Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Despite being seven strokes back of co-leaders T.J Howe of Northern Tioga, and Christian Goetz of Burgettstown, Jimmy Gillam woke up Tuesday feeling he had a chance to get back into the race for the PIAA state title.
Unfortunately a mix of cold weather and steady rain denied Gillam even a chance at making that comeback when officials decided the weather was too bad to play and cancelled the tournament\’s second round.
“I was disappointed, because I felt like I could have easily gotten back into things if we got to play,” Gillam said.
Gillam\’s 8-over-par 79 was good enough to give him a tie for 23rd place with nine other golfers.
Although Gillam will not be taking home a state title, it was a successful season for the Tyrone senior.
During a match at Mount Union earlier this season, Gillam shot a 5-under-par 69 to set a new Tyrone Area High School record for low score.
Gillam was the medalist in each of his regular season matches, and he played a major role in helping a young and inexperienced Golden Eagle golf team to a respectable 7-7-1 overall record.
Gillam\’s greatest achievement of his high school golfing career came on Oct. 11th at Scotch Valley where he won the District VI title by three strokes when he shot a 1-under-par 71.
Although he was disappointed he failed to place in the state finals, Gillam said he is proud of making it to the finals three years in a row.
Ryan Ruscio, Matt Brooks, Jason Tuskovich, Jamie Levinson and Tyler Conrad will all return to attempt to fill the void left by Gillam on next year\’s Golden Eagle golf squad.
“Jimmy was a tremendous advantage to our team this year. You do not see a person with such great talent as him when it comes to the game of golf. He\’s one of the best around,” Levinson said when asked about Gillam\’s contributions to the team.
Besides his individual achievements in his senior season, Gillam was also the team leader and helped bring along the future of the Tyrone golf program.
“Asking him for pointers wasn\’t a problem at all. He would back us all up if we had a rough day. It\’s too bad he\’ll be leaving,” Levinson said.
Gillam plans to continue playing golf in college, and he hopes to do so at a school in the South.

By Rick