The Pitt-Johnstown men’s golf team wrapped up their fall season Oct. 15 at the Hershey Country Club in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship.

The teams played on the Hershey Country Clubs’ East Course.

The Indiana University of Pennsylvania golf team won the event, edging out second-place West Chester by two strokes.

The individual champion was senior Max Kirsh, from Indiana University (Pa.).

Pitt-Johnstown finished last–eighth out of eight teams; 113 over par.

Mike Gerger shot a two-day total of 156 to finish in 21st place out of 32 golfers. He lead the Mountain Cats.

Pitt-Johnstown sophomore Nolan Link,  said he enjoyed the Hershey Country Club.

“Hershey Country Club was a really nice course. It wasn’t one of the most difficult courses I’ve ever played, but it’s up there.”

The East Course at Hershey Country Club is a par-71.

The golf course and its members have hosted several Professional Golfers’ Association tournaments, most recently the Nationwide Tour’s Reese’s Cup Classic, an event on professional golf’s development tour.

Link said he knew the course would be a challenge.

“The most difficulty I faced with this course, unlike some others I have played, was that it had long par 3s surrounded by bunkers or water. This made the tee shot harder.”

The chance to play at a top-level course pays off in the long run according to Link, it helps expand your golf horizon.

“It lets you see different pin locations and gives you experience with all different kinds of shots.

This ultimately helps you become a better golfer,” Link said.

“The biggest challenge the team faces is rebuilding their roster. Other schools in the conference have more experience; most of their players are juniors and seniors. Our top players this year were freshmen and sophomores,” Link said.

The men’s team isn’t the only golf team to be hitting the course.

Students have created the women’s golf club.  Rachel Shaffer is president and Gabrielle Craighead is vice president.

Both Shaffer and Craighead said they are happy to start a club that will be introducing golf to interested women at Pitt-Johnstown.

Craighead says that the club has 10 people who are interested at the first meeting last Thursday.

Club members are looking for a golf course to play.

“We will either begin golfing at Richland Greens or Windber Country Club. We discussed that at our meeting Thursday,” Craighead said.

The club is always looking for more women who enjoy golfing, whether they have golfed before or not.

“Any women who would like to get information about the club should contact me or Shaffer by email and we will be happy to answer any questions,” Craighead said.