This week’s notebook highlights CR North Dan Rose & CB East’s Sophia Mancuso.
By Ben Reese
There is a line in the Bible that talks about the last being first and the first being last.
Well, the second part of that doesn't apply here but the first part certainly does. And it applies specifically to Suburban One League golf.
Two golfers teed off in the last groups of the boys and girls SOL Championships at Indian Valley Country Club and LuLu Country Club, respectively. And both qualified for the District One tournament on Monday at Turtle Creek for the boys and Gilbertsville for the girls.
The biggest comeback of the two belongs to Council Rock North's Dan Rose. However, that takes nothing away from Sophia Mancuso of Central Bucks East.
Let's take Rose first.
Going into the final league match of the season, Rose was 110th on the SOL rankings and qualifying for the league championship tournament seemed to be a long shot. Rose, a junior, knew that in order to qualify he had to shoot the round of his life.
That's exactly what he did. He shot a 1-over 37 at Jericho National for the Golden Hawks in a loss to Pennsbury on Sep. 23.
"I think it was the first match of the year where I really didn't put any pressure on myself," Rose said. "I didn't think I had that much of a chance, honestly, because my scores this year weren't too great generally.
"I know I can shoot well, but I couldn't do it in a match this year, so finally, it just happened. I think I was really relaxed, and that really helped me a lot. I had a lot more confidence."
The score was just enough to move him up to 88th in the rankings, making him the last qualifier for the league tourney. But, once again, the cards were stacked against Rose.
He teed off in the final boys group at Indian Valley. The only group behind him was comprised of three girls who were playing to try to help their schools' team advance.
So what did Rose do? He went out and toured the track in 83, tying him for the final spot going to districts. And then he won a playoff with a par just to insure his advancement.
"To my knowledge, no one has done what Dan Rose did," Council Rock North coach Rich White said. "There were 88 folks who had stroke averages less than his, and he qualified for districts."
For his part, Rose went into SOLs with the confidence he could compete for a district berth.
"I knew the cut last year was in the high 80s or mid 80s, and I know just generally speaking I shoot better than that, so I thought I had a good chance," he said. "I wasn't even that happy with my score, but I thought 83 would easily be a good enough score to get to the next round, so I was really surprised when I looked at the scores, and everyone did really well.
"There were three groups left, and the cut was 83 then. If just a few more people did well, I would have been out of it. There was just a little luck there."
Rose found himself in a playoff with three others for the final two spots and hit an even par on the par-4 first hole.
"That was a great experience," he said. "I was really confident because earlier in the match I birdied that hole.
"I kind of liked having everyone watch. I thought that was kind of cool. I think it actually helped me because I think I do pretty well in pressure situations."
For Rose, it was the culmination of a remarkable journey that saw him eke into the SOL Championships and go on to earn a spot in districts.
"I wasn't even on the (handicap differential) list for a while," he said. "I had a rough start, but then I came through with a 37 (against Pennsbury). It just felt good to finally help my team like that even though we came out with a loss.
"It was even more amazing - I looked at the standings, and the kid behind me missed by .01. He had a handicap differential .01 higher than me. It was that close. That was hard for him. It was unbelievable."
For her part, Mancuso was wide-eyed when she found out she had qualified for district play.
"It feels awesome," the freshman said. "I've never done this before."
How did she do it?
“When I chipped up (onto the green at 18), I had to 2-putt (to qualify)," Mancuso said. "My first putt was still two feet away from the hole.
"When I went to make the last putt, it was very nerve-wracking. But I got it in."
For Rose and Mancuso, this year was their first year of varsity experience. Obviously, Mancuso as a freshman couldn't have competed before this year, but for Rose, it has been a different story.
"He's been practicing and playing over the last year, dedicating himself to his game," White said. "He has paid his dues.
"When it came time and the pressure was on and he had to play well, he did. He came from the back of the pack. There's no question at all about that and he kept it together."
For Mancuso, the districts will be something special.
"All of my teammates are really, really nice," she said, "and it's going to be really exciting going with my teammate."
The Patriots' Samantha Thompson also qualified.
Coming up: As mentioned, the District One tournaments begin Monday. The boys will tee off at 10 a.m. at Turtle Creek in Limerick, and the girls will begin at 10 a.m. at Gilbertsville.
At the end of the first round, a cut will be made. The boys will advance the 30 top scorers and ties and the girls will move on the 15 top scorers and ties to the second round, which will be held at Turtle Creek.
Following the second round of districts, another cut will be made. Sixteen boys and eight girls will advance to the Eastern Regionals, which will be held at Golden Oaks in Fleetwood on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Finally: Once the one-round Eastern Regionals are finished, another cut will be made. Those surviving that cut will go to the PIAA Championships at Heritage Hills in York.
The two-day PIAA tournament will begin on Monday, Oct. 20, with the second round on Tuesday, Oct. 21. At that time an individual boys and girls champion will be crowned along with an overall team champion.
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