The top five boys’ finishers and first two girls received automatic berths to the District 11 championships on Oct. 7, which will be played at Steel Club in Hellertown.

Schuylkill League Golf Championships

Boys Top 12

1. Albe Evans (Schuylkill Haven) 79, 2. Jack Lorenz (Lehighton) 83, 3. Connor Gherghel (Blue Mountain) 83, 4. Derek Yuengling (Blue Mountain) 83, 5. Ashton Gerhard (Weatherly) 93, 6. Ryan Jarboe (Blue Mountain) 94, 7. Cole Maksimik (Blue Mountain) 94, 8. Damyan Miller (Schuylkill Haven) 95, 9. Noah Fredericks (Pottsville) 96, 10. Ben Ramirez (Weatherly) 97, 11. Karson Felty (Pine Grove) 98, 12. Brandon Lucas (North Schuylkill) 100.

Girls Top 5

1. Victoria Fuss (Pottsville) 100, 2. Emily Reaman (Marian) 103, 3. Megan Schoener (Tamaqua) 109, 4. Leyna Warner (Nativity) 110, 5. Bella Lesante (Marian) 119.

Top 4 Teams

1. Blue Mountain 354. 2. Schuylkill Haven 404, 3. Pine Grove 418, 4. Lehighton 424.

TOP 4 TEAMS

Blue Mountain (354)

Connor Gherghel 83, Derrick Yuengling 83, Ryan Jarboe 94, Cole Maksimik 94.

Schuylkill Haven (404)

Albe Evans 79, Damyan Miller 95, Jack Higgins 113, Ty Welsh 117.

Pine Grove (418)

Karson Felty 98, Dustin Dubbs 103, Griffin Nagle 104, Donovan Copeland 113.

Lehighton (424)

Jack Lorenz 83, Aaron Miller 103, Kyle Nahf 116, Grant Schaeffer 122.