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Six TN golfers advance to title round

Northwestern sends four, Lehighton and Jim Thorpe one each to next week’s District 11 championships

EASTON — A change of venue turned into a challenging affair for District 11 golfers hoping to qualify for next week’s championship round at Steel Club.

Three Northwestern Lehigh girls played well enough Monday at Northampton Country Club to move on to next week’s event.

Avri Chandler, Addison Remaley and Gracie Scheffler all advanced to the District 11 Championships in Class 2A, as will Jim Thorpe’s Anna Figura.

For the past several years the district qualifying tournament was held at Old Homestead in New Tripoli. This year’s site proved to be a tough course, and played long on a damp dreary day. The weather looked more like a threat than anything else, as the rains held up on the difficult par-72 course.

“It’s a great course for the young players,” Bob Frey, the District 11 golf tournament director and Saucon Valley Athletic Director, said. “We have a great lineup here at Northampton. We’ve moved it around and we have Steel Club next Tuesday for the championships.”

While the trio of Northwestern girls were making the cut to the championship flight, another Tiger also will be in the championship round next week. Cole Dynda is headed to the dance in the Class 2A boys event. Dynda shot a round of 86 to place third and finish among the top seven advancing out of the 13 2A boys golfers.

Lehighton’s Michael D’Amico will get a trip to Steel Club after finishing tied for eighth in Class 3A, carding a round of 84, and well inside the top 22 moving on out of the 44 in the field.

The girls needed to score 110 or less to move on the championship round. Chandler carded a 93, Remaley a 94, Schaeffer a 104 and Figura a 106.

Chandler had three pars and a birdie that came on the 14th hole. Starting on the back nine, she shot a 45 and closed with a 48 through the front nine.

Remaley also started on the back nine, and had back-to-back pars on holes 14 and 15, and ended the back nine with a score of 49.

She carded a birdie on the seventh hole, which was a long par 5, while adding pars on the second and sixth holes. She finished with a 45 on the front nine.

Opening on the back nine, Scheffler carded a 57 to start. She played steady on the par 36 front nine, finishing with a 47. Scheffler got a big lift on holes 6 and 7.

Figura will carry her school’s banner to Steel Club in Hellertown after qualifying with a round of 106. Starting on the back nine, she made a par 4 at No. 14, got a huge lift with a birdie (2) on 16 and a par 4 on 17.

On the front nine, Figura closed with a 58.

Dynda closed strong, carding a 41 on the front nine after starting with a 45 on the back nine. Dynda had a par on the first hole of the front nine, and carded a birdie (2) on 6, after a double bogey the previous hole. He had a par on the seventh hole.

He also had pars on the 16th and 18th holes to jump start his front nine.

After a bogey on the first hole, D’Amico birdied the second, took a bogey at three, and recorded two straight pars. D’Amico carded a 43 on the front nine, and finished the back nine with a solid 41 to end his round at 84.

ON THE COURSE ... Palmerton’s Jared Grammes carded 91, tied for eighth, just missing the top seven and a chance to advance. Northern Lehigh’s Connor Simms was tied for 12th in 2A with a 99. In Class 3A, Pleasant Valley’s Drew Patascher was 34th with a 95, while Jim Thorpe’s Aiden Ramey finished 40th with a 101.

GREAT VENUE … Northampton Country Club is a jewel. Its fairways are cut to perfection, and the greens are tough but fair. One of the great features is a huge video board that posts all the scores as the golfers move along the course. It’s top notch for sure.

MOVED OUT … Old Homestead for several years was the site of the qualifier. The course does not allow pushcarts for the high school golfers, and that was a big reason for the move to the new course.

FAST PLAY … Frey was pleased the way the tournament rolled out and finished in a very reasonable four hours. The girls even had a faster play than any time since they began playing.

Northwestern’s Cole Dynda watches his drive during Monday’s district qualifier. Dynda shot an 86 and qualified for next week’s D-11 championship round. NANCY SCHOLZ/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
Northwestern’s Addison Remaley follows her shot at Northampton Country Club on Monday. Remaley finished with a 94 to advance. NANCY SCHOLZ/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
Pleasant Valley’s Drew Patascher his a drive during Monday’s district qualifier. NANCY SCHOLZ/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
Jim Thorpe’s Aiden Ramey competes at Monday’s district qualifier. NANCY SCHOLZ/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS