By Ben Reese
The Suburban One League golf championships were just about over. The champion, or in this case champions, were decided – Wissahickon's Jalen Griffin and Central Bucks West's Tyler Sokolis.
But there were still four spots to fill to complete the group qualified to advance to the District One championship. Ten players gathered at the first tee box, preparing to give it one last try for a spot at districts.
Souderton's Clay Anders was one of the ten. He shot an 86 as did the other nine players in the playoff.
When it was his turn, he teed the ball up and hit it. And, well, let's allow Anders to tell it…
“I played fine (in the playoff),” he said, “probably better than the round. I had a chance to clinch my spot on the first hole with a birdie but I missed it.
“The on the third hole, the last hole, an unlucky bounce off the cart path and I hit it in the weeds.”
That ended Anders' chance to get to districts as an individual in his senior season. His younger brother, Dawson, only a freshman, made it but Clay did not.
Or so he thought.
The Indians had one more match remaining, one that they needed to win to ensure they were the Continental Conference champions. The match was played the day after the SOLs.
And Souderton did win, beating Central Bucks South 192-207. Anders saved his best for his final league match, shooting a 2-under 34 at Lederach.
“After the SOLs, I talked to him,” Souderton coach Fred Cicacci said. “I expressed my empathy and I said, 'You're just going to have to reach down deep to come up with good stuff for tomorrow (the match against CB South).'
“Before the match, I gave him a hug and said 'Come up big today' and he came up with a 34. That's huge.”
For all intents and purposes. Anders was done with his individual high school golf career. He would still have the District One team competition to look forward to.
But then things got interesting.
Cicacci got a phone call. And everything changed.
“Buff Radick, the gentleman who runs golf for the SOL, called me,” Cicacci said. “He said, 'Fred, how's your week?'
“I said, 'It's going fabulous.' He said, 'Well, it's going to get better.'
“He started telling me about the situation and I went 'Wow!' I was so happy because, to tell you the truth, Clay deserved to get there.”
Anders explained the “situation.”
“My coach called me,” he said. “I was on the range and he said that one player was a AA player and we're a AAA league.
“He said I was in. I'm pretty excited, I guess.”
How about the 34 against CB South?
“I was just trying to end my season on a better note than SOLs,” Anders said. “I didn't care too much about my score until the last few holes.”
Champions: As noted, Souderton grabbed the Continental title. It is the Indians' first since 2001.
“It's been a long dry spell,” said Cicacci. “We've been second to CB East for a long time.
“This means a lot to these kids. They worked at it and stayed with it. I'm exceedingly proud of them.”
Upper Dublin also won a conference championship, taking the American crown on a tiebreaker after tying Wissahickon for the title. The Cardinals beat the Trojans during the season by 22 strokes in their two matches. (Wissahickon won the first 197-200 and Upper Dublin the second 178-203.)
“This one was very interesting,” Upper Dublin coach David Koch said, “because my eighth player shot 35 and my third player shot 34. We just had a great day.
“We had a 34, two 35s, a 36 and a 38. Just a fantastic day.”
Jack Melville shot a 34, Michael Reed-Price and Andy Dunman both shot a 35 while Cole Swiger shot a 36 and Matt Amey, 38.
The National Conference championship went to Pennsbury. It is the first title that the Falcons have won in many years.
“From what I understand, (this is the first) since 1983,” Pennsbury coach Glenn Goldsborough said. “It's been 30 years since we won outright. We were co-champs last year.
“It felt really good (to win the championship). It was nice because it took a little bit of pressure off today (Monday at the boys SOL championship).
“I just know the guys need to shoot a score to be advanced to districts. Knowing that we didn't have to come in with a team low score I think makes it easier for them; makes it a little easier for me too.”
And the team that Upper Dublin nosed out for the American title, Wissahickon, got itself into the districts also, qualifying as the wild card team from the Suburban One League.
“The team itself was very happy to get this wild card,” said Trojan coach John Shapcott. “The team played well all year.
“We were two good teams (Wissahickon and Upper Dublin) and I'm glad there was a wild card that our team could get into the districts.”
Kudos: As Koch noted earlier, Upper Dublin finished up its championship season in resounding style.
The 178 that the Cardinals put up on the board against Wissahickon in the season finale is not something to be passed over.
It is the low score this year and might be the low for quite a few years. To put all five golfers in the 30s with one under par and two at even par, one 1-over and another 3-over is outstanding.
A final word: The District One championships will be held Monday, Oct. 7, and Tuesday, Oct. 8. The boys will play both rounds at Turtle Creek while the girls will open at Gilbertsville and play their final round at Turtle Creek.
They will be followed by the Eastern Regionals at Golden Oaks in Fleetwood on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
The PIAA championships will be Monday, Oct. 21, and Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Heritage Hills in York.
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