Ben Reese recaps the SOL action on day one of the District 1 Tournament. Photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valkko. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f267618329
By Ben Reese
LIMERICK — Things don’t always work out the way you want them to go.
In the case of the three medalists from the Suburban One League golf championships, taking the lead at the District One Golf Tournament didn’t happen.
That is not to say that Quakertown’s Brady Gallagher, Adam Fluehr of Springfield Twp and Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Rhianna Gooneratne have no chance of winning a district title.
Just that it might be a little bit more difficult.
In the two-day tournament, only Gooneratne is within one stroke of the lead. The girls leader is Mia Pace of Downingtown East at 1-under at Raven’s Claw Golf Club in Pottstown, while Gooneratne is at even-par 71.
For the boys, while West Chester Rustin’s Sam Feeney fired a 2-under 70, Fluehr is at 2-over 74 and tied for fourth, and Gallagher at 4-over 76, tied for 14th, at Turtle Creek Golf Course.
But for all three, there is another day of golf.
And there are several boys who have joined the chase. Upper Dublin’s Cole Coffey tied with Fluehr at 74 in fourth place, and Brent Glah of Hatboro-Horsham is one in back of them at 75, tied for eighth.
Fluehr still has his sights set on the win, as does Gallagher.
“(I’m) still within striking distance,” Fluehr said. “On the front nine, I was hitting the tee ball in the fairway and then hitting the wedge to like real close.
“I just have to go out there and try to win it if I can and just go to states.”
Gallagher suffered through a difficult day on the course. But he was still upbeat.
“I’m going to go into tomorrow with the same mindset,” he said. “Today I wasn’t really dropping putts; nothing was going well.
“I’m just going to reset for tomorrow.”
As for Coffey and Glah, neither have been in this position before. But both are feeling better with their qualification.
“Pretty happy with myself,” said Coffey. “I made the cut.
“I’m more focused on team districts tomorrow. Would love to win the team championship and move onto states, of course. I’m a team guy at heart.”
How about if you shoot low, make states individually and also help your team win the district team title?
“Perfect scenario,” he answered. “We’re in for both.”
Glah, who qualified for districts last year but missed out on states, was more subdued.
“I was playing well,’ he said. “Coming in, I had some bad putts but ended up coming through and shooting a 75 to make the cut.
“I was making a lot of bogies because of putting, but I was hitting the ball really well off the tee, hitting a lot of greens but just putting badly. Tomorrow is a big day.”
Gallagher, probably more than the others, had the most difficult day. 
He started off the front nine with a double bogey on No. 3 and a bogey on 9. He did rally on the back with two birdies and two bogies.
“It was a tough day,” he said. “I kept my head in it though.
“I had two double bogies today, so I’m happy with that finish considering how I started off with the double bogey on No. 3.”
Fluehr and Coffey had different reactions to their day on the course. Fluehr was a bit ambivalent while Coffey was enthused.
“The back nine played tough today,” said Fluehr. “I shot 1-under on the front but 3-over on the back.
“On 14, the dogleg right, I went into one of the fairway bunkers. I was practically sloped like 45 degrees.
“I chunked it into the wind, so it only went about 80 yards. I couldn’t get it up and down.
“On the front nine, I was hitting the tee ball in the fairway and then hitting the wedge like real close. On hole 6, I hit a driver into the right rough, just about a foot out and then had about 170 yards in and downwind, downhill.
“I hit a 9 iron to about half a foot and made it for birdie which helped a lot because I missed a tap-in on the previous hole. Not a bad day.”
Coffey was pleased with his rebound from the regular season.
“I’ve struggled a little during the regular season,” he said. “I always knew that if I got it together one day, I could put together something like…a 74.
“Like I said, I’ve been struggling. The tee balls have been a problem, but today it was money the entire time.”
In addition to Gooneratne qualifying for the second day for the girls, also making the cut are Upper Dublin’s Talia Hoffner with a 78 and Alli Engart of Souderton with an 83.
Also moving to the second day for the boys are Andrew Elliot of Souderton with a 76, CB West’s DJ Fiorita and Upper Dublin’s Zach Holmlund with 77s and Ezra Holmlund of Upper Dublin with a 78.
The second day will be played at Turtle Creek for both the boys and girls with tee times beginning at 9 a.m. Eighteen boys and nine girls will advance to the PIAA Golf Championship at Penn State University on Oct. 17 and 18.
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