Bethlehem Catholic senior Nick Maff could almost taste his second consecutive Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC) golf championship. With four holes to play, he was stationed at 1-under par and leading the pack.

His final four holes, however, was a stretch he would like to forget.

After shooting a solid 37 through his first nine holes, that momentum carried over into the early going on the back nine. But Maff went from 1-under to 5-over par in a matter of four holes in large part to subpar putting, which helped Pocono Mountain East’s Brian Whelan capture the championship with a score of 76 at Woodstone Country Club last Thursday. Maff’s 77 was good enough to finish as runner-up.

“I three-putted 15, four-putted 16, bogeyed the par-5 [hole 17] and three-putted the 18,” said Maff, who recently committed to Monmouth University. “My putting wasn’t good all. I just got frustrated … I lost my patience.”

Nazareth edged Emmaus by seven strokes for the team title. The Hornets’ Samantha Fritzinger won the girls’ title with a score of 82.

Maff was certainly one of the presumed favorites heading into competition after winning the EPC’s inaugural tournament last season and being a two-time district champion. And after averaging a round of 69 in the regular season, he expected a similar outing at Woodstone despite the wet conditions on the eve of Hurricane Joaquin.

“My average this year was a 69, so I wanted to shoot under par this year to finish my senior year strong,” said Maff, who recorded two birdies and 11 pars.

Freedom’s Sean Abel finished in ninth place with a round of 83 and was one of the 13 individual boys to receive a medal. He wanted to place a bit higher than his score showed, however.

“Personally, I didn’t hit the ball as good as I could’ve,” Abel said. “I missed some shots out there I felt I should have had. I’m not disappointed, but I feel like I should have placed a little higher.

“I was looking to place in the top-five and shoot below 79. I shot a 79 in a practice round, but obviously I didn’t do that today.”

While Abel struggled to generate solid, consistent swings off the tee, it was his work on the greens that helped him turnaround a slow start. Abel bogeyed the first five holes out of the gate.

“I made some longer putts today that really helped keep the score lower,” Abel said. “I didn’t hit the ball great, but I was able to get up and down around the greens.

“I started to strike the ball a little better. I found a couple of fairways and got my confidence up. I made two or three birdies on the back nine.”

Freedom finished seventh as a team with a score of 364, the highest of any Bethlehem area school. Bethlehem Catholic came in eighth and Liberty in ninth.

The other area finishers are as follows: Jack Smedley (93), Chad Sodl (94), Sean Costello (103) and Jackson Pulley (103) paced Bethlehem Catholic; John Yocum (86), Austin Negron (96), Justin Kinter (99), Nate Spearko (108) rounded out Freedom’s scores; Jacob Siegfried (84), Owen Hawk (92), Evan Cartwright (98), Austin Stella (98) and Dominic Rosario (114) scored for Liberty.

Liberty’s Moran Krause (109) and Bethlehem Catholic’s Samantha Austin (114) participated in the girls’ field.