Alex Avi knew four holes into the WPIAL Class 2A team golf championships at Cedarbrook Golf Course that he wasn’t hitting the ball right. The Shady Side Academy junior golfer knew what needed to happen next.
It was time to press pause.
“I like to hit a fade, but I noticed I was hitting a big draw,” Avi said. “I knew I needed to take a deep breath, slow down and I played well for the rest of the round.”
Having Avi at the top of the lineup has provided a calming influence for the Bulldogs, who won their first WPIAL team title by shooting a 393 and finishing 14 strokes ahead of Elizabeth Forward.
The win meant a lot to Avi, who also qualified for the PIAA Class 2A championships as an individual, after Shady Side Academy came so close to winning last season. The Bulldogs had a senior-laden team but fell short.
Shady Side Academy golf coach David Lieberman said he is impressed with how Avi approaches the game and talks to his teammates. Lieberman said he’s overhead their conversations on the way to competitions and Avi is typically driving the discussion.
“It’s like having a qualified teacher,” Lieberman said. “He’s figured everyone out like a human puzzle. He knows how to relate concepts to the other kids on the team. He doesn’t just say, ‘This is what I do.’ He knows how they play the game and can explain if they need to hit a fade or draw or this should be their target.”
Avi was motivated to win the title after he felt the Bulldogs should have done it last season. While they could count on veteran players last season, Shady Side Academy’s top six golfers at the team tournament included four juniors and two sophomores.
Avi led the team by shooting a 1-under par 71. Fellow junior Jack Begg and John DiBarolomec tied for second on the team with a 78.
“It was heartbreaking to not win last year because we had three seniors on that team,” Avi said. “We expected to win it then. We knew we had to get out there as a team and stay within ourselves and only focus on ourselves. We didn’t want to let other distractions get in the way.”
Shady Side Academy’s players showed they had the mental toughness to succeed at the WPIAL individual championships.
Avi finished in seventh, while Brawley Niels grabbed the final PIAA spot by making a 15-foot putt at the end of the second round.
“That was a lot of pressure,” Lieberman said. “He took that pressure into the team competition. The other guys were asking him what were you thinking about and what were you doing. It was neat to hear those conversations in the van with the kids talking amongst themselves.”