Eleven SOL golfers – nine boys and two girls - advanced to next week’s Eastern Regionals.
By Ben Reese
LIMERICK -- It's over. It is official.
Methacton's Kyle Vance is out of this world. Another Herr has won the District One title. And Souderton has two of the top male golfers in the district.
First, on what began as a cold and rainy day but blossomed into a beauty, Vance shot a 2-under 70 to win the 
district boys crown with a 10-under 134. Second place went to Souderton's Quinn Guzman, who finished at even par 144, 10 strokes behind Vance. The Indians' Dawson Anders tied for third with a 1-over 145.
Second, Madelein Herr became the third Herr sibling to capture a district championship, beating Owen J. Roberts' Maddie Sager on a playoff hole after they both finished a 3-under 140. She joins brother Zach and sister Erica at district titleholders.
Souderton came out of the final round with Guzman and Anders in the top three, but the Suburban One League also came out shining. The SOL advanced nine boys and two girls to the Eastern Regionals at Golden Oaks in Fleetwood on Monday, Oct. 19.
Guzman, who began the day at 3-under, struggled a bit during the day. 
Much of his trouble came on the greens.
"It was not the best back nine," Guzman said. "I just wasn't hitting my driver very well.
"I wasn't able to be as aggressive and I left myself hard putts. I wouldn't blame my putter, but I had more putts on the greens than I should have."
However, he did get his wish, at least for part of the morning. It rained for about an hour while many of the golfers were on the course. Guzman had said that he liked playing golf in the rain.
"I didn't get my rain," he said, "but it's OK. I'm not going to complain about that."
He did get something else, a friend to accompany him to Regionals, Anders.
"It feels good to finally get to Regionals after missing it last year by one," said Anders. "I'm just going to hit the range a lot and practice."
He made a big turnaround on the second day of districts. One the first day, Anders shot a 3-over 75 but rebounded with a 2-under 70 on Day 2.
"My scrambling was really good because I was hooking my driver," he said. "I put one OB on a par 5.
"I managed to go for it in two from there and put it on and managed to make the par putt. I just managed to make putts when I had to."
Other male qualifiers for Regionals were Central Bucks East's Tommy Lewis (tied for fifth at 2-over 146), Jack Melville of Upper Dublin, Luca Jezzeny of CB West, CB South's Jake Fitts and David Kim of Upper Dublin (all tied for 10th at 3-over 147), and Abington's Matt Shur and Ron Robinson of North Penn (tied for 15th at 4-over 148).
Robinson was very wary while the scores were going on to the leaderboard. He was fearful that he would miss the cut, which was at 148.
"I'm more nervous now," he said. "They said I'm in but I'm just waiting now."
Well, Robinson, who is probably the first Knight to advance out of districts since 2001, need not have worried. He made it on the number.
"I shot 74 again today so I think I'm right on the number," he said, showing his prophetic nature. "I hit the ball a lot better today, made more putts.
"I'm pretty excited because I birdied the last hole to shoot 74. If I made that to make the cut, that would be great."
Shurr, who also shot a 74 both days, is the first Abington golfer to advance to Regionals since Ben Cooley in 2010.
“Coming down the stretch, I thought 150 or 149 would make it,” he said. “So some of the putts I had – I didn’t 
know I needed to make them, but I made them anyway, so looking back, I’m very relieved I made them. I guess it’s good I didn’t know exactly what I needed.”
Shurr thought a playoff was inevitable.
“I was on the putting green preparing for a playoff,” he said. “My hands were definitely shaking.
“I was praying not to be in a playoff. The last two years I made it to the district tournament but didn’t get past the first round. To make it to Regionals is very exciting. This has always been one of my goals.”
Coach Jason Cottone credited Shurr’s work ethic.
“Matt put so much work into the offseason,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “He just spent hours a day at the golf course. For him to make it out of this district is nothing short of incredible with the level of competition.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled. Matt has just been stellar for his entire career at Abington. He’s not only one of the most dedicated kids I’ve ever coached, he’s also one of the more humble kids I’ve ever coached. He has an intrinsic drive and motivation to compete. To see his work come to fruition and to see his efforts pay off is the most rewarding thing for me as a coach.”
Herr will be joined at Regionals by her teammate Lauren Muhlbauer. Muhlbauer shot a 76 to go with her first-day 74 to finish at 150, good enough for seventh place.
But Herr needed to go an extra hole to capture the title. Both she and Sager finished at 140, necessitating a playoff.
It was decided on the first playoff hole.
"I parred it and she bogied it," Herr said. "I thought I was hitting the ball good.
"I've been hitting it really well lately. Putting - I wish it was a little better because I 3-putted three holes. I was very consistent fairways to greens."
For Muhlbauer, it was vindication for some previous misses.
"It's a big accomplishment," she said, "because last year I think I missed the cut by one shot and my sophomore year I missed by one or two shots. So every year I've been close but I'm happy I made it this year.
"I was pretty happy with my score today considering I missed a few birdie putts. I was five over after the first five holes, not the best way to start out. I managed to work it out a little bit."
Everyone who advanced to Regionals was excited about the upcoming tournament.
"I think I will go out there and play the best I can and qualify for states," said Herr.
But Guzman might have expressed it the best.
"It feels pretty good (to be going to Regionals)," he said, "but there's still a lot of work to be done. I'm not crazy excited because I'm going to start feeling the nerves soon."
Everyone one will also.
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