Curtis Barner could only laugh … at his own expense.

One of the top local scholastic golfers, the recent Kane High School graduate got off to a less than ideal start in Week 4 of the Penn-York Junior Golf League, following an early birdie with a bogey and a double to sit 2-over par through four holes.

Then, something clicked.

Barner, who carried a 72.5 average into Monday’s leg at Pine Acres Country Club, began to play like himself. And what followed was one of the more scorching individual stretches in Penn-York play this summer … and his first victory of the season.

Barner played the final 14 holes at 4-under and finished with an impressive 2-under par 70 while running away with the boys’ Division I (16-18) title at the second of two Pennsylvania stops. That marked his low round for the year and was eight strokes better than second-place finisher Traden Gray, of Cable Hollow.

“I kind of lost focus a little bit on Nos. 3 and 4; I just made some dumb mistakes,” Barner acknowledged of his slow start. “But I just kind of laughed it off, laughed at myself a little bit, and kind of pulled myself together and started playing the way I felt like I should on the following holes.”

ON THIS DAY, there was going to be a new Division I winner, Barner or otherwise.

After claiming each of the first three legs, Bradford’s Spencer Cornelius was absent Monday, choosing instead to play the Blaisdell Pro-Am Tournament across town at Pennhills Club.

Barner had fallen just short of Cornelius on all three occasions, settling for two seconds (by 3 and 2 strokes) and a third. But with the latter gone, the driver’s seat essentially belonged to Barner, who responded with a round in the red.

Would it have been sweeter if Cornelius had played? Perhaps. The two have become friendly rivals after years of battling not only at Penn-York, but scholastically in District 9 and in other top-tier tournaments. And his 2-under might have held up regardless of who he went up against.

But for Barner, any victory is a good one.

“He’s a good player,” Barner said of Cornelius. “I have nothing but respect for him because he’s solid. You never know, he could have come out here and shot (well) today, too. So I know he’s capable of doing the same thing. I still got to play with some good kids and it was just fun.”

While Cornelius still holds the top spot in scoring average (70.0 to Barner’s 71.7), Barner, due to the former’s Week 4 absence, now has the points lead (36-30) with one stop remaining, at Bartlett Country Club, where an overall champion will be decided. And on Monday, when a windy Pine Acres course proved difficult for just about everybody else, Barner conquered it for his first trophy of 2022.

“It definitely feels good, just to kind of gain that confidence back,” said Barner, who’s set to continue his golf career in the fall at Pitt-Bradford, where he plans on studying criminal justice. “I just had a decent day out there.”

IN DIVISION II (14-15), Ryan Lechner (Bartlett) got back into the win column, carding an 81 while edging Carter Davis, of Cardinal Hills, by a stroke. In Division III (12-13), Matthew Beaver (Cardinal Hills) won for the third time in four stops, shooting a 40 over nine holes. That was enough to hold off Coudersport’s Chase Wahlers and Cardinal Hills’ Nick Beaver, each of whom shot 41.

In Division IV, Carter Crabtree (Chautauqua) won his first trophy of the year, notching a 45 and besting two-time winner Dominik Myers by six shots. There was also a first-time winner on the girls’ side, as Peyton Leet won the Division I title on her home course with a 49, edging Cardinal Hills’ Avery Salvaggio by one shot.

“It feels great,” Leet said of her victory, before adding of what propelled her: “It was probably my iron game, and my 3-wood helped me out (quite a bit). … At the end, I hit it into the pond and I took a penalty stroke, but luckily it was the last hole, so I was playing well enough the rest of the time to have a chance.”

Aliya Corignani (Pine Acres) won the fourth-straight week, notching a 65 to capture the girls’ Division III crown. Eva Militello (Orchard Park) also won for the fourth time in as many tries with a 59 in Division IV, but this time had to do it with a three-hole playoff triumph over fellow Orchard Park resident Allison Sikora.

Officials reported a below average turnout of 78 golfers out of the 117 that registered for this year’s event. Following are the top 10 finishers from each division:

BOYSDIVISION I (16-18)(18 holes) Score Points

(18 holes) 1. R. Lechner (Bartlett) 81 10 2. C. Davis (CH) 82 9 3. O. Wright (CH) 92 8 4. J.. Morrison (CH) 93 6 4. A. Bohdanowycz (Bar) 93 6 4. B. Frame (Bonas) 93 6 7. L. Howard (Smethport) 98 3.5 7. C. Vogtli (Bonas) 98 3.5 9. J. Day (Rolling Hills) 99 1.5 9. H. Schwartz (Bonas) 99 1.5 DIVISION III (12-13)(9 Holes) 1. M. Beaver (C.H.) 40 10 2. C. Wahlers (Coud) 41 9 3. N. Beaver (C.H.) 41 8 4. C. Bartman (Bartlett) 46 7 5. K. Streich (Coud) 54 6 6. R. Callen (Bonas) 63 5 7. S. Leslie (Bartlett) 72 4

DIVISION IV (11-under)(9 holes modified) 1. C. Crabtree (Chaut) 45 10 2. D. Myers (Bartlett) 51 9 3. K. Beaver (C.H) 52 6.5 3. A. Leet (Pine Acres) 52 6.5 3. J. McDow (Bartlett) 52 6.5 3. C. Kahm (Moon) 52 6.5 7. H. Honeck (Bartlett) 53 4 8. E. Haynoski (Pine Acres) 54 2.5 8. M. Roth (Rolling Hills) 54 2.5 10. Aaron Wade (Elkdale) 57 1

GIRLSDIVISION I (14-18)(9 holes) 1. P. Leet (Pine Acres) 49 10 2. A. Salvaggio (C.H.) 50 9 3. O. Schott (Coud) 58 8 4. S. Bartman (Olean) 59 7 5. N. Reynolds (Birch Run) 68 6 DIVISION III (12-13)(9 holes) 1. A. Corignani (Pine Acres) 65 10 2. E. Duggan (Birch Run) 74 9 DIVISION IV (11-under)(9 holes modified) 1. E. Militello (Orchard Park) 59 10 2. A. Sikora (Orchard Park) 59 9 3. M. Leslie (Bartlett) 62 8