By Ben Reese
LIMERICK -- On the PGA Tour, the day before the final round of a tournament, usually a Saturday, is called Moving Day.
That means the golfers are looking to move into contention for the championship, aiming to put themselves into better position for the final round.
At the District One golf championship, Moving Day is actually the first day of the two-day tournament. That was Monday at Turtle Creek Golf Course for the boys and Ravens Claw Golf Club for the girls.
Members of the Suburban One League contingent, 37 boys and 12 girls, all put their best foot forward to attempt to advance into Tuesday's final round. That is what happened for 14 boys and five girls.
They will all get their chance beginning at 9:30 at Turtle Creek, which is where the boys played their opening round. The girls played their first round at Ravens Claw.
Topping the SOL male qualifiers for the second day were Plymouth Whitemarsh's Dylan Gooneratne, Milo Jezzeny of Central Bucks West, Pennridge's Brendan Bauer and CB West's Kevin Lydon. All four golfers shot 2-over par 74.
Leading the way for the SOL girls at Ravens Claw was Jade Gu of Pennsbury and Wissahickon's Elizabeth Beek. They both finished their rounds under par, Gu at 3-under and Beek at 1-under.
The other boys qualifers were Jack Dunsmore of CB East, Nick Hano of CB West, Wissahickon's Christian Matt, Jack Marvin of Hatboro-Horsham, Pennsbury's Will Gerrity, Noah Sim of Hatboro-Horsham, Ryan Reardon of Pennsbury, James O'Malley of Souderton and Samuel Barsh and Jackson Tappen of Wissahickon.
Advancing for the girls with Gu and Beek were Sarah Scarpill of CB East, Pennridge's Ashley Ea and Emma Reilly of CB South.
Gooneratne followed up his win at the SOL tournament with an excellent performance in the opening round of districts. He bogied two holes on the back nine after recording nine straight pars on the front.
"I finished at 74," he said. "I'll take it.
"I played pretty consistently throughout the whole day. I just had that 3-putt on the last hole which cost me a stroke, but it's all about tomorrow now so I've got to play even better than I did today.
"I still need to go out there and play my game. I can't let the pressure get to me. I just have to push right through it and take it one shot at a time."
With his 74, he and the other three at 2-over par trailed the leader, Josh Ryan of Norristown, by three shots. Ryan recorded the only round under par at 1-under.
"My irons were working," Gooneratne said. "My driver was a little bit erratic but I was able to get onto the green with my irons. I was pretty consistent on the greens."
For Jezzeny, it was also a solid, if not spectacular, round. He had three birdies but also had five bogeys.
"I was pretty solid," he said. "I missed a few short putts on the back nine. It put me over par but that's all right.
"I just have to move on to the next day. I feel like I just have to do the same thing as today and it should be fine for regionals. This is my good year so far so I should have a shot (at regionals and states)."
Bauer had only one birdie and three bogeys for his 74. He matched Jezzeny with 37s on both the front and back nines.
"I put myself in a good position and that's all you can ask for," Bauer said. "I made it last year (past the first day of districts) and making it this year is something I was looking forward to.
"I putted really well today. I put myself in some tough situations today where I hit an errant drive or second shot. Definitely on the back nine I wasn't hitting it so well with the driver so getting up and down definitely saved me a few strokes.
"I played really well today. I'm just hoping to do the same thing tomorrow."
Lydon, who finished second to Gooneratne in the SOLs, also went 37-37 on the two nines. He had a pair of birdies but also four bogeys.
Hatboro-Horsham's Marvin is looking to do something in his senior year which he hasn't accomplished before. That would be making regionals.
"I didn't play great today but I made it work," Marvin said of his 76, 4-over par. "I just hit the ball really well. I didn't miss many greens in regulation."
On the girls side, Gu and Beek were at or near the top of the leaderboard all day. They both trailed Sydney Yermish of Lower Merion, who shot an outstanding 6-under 65 at Ravens Claw.
Gu had the most up-and-down day. She had an eagle, four birdies, a bogey and a double bogey for her 68.
Beek was a little more balanced. She had three birdies and two bogeys.
Play will continue on Tuesday with tee times beginning at 9:30 a.m. from both the first hole and the 10th.
Boys qualifying for second round
Josh Ryan, Norristown 71
Jack Cooley, Unionville 73
David Fitzgerald, Harriton 73
Ben Lee, Conestoga 74
Calen Sanderson, Holy Ghost 74
Dylan Gooneratne PW 74
Milo Jezzeny, CB West 74
Brendan Bauer, Pennridge 74
Kevin Lydon, CB West 74
Kyle Resutta, Phoenixville 74
Andrew Wallace, Harriton 75
Jack Dunsmore, CB East 75
Will Hage, Unionville 75
Nick Hano, CB West 76
Christian Matt, Wissahickon 76
Jack Marvin, Hatboro-Horsham 76
Ryan Dariano, West Chester Rustin 76
Jeff Cooper, Methacton 76
Nick Woods, Garnet Valley 76
Dylan Kochis, WC Henderson 77
Jack Hamilton, Radnor 77
John Engle, Boyertown 77
Jake Leon, Downingtown East 77
Conrad Benford, Owen J. Roberts 77
Will Gentry, Pennsbury 77
Drew Rider, Conestoga 77
Noach Sim, Hatboro-Horsham 77
Morgan Lofland, Conestoga 78
Ryan Reardon, Pennsbury 78
Roy Anderson, Unionville 78
Luke Watson, Spring-Ford 78
Samuel Barsh, Wissahickon 78
James O'Malley, Souderton 78
Jackson Tappen, Wissahickon 78
Joseph Madden, Oxford 78
Girls qualifying for second round
Sydney Yermish, Lower Merion 65
Jade Gu, Pennsbury 68
Elizabeth Beek, Wissahickon 70
Clare Gimpel, Mount St. Joseph 73
Olivia Wirsching, Mount St. Joseph 74
Stefania Fedun, Owen J. Roberts 74
Ava O'Sullivan, Downingtown East 74
Riley Quartermain, Haverford 76
Victoria Kim, West Chester East 76
Mary Dunigan, Unionville 76
Sarah Scarpill, CB East 76
Charlotte Scully, Unionville 77
Ashley Ea, Pennridge 78
Grace Smith, Strath Haven 78
Emma Reilly, CB South 79
- Log in to post comments
