Chad Hess knew it was a big match. He played like it was a big match. He wanted to win even more than usual because it was a big match.

Unfortunately for the Parkland golf team, Hess' and his team's efforts were unsuccessful.

Parkland lost to Emmaus 410-414 in a tri-match last Wednesday at Brookside Country Club that also included Bethlehem Catholic (418). The magnitude of this match was escalated because the winner essentially won or would share the Lehigh Valley Conference championship.

Hess had the lowest score of any competitor on the course, carding a 74 that included two birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey.

"As a team we were trying to come out here and play as well as we could," he said. "We wanted to win this match. Everyone wanted to win this match. You can't depend on what everyone else is doing, so I just came out and did my thing."

Hess' 74 on the par-71 course was two strokes over his goal of a 72. His Trojan teammates weren't far behind. Adam Sutovich contributed a 75. Nick Shoup shot an 84. Noah Raftogainis carded an 89 and Greg Zahour had a 92.

"We were excited coming in, said Parkland head coach John Mondschein. "We got a lot of matches and practices in already and we were hoping we would come in here and win. We were hoping everyone would have good rounds. Some of us did and some of us had rounds that they could have done a little better on."

Emmaus benefitted from its home-course advantage and took home two wins from the tri-match and the LVC regular season championship in the process.

The familiar Hornets had their struggles from tee to green. Leading the pack was Grant Schumaker with a 75 followed by Carlos Fullerton (78), Kelsey Patterson (82), Mike Lessel (86) and Kevin Caverly (89).

"I am extremely, extremely proud that these guys could beat Northampton, Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic this year," said Emmaus head coach Mike Mihalik. "I don't care where the course was, the bottom line is that on those days our guys were better than their guys. That is what it is all about. That is why we won the conference this year."

Before the sun completely set on what was an intense day of golf, a scoring snafu occurred. On the 18th green Parkland's Brian Cummings's putt rolled past the hole and struck the flag stick that was resting on the green. No one, including Cummings, as he looked away from the putt in disgust, saw it make contact with the flag stick. He finished out the hole and his round as he carded an 84.

According to USGA rules, when a ball strikes a rested flag stick that golfer receives a two-stroke penalty. However, since no one witnessed the infraction, Cummings signed his scorecard as did playing partner Max Harrington from Emmaus. Thus violating another rule as both individuals signed incorrect scorecards. That infraction disqualified both Cummings and Harrington from the match.

Even without the disqualifications, Emmaus would have still won the match as it would have tied at 410 and went to the sixth best score on the team, where Emmaus had the edge.

"It is a learning experience," admitted Mondschein. "Hopefully the kids learned the basic premise that you always have to watch your ball, know what is going on and count everything that happens. Nothing does not count in golf."

This match counted a lot in terms of the LVC and it ended up that the Trojans just counted a few more strokes than the Green Hornets when it was all said and done.

Parkland got revenge at Monday's league tournament. See coverage of the LVC Tournament on Page 9 of this week's Press.

The Trojans also went on to beat Southern Lehigh on Tuesday, 375-387. Hess led the way with a 68, followed by Shoup and Sutovich at 73 each, Becca Daivs with an 80 and Cummings at 81.