MORGANTOWN — The 2023 Mohawk Cup was held on Wednesday evening under perfect skies at The Pines Country Club with the Morgantown Mohigans and the University Hawks golf teams facing off.
The annual matchup sees the teams playing a match-play style format different than the typical round of stroke play with seven teams of two facing off in a nine-hole match.
Three groups played the rules of a scramble, with the entire match being worth one point toward the team’s total score while the other four groups played best-ball for the first three holes, alternate-shot for holes four through six, and finally a scramble format for holes seven through nine with each individual hole being worth one point for an outright win, and half a point for a tie.
The Mohigans bested the Hawks by a total score of 26.5 to 12.5 to claim the 2023 Mohawk Cup.
UHS won the first two matches of the evening but MHS won the remaining five matches, including three of the four matches worth nine points, to help reach the final score and retain the cup from a year ago.
“We started out a little sluggish tonight, as you always do in a Mohawk Cup,” MHS head coach Joel Barrett said. “It’s a challenge for the players to get in a head space to play competitive golf against their friends. The format is also a little different so it may take a hole or two to settle in and get comfortable but once we did, everyone played well. It’s big to win it and it’s exciting for us as a team to achieve the goals we set.”
In the first group that included the two females for each team, the team of UHS senior Olivia Cox and freshman Abigail Kingora bested the MHS team of Grace Yan and Kaylli Kellogg to earn the first point of the night for either team.
In group two, the Hawks came away with another victory after Daniel Grabo and Tyler Summers defeated MHS’ Luke Puderbaugh and Braxton Martucci 5-4, giving the Hawks a 6-4 advantage after two completed matches.
The next three matches, all nine-point opportunities, went to the Mohigans by scores of 6.5-2.5, 6-3 and 8-1.
“This match means a lot to us and Joel and his team have had a great season and are tough to beat,” UHS head coach Barry Kolar said. “Even though we both made the state tournament they are strong top to bottom and it’s hard to overcome the depth they have.”
MHS also won the final two matches, both nine-hole scrambles worth a point each, to round out the scoring on the evening.
Now, both teams will shift their focus to the state tournament beginning on Tuesday of next week with a second round being played Wednesday. The two teams will each have a practice round in the coming days to prepare.
