Sometimes what you don’t do is just important as what you do do. What Nate Rader didn’t do was panic, compound his mistakes or make a ton of bogeys.

And what Rader didn’t do helped produce a championship.

On Monday afternoon at the Lebanon Country Club, Rader captured the individual title of the Lebanon County Scholastic Golf championship. Ultimately the key to Cedar Crest senior’s crown was his damage control.

Rader fired a seven-over par 79 over LCC’s 6,361-yard, par-72 layout and finished regulation in a tie for top honors with Carl Johnson III of Northern Lebanon. But Rader edged Johnson on the first hole of a playoff with a par.

And it was pars which got Rader to ‘bonus golf’ in the first place. During his round, Rader posted nine pars and a birdie at a course where he works par-time.

 Rader’s steady play also inspired his teammates. Rader’s low score showed the way, as he teamed with Evan Dissinger, Zach Gristic and Tim Bomberger to post a team score of 252, which was three shots lower than runner-up Northern Lebanon’s.

JEFF FALK