Conditions were more suited for rain gear, umbrellas and dry towels - not drivers, irons and putters.

The District 11 golf tournament qualifying round was held Tuesday at the tough, undulating links layout design of Olde Homestead Golf Course.

The goal was to survive and advance to next week’s District 11 Championship Tournament.

One area golfer who did that in impressive fashion was Pleasant Valley junior Lydon Patascher. But he wasn’t alone in fighting through the wetness and making it to next week. Joining him were Panther Valley’s Drew Kokinda; Palmerton’s Jared Reinhard; Jim Thorpe’s Anna Figura; and a trio of girls from Northwestern Lehigh - Addison Remaley, Avri Chandler and Gracie Scheffler.

The seven aforementioned golfers will get to tee it up again next Tuesday at Steel Club in Bethlehem with district medals and state berths on the line.

Highlighting the local performances was Patascher, who brought his A-game, and not only finished with the top score in 35-person Class 3A field, but had the best round of any golfer the entire day - boy or girl, Class 2A or 3A.

Patascher’s even-par round of 72 was four strokes better than second-place finisher Luke Ronca of Nazareth.

Patascher carded only four bogeys on the day - two on the front nine and two on the back nine.

“It was really soft, really wet and the wind and rain made it tough at times,” said the Pleasant Valley golfer. “But I was used to the rain, I just came off of playing in the Lehigh Valley Junior Amateur over the weekend and it rained the whole tournament.

“I knew coming into today it was going to be like that again, but I tried not to let it affect me.”

Patascher did exactly that as he carded a one-over par 37 on the front, before a birdie on the 10th hole. He then reeled off three straight pars and a birdie to dip his round under par heading into the final few holes. An 18th-hole bogey took him back to level par.

“My driver was my best club today, I hit almost every single fairway,” Patascher said.

In the boys’ 2A field, Panther Valley’s Drew Kokinda finished fourth with a score of 88, allowing him to compete in the double A tournament next week.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Kokinda said about how the conditions impacted the course. “It was a little cooler and wetter than you would ideally like, but it warmed up some by the back nine, and it really didn’t bother me that much.”

Kokinda’s coach Greg Surotchak said his senior golfer is usually steady.

“It was difficult, but Drew handled it very well,” said the PV coach about the conditions - knowing full-well what it is like to play in wet conditions being a one-time collegiate golfer himself. “You’ve got to play the course, that’s what you need to focus on and that’s what I told Drew before he started his round. It was the kind of day you had to manage the conditions.”

Palmerton’s Reinhard did just that as well. He’s been here for the past three seasons, and Tuesday he advanced with a round of 90.

“I felt better on the back nine,” said the Blue Bomber senior. “I shot 46 on the front and then finished with a 44 - even though it was just two strokes different (than the front), it just felt better.”

Despite the dreary day, it was all smiles for the Tigers’ Chandler as the petite sophomore carded a 97.

“It wasn’t my best, and the conditions were rough,” said Chandler, who had an 80 on the course during the regular season. “But I just tried to do my best and make it to next week.”

Chandler’s teammate Remaley also had a 97 as they tied for the best round in 2A girls.

“It was cold, but everything was kind of working for me,” said the Northwestern junior.

Remaley knew that shooting a 110 would enable her to move on to the next round. “That’s what I was shooting for,” she said about the cutoff number that she easily went under.

The best shot of the day for the gals came when Northwestern’s Scheffler holed one out from about 85 yards on hole 15.

“I hit my pitching wedge,” she said about the shot. “It was definitely my best shot of the day.”

Scheffler placed fourth overall - four strokes ahead of Thorpe’s Figura, who also made the cut with an overall score of 107.

QUALFYING NUMBERS ...

In boys 3A, the top 18 finishers in the field of 35 advanced. In boys 2A, the top six golfers in the field of 11 advanced. For both girls 2A and 3A, anyone shooting a 110 or lower moved on.

IT MUST GO ON

… Bob Frye, the tournament chair from Saucon Valley, said, “The show must go on,” even though the wet conditions made it less than ideal golf weather. “It was misting throughout the day, but we got it in. We modified the rules today - allowing lift, clean, and place in the fairways.”

LONG DAY

… Play is always a little slower in bad weather. Combine that with a field of 64 golfers and a day that began with an 8:30 tee time didn’t end until after 4 p.m. Alternatives? Possibly moving the girls to another site enabling them to play on their own at another venue - maybe White Birch in Barnesville?