Ben Reese recaps Monday’s District One boys/girls golf action.
By Ben Reese
LIMERICK -- It was Columbus Day and there was some discovery going on at Turtle Creek Golf Course in the first round of the District One boys golf tournament.
First, Luca Jezzeny of Central Bucks West discovered what it was like to lead the tournament after the first day of play.
Then Council Rock South's Matt Fleming discovered how to come back from a disappointing round in the Suburban One League championships.
Stephen Butler of Souderton discovered his tournament game and Pennridge's Brendan Bauer discovered what it felt like to get a reprieve to play another day.
On the girls side, which was played at Gilbertsville Golf Course, there was some discovery done also. Four girls, including two from the SOL (Pennsbury's Jade Gu and Wissahickon's Cristea Park) put together rounds under par and two more girls (Sarah Scarpill of CB East and Quakertown's Madilyn Siuta) qualified for the second round at Turtle Creek.
Jezzeny, who has verbally committed to play golf at Brown University next year, went out and scorched the course for a 4-under 68. He put it together with one thing in mind, advancing.
"I was hitting the ball great; on top of that, (I was) making some putts," Jezzeny said. "That definitely led to a low score.
"I've got to keep my game plan the same. Play my own game and play every shot.
"Obviously, the number one thing is to move on. Playing my own game, seeing how good I can play. The main goal is to make the states. Give myself a shot at winning the state title. That's my overall goal."
If he can keep to his game plan, that goal could be within his reach.
As for Fleming, he didn't play as well as he would have liked in the SOLs. He went out with the number one group but ballooned to a 7-over 78 at Five Ponds Golf Club.
"Last week, I played well enough," he said. "I didn't strike the ball the way I wanted to and I left a lot of strokes on the par threes. I played the par threes a lot better today which is a big difference.
"My first nine (he started the day on the 11th hole in the shotgun start) I played really well like from tee to green. I struck the ball really well off the tee and then putted. I made all my birdie putts that I had. I felt really under control today. I felt like I really played well.
"Today doesn't really mean a lot. It's what I have to do tomorrow. I put myself in a good position to put up a good score and take some pressure off."
Butler, who is only a sophomore, put it all together at Turtle Creek. He had finished the SOLs three strokes behind the leaders, which included his brother Thomas, who suffered through a very tough day at districts.
"I was quite happy with it (the round) because I haven't shot this well in a tournament round ... forever," he said. "I was quite happy that I could come out and play a solid round of golf.
"I could putt and drive the ball really well today. I made three birdies and I was hitting a lot of fairways."
Then there was Bauer. As the scores were being tallied, it appeared that he would just miss the cut after bogeying his last hole.
But, when everything was said and done, he, along with 10 other golfers, jumped up into the final spot above the 30-and-ties cut line.
"Really thrilled," he said. "It's good to be here."
What about that last hole?
"It's a long par-4," he explained. "I thought I did well enough but I just didn't hit it far enough on the second shot.
"I'm not mad at all. That's all that matters. I get to play another day and that's fine by me. How far I've come - I'm happy with it already."
For the girls, Gu and Park tied for second with 1-under 70s. They trailed leader Victoria Kim of West Chester East by two shots.
Scarpill came home with a 5-over 76 and Siuta with a 9-over 80. These four were the lone SOL girls to advance to the second day of play.
For the boys, also qualifying for the second day were CB East's Patrick Sheehan (72), Souderton's James O'Malley (75), Pennsbury's Will Gerrity (75) and Ethan Finkelstein (75), Patrick Laushell of Pennsbury (76), CB South's Jack Cenci (77), Jack Marvin of Hatboro-Horsham (77) and Council Rock North's Nick Taylor (77).
The second round of the District One Tournament will begin at 10 a.m. at Turtle Creek. Eighteen boys and nine girls will qualify to advance to the Eastern Regional tournament at Golden Oaks in Fleetwood on Oct. 15.
QUALIFIERS FOR SECOND ROUND (Boys)
1 Luca Jezzeny, CB West 68
T2 Liam Hart, Holy Ghost Prep 69
T2 Matt Fleming, CR South 69
4 David Colleran, Radnor 70
5 Andrew Wallace, Harriton 71
T6 Patrick Sheehan, CB East 72
T6 Kevin Smith, Strath Haven 72
T8 Josh Ryan, Norristown 73
T8 Will Bennink, Unionville 73
T8 Kemp Bassett, Conestoga 73
T8 Jack Cooley, Unionville 73
T8 David Fitzgerald, Harriton 73
T8 Richie Kline, Unionville 73
T8 Luke Watson, Spring-Ford 73
T15 Caleb Ryan, Norristown 74
T15 Stephen Butler, Souderton 74
T15 Roy Anderson, Unionville 74
T15 Nate Pierce, Spring-Ford 74
T19 Morgan Lofland, Conestoga 75
T19 Dylan Lasecki, Methacton 75
T19 James O'Malley, Souderton 75
T19 Nick Martin, Methacton 75
T19 Will Gerrity, Pennsbury 75
T19 Ethan Finkelstein, Pennsbury 75
T19 Axel Kalbach, Spring-Ford 75
T26 Cole Shew, WC East 76
T26 Ryan Glenn, Owen J. Roberts 76
T26 Patrick Laushell, Pennsbury 76
T26 Joe O'Malley, Bishop Shanahan 76
T30 Connor Bennin, Unionville 77
T30 Jack Cenci, CB South 77
T30 Ryan D'Ariano, WC Rustin 77
T30 Chris Skean, Unionville 77
T30 Brendan Bauer, Pennridge 77
T30 Jack Marvin, Hatboro Horsham 77
T30 Blake Stephano, Radnor 77
T30 David Merz, Strath Haven 77
T30 Nick Taylor, CR North 77
T30 Matt Walsh, Downingtown East 77
T30 Dan Kovacevich, Holy Ghost Prep 77
QUALIFIERS FOR SECOND ROUND (Girls)
1 Victoria Kim, WC East 68
T2 Jade Gu, Pennsbury 70
T2 Cristea Park, Wissahickon 70
T2 Charlotte Scully, Unionville 70
5 Samantha Yao, Conestoga 71
6 Riley Quartermain, Haverford 73
T7 Liddie McCook, Downingtown East 76
T7 Lily Byrne, Downingtown West 76
T7 Sarah Scarpill, CB East 76
10 Olivia Wirsching, Mt St. Joseph 77
11 Clare Gimpel, Mt St. Joseph 78
T12 Ava O'Sullivan, Downingtown East 80
T12 Madilyn Siuta, Quakertown 80
T14 Sofia Amoroso, WC East 81
T14 Caroline Gola, Mt St. Joseph 81
T14 Anisha Sonti, Downingtown East 81
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