UPDATE: Taylor finished nine strokes back at the WPIAL championship and did not qualify for the state championship.

A year after sinking a birdie putt on the 18th green to become the first freshman to win an individual WPIAL golf title, Baldwin High School sophomore Zack Taylor has put himself in position to repeat as champion this coming Wednesday, Oct. 3, at Fox Chapel Golf Club.

Taylor was the 12th and final qualifier from his WPIAL semifinals round, held at the Cranberry Highlands Golf Course on Tuesday. He will join 24 other finalists at the WPIAL final on Oct. 3.

Taylor, a Baldwin Borough kid with no country club membership, is a rarity among the WPIAL's best golfers. Read (and watch) more about him here.

Should Taylor repeat as champion this year, he'll have to pull off more dramatics. His 10-over score at the par-70 Cranberry Highlands course makes him, statistically, the worst qualifier for the final at Fox Chapel.

But come Oct. 3, it's a clean slate.

 ---

Follow the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch on Facebook and Twitter.

Sign up for the daily Baldwin-Whitehall newsletter.