Ben Reese recaps day one of the District One Golf Tournament. CB East’s Patrick Sheehan & Neshaminy's Greg DeLuca share the lead with one other golfer.
By Ben Reese
LIMERICK -- The game of golf is played in two parts or in two sections of nine holes.
On Tuesday, in the first round of the District One golf tournament At Turtle Creek Golf Course, Patrick Sheehan of Central Bucks East roared through the first nine holes at 5-under par. But on the second, or back, nine, he faltered.
"That was fun," he said of the front nine. "I left a putt short on 9 to shoot 30, left it an inch short, dead in the heart. That was kind of disappointing."
Can't be sure but that disappointment might have carried over to the back nine. After all, he shot a 31 on the front. Could he be expected to shoot a 31 on the back?
"I couldn't putt well," Sheehan said of the back nine. "I just kind of struggled on the back."
Sheehan struggled to a 2-over 38 on the back and finished tied for the lead after one round with a 3-under 69. He is tied with Neshaminy's Greg Deluca and Liam Hart of Holy Ghost Prep.
Seven other Suburban One League boys will be playing in the second round of districts. They are Colin Walsh of William Tennent (2-under), CB South's Kevin Anthony (2-under), Thomas Butler of Souderton (1-under), Council Rock South's Matt Fleming (1-under), Hayden Moffat of Hatboro-Horsham (1-over), CB West's Luca Jezzeny (2-over) and Pat Laushell of Pennsbury (3-over).
The boys will be joined by six girls from the SOL. They are CB East's Sophia Mancuso (4-over), Lizzie Palmieri of CB South (5-over), April Xu of CR South (8-over), Cristea Park of Wissahickon (8-over), Pennsbury's Jade Gu (10-over) and North Penn's Min Kim (11-over).
They will all be playing at Turtle Creek along with members of the various teams competing for spots in the state team competition.
Getting back to Sheehan's round, on the opening hole, he crushed his drive to inside 100 yards on the 378-yard hole. He hit a wedge past the pin and then two-putted for his par.
"On one, I just killed my drive," he said, "and then hit a 60-degree (wedge) straight through (the green) and had a 20-footer and just blew it past by six feet. Making that putt coming back was kind of a confidence boost."
He then birdied the second and the fourth holes to go 2-under par. An eagle on No. 7 and a birdie on eight brought him in on the front nine at 5-under 31.
"I was about 40 yards out (on No. 7) and it just hit the pin and dropped in so I made two on that hole," Sheehan said.
All this is leading up to what could be considered a comeback for Sheehan at districts. Last year, he opened district play with a 5-over 77 and never recovered.
"It's definitely a comeback after last year," he said. "I struggled last year.
"The conditions were horrible but I just played awful. I didn't hit many good shots. My putter saved me the first day.
"Now everything has come together. I've gotten a lot better. It's good to post a good number."
This is the first year that Walsh has made it to the second round of districts. If he can play as well on the second day, he could be first William Tennent golfer to reach regionals since 2005.
"My putting was good," Walsh said. "My irons were pretty good. I kept myself in the fairway basically.
"It's good to get into the second day. It is definitely going to give me confidence that I can hang out with these guys and play well on a hard course."
As for Jezzeny, who finished right behind Sheehan in the SOLs, it was a difficult day. He birdied his second hole but then bogeyed two on the front nine for a 37.
He matched that number on the back. He bogeyed Nos. 14 and 15 before getting a birdie at No. 17.
"I didn't quite shoot what I was hoping but it was not terrible," Jezzeny said. "At one point, I was 3-over and moving backward but I kind of steadied the ship and finished the round 2-over.
"I was missing a lot of greens but my short game was good. Everything else was a little shaky, I think.
"I know what I have to work on. I'm looking forward to a better round tomorrow."
All of the golfers realize that winning the districts, while nice to do, it not necessary. It is just a step in the progression toward the state tournament.
"I've got to have the mindset to try to win," said Sheehan. "That's what I want to do.
"You don't exactly have to win the tournament but it's nice to have the mind-set to win it."
The final round at Turtle Creek will begin with a 10 a.m. tee time from both No. 1 and No. 10. The Regional tournament will be on Monday, Oct. 16, at Golden Oaks in Fleetwood and the state tournament will be held on Monday, Oct. 23, and Tuesday, Oct. 24, for individuals and Wednesday, Oct. 25, for the teams, all at Heritage Hills Golf and Spa in York.
DISTRICT ONE
BOYS QUALIFIERS FOR SECOND ROUND
T1 Patrick Sheehan, CB East -3 69
T1 Liam Hart, Holy Ghost Prep -3 69
T1 Greg Deluca, Neshaminy -3 69
T4 David Colleran, Radnor -2 70
T4 Colin Walsh, Wm Tennent -2 70
T4 Kevin Anthony, CB South -2 70
T7 Ben Pochet, Spring Ford -1 71
T7 Ben Newlon, Strath Haven -1 71
T7 Thomas Butler, Souderton -1 71
T7 Ryan Conners, Bishop Shanahan -1 71
T7 Matt Fleming, CR South -1 71
T12 Greg Hiriak, Pope John Paul E 72
T12 Caleb Ryan, Norristown E 72
T12 Ward McHenry, OJ Roberts E 72
T12 Ryan Tall, Conestoga E 72
T16 Connor Bennink, Unionville +1 73
T16 Nate Pierce, Spring Ford +1 73
T16 Andrew Wallace, Harriton +1 73
T16 Hayden Moffat, Hatboro-Horsham +1 73
T16 Joshua Ryan, Norristown +1 73
T21 Nick Gianelos, Unionville +2 74
T21 Luca Jezzeny, CB West +2 74
T21 Jake McCloskey, Unionville +2 74
T21 Morgan Lofland, Conestoga +2 74
T25 Will Bennink, Unionville +3 75
T25 Richie Kline, Unionville +3 75
T25 Jack Straub, Spring Ford +3 75
T25 Drew Fuhrman, Spring Ford +3 75
T25 Jon Passerello, Unionville +3 75
T25 JT Spina, Pope John Paul +3 75
T25 Mike Hamilton, Conestoga +3 75
T25 Pat Laushell, Pennsbury +3 75
GIRLS QUALIFIERS FOR SECOND ROUND
1 Samantha Yao, Conestoga +3 74
2 Sophia Mancuso, CB East +4 75
T3 Liddie McCook, Downingtown East +5 76
T3 Lizzie Palmieri, CB South +5 76
T5 April Xu, CR South +8 79
T5 Cristea Park, Wissahickon +8 79
T7 Liv Juliana, Great Valley +9 80
T7 Riley Quartermain, Haverford +9 80
T7 Grace Hickey, Downingtown West +9 80
T7 Clare Gimpel, Mount St. Joes +9 80
T11 Jade Gu, Pennsbury +10 81
T11 Olivia Wirschling, Mount St. Joes +10 81
T11 Grace Simenson, Phoenixville +10 81
T14 Charlotte Scully, Unionville +11 82
T14 Sofia Amoroso, West Chester East +11 82
T14 Savanna Haas, Boyertown +11 82
T14 Gillyoung Koh, Marple Newtown +11 82
T14 Min Kim, North Penn +11 82
T14 Lauren Butscher, Strath Haven +11 82
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