McAndrew makes it to districts

October 8
McAndrew makes it to districts

Gerard Hetman Abington Journal Correspondent

FACTORYVILLE- When it comes to the game of golf, Colin McAndrew can certainly be described as a forward thinker. Looking back on a very successful season on the links, the senior co-captain of the Lackawanna Trail golf team expresses his disappointment at a less-than-perfect individual record.

Abington Journal File Photo/ Alice Stuffle

Above, Lackawanna Trail golfer Colin McAndrew

“I can’t remember exactly how many individual matches I dropped -- I know it was three or four,” McAndrew said. “Every loss is a disappointment, and if you dwell on it too much, it will only get you down.”

Heading into this week’s individual district tournament on Monday, Oct. 6, at Fox Hill Country Club, McAndrew looked to be in excellent shape to perform well after qualifying second out of the 144 golfers in the qualifying tournament.

And, although he fell five strokes short of qualifying for regionals at this week’s tournament, the loss is just one tiny blemish on an otherwise outstanding season. According to Lions head golf coach Harry Powell, McAndrew’s successful 2008 campaign had its roots in his junior year, when the Factoryville native was named a second-team league all-star after narrowly missing the district tournament.

“Colin is a die-hard competitor,” Powell said about his senior leader. “He always wants to play in the number one spot, even when he doesn’t have to. He’s not intimidated by any opponent he competes against. In practice, he’s a leader and is always pushing everyone to take their game to another level. He never takes a day off.”

In terms of influences on his golf game, McAndrew mentions Tiger Woods as his favorite professional in the sport, and also look to his teammates for feedback and analysis of both his performance and that of the team as a whole. “We’ve got a great group of golfers on the team and it’s always important to keep working together,” McAndrew said.

When analyzing his team’s 7-5-1 record on the season, McAndrew was pleased with the good results but is also disappointed at not being able to advance beyond the district playoffs at the team level after the Lions recent loss to Dunmore. “It was tough for our team to lose that match because we really thought we had a good shot at advancing. I had a really tough opponent in Pat Ross, who shot five under against me, but the loss has really helped me dial in for the individual districts this week. “

Away from the golf course, McAndrew is also a member of the Lions baseball team, and enjoys kicking back on Sunday afternoons in the fall to watch the NFL and his favorite team, the Philadelphia Eagles. “My brother is a Cowboys fan, so sometimes we really get into it,” he laughed. While he has yet to finalize his college plans, he is strongly considering attending Keystone College and continuing his career in either golf or baseball.

“Right now I hope to finish this season as best as I can, and hopefully have a good season when baseball rolls around,” McAndrew said. “Senior year is a great time and I’m trying to do my best both academically and athletically before I’m done here at Trail.”

“We’re going to miss Colin after this season, but there’s no doubt he’ll be a success in whatever he chooses to do,” Powell said. “He never fails to put 100 percent into everything he does. It’s how he always operates.”

McAndrew was joined at the District golf championships with teammate David Boslough, who finished as one of the top 15 golfers.