GREENFIELD TWP. — Anthony Yerka of Dunmore double-bogeyed the par-4 No. 10 hole during regulation in the Lackawanna Golf League District 2 qualifier Monday at Elkview Country Club.
He learned from his mistakes when he had to play the hole a second time.
Yerka carded a par in a playoff with Riverside’s Jason Posluszny and Holy Cross’ Adam Badyrka to earn the 30th and final qualifying spot in Class 2A.
Scranton Prep and Abington Heights dominated their respective classes with each advancing eight golfers to the District 2 individual tournament Sept. 30 at Elkview. The Cavaliers took the top five spots in Class 2A with Brendan Bell and T.J Stott leading the way with 2-under-par 70s.
Meanwhile, the Comets had the first six of 16 qualifiers in Class 3A with Cade Kelleher and Robert Munley sharing medalist honors with 2-over 74s.
When he played No. 10 the first time, Yerka said his drive went to the right as did his second shot, which resulted in a tough chip that contributed to his double bogey.
He said his drive on the playoff hole landed in almost the same exact spot.
“I was just thinking, ‘Put your second shot to the left this time,'” Yerka said. “It helped not doing good on the hole the first time.
This time, Yerka kept his second shot to the left and landed it about 10 yards off the green. He chipped to within 6-to-8 feet and then sank his putt for par to take the playoff as Posluszny had a double bogey and Badyrka finished with a triple bogey.
Bell opened on hole No. 6 with a bogey and had one on No. 8, as well. But he rebounded with birdies on Nos. 10, 14, 17 and 4.
“Two of my birdies I put within 10 or so feet and made those putts,” Bell said. “Then my other two birdies were around 30-footers. On hole No. 4, I knew I had to birdie to become tied with my teammate and drained it.
“It means a lot to me to wind up tied for first. It gives me a lot of confidence going into districts and confidence to play well.”
Stott started on hole No. 13 and had a steady round with 15 pars. He bogeyed No. 18, but answered with an eagle on No. 1 and then birdied No. 5.
“No ups, no downs,” Stott said. “I just tried to play to the best of my ability. Not try to get too excited, keep it steady and not let the nerves get to me. All I was thinking about was go out, play a decent round and get myself into districts.”
Ben Walsh of Scranton Prep finished third with a 1-under 71. Cole Powell was fourth with an even-par 72 and Ben Boyanoski tied for fifth with Riverside’s Mason Rickert at 3-over 75.
Lackawanna Trail had four golfers qualify in Brayden Jones, Lorenzo Domiano, Grady June and William Evans. Besides Rickert, Riverside also had Kyle Connor and Ben Kulikowski qualify.
Blue Ridge had three qualifiers in Andrew Kowalewski, Gehrig Dibble and Liam Dooley. So did Lakeland in Chase Rosenkrans, Mikey Pisarcik and Talin Vitzakovitch.
Besides Yerka, Connor Mulaney qualified for Dunmore. Elk Lake had Cooper Sipe and Hayden Lord. Old Forge had Ryan DeMarco and Joey Revello qualify. Western Wayne advanced Jamie Chapman and Max Graci and Mountain View had Landon Weida make it.
Class 3A
Kelleher overcame a rough start. Beginning on hole No. 3, he had a bogey-double bogey-bogey before birdieing No. 6. He bogeyed No. 9, but had birdies on Nos. 11, 14, 18 and 1 to offset a double bogey on No. 13.
“It was just a battle back to even par and making a bunch of birdies,” Kelleher said. “I started to pick things up on 6 with a birdie from about 15 feet. Ended the front nine with a bogey, but just kept on fighting. Birdied 11, sent one OB on 13, but came right back and birdied 14 and 1. I was just competing to win.”
Munley had a birdie on No. 6, his first hole, as well as Nos. 10, 18 and 1. He had bogeys on Nos. 7, 13, 16 and 17 and a double bogey on No. 14.
“I made some good pars, had some great holes and also had some bad shots out there,” Munley said. “But that’s how golf is. You have to face the adversity. I thought I played pretty well today.”
Phillip Matthews of Abington Heights was third at 3-over 75. Robert Bingham was fourth at 4-over 76, Robbie Lucas fifth at 5-over 77 and Luke Swank sixth at 6-over 78.
“I’m very proud of all our players. We showed we have a great team,” Munley said. “All our guys fought out there, worked really hard and I’m thrilled we got the results we wanted.”
Honesdale, North Pocono and West Scranton each advanced two golfers to districts: Lucas Stephens and Reed Howell for the Hornets; Jason Walsh and Jake Gorzkowski for the Trojans; and Antonio Cordaro and Jayden Dombrowski for the Invaders.
C.J. Koger from Delaware Valley and Valley View’s Colin Burton also qualified.
LACKAWANNA LEAGUE DISTRICT 2 QUALIFIER
LACKAWANNA LEAGUE DISTRICT 2 QUALIFIER
at Elkview Country Club (36-36—72)
Class 2A
Brendan Bell, Scranton Prep 37-33—70
T.J. Stott, Scranton Prep 33-37—70
Ben Walsh, Scranton Prep 35-36—71
Cole Powell, Scranton Prep 35-37—72
Ben Boyanoski, Scranton Prep 38-37—75
Mason Rickert, Riverside 37-38—75
Jamie Chapman, Western Wayne 41-36—77
Guy Rothery, Scranton Prep 38-40—78
Connor Mulaney, Dunmore 39-39—78
Grady June, Lackawanna Trail 39-39—78
Chase Rosenkrans, Lakeland 39-40—79
Kyle Connor, Riverside 37-42—79
Jack Pavuk, Scranton Prep 39-41—80
Lorenzo Domiano, Lackawanna Trail 42-40—82
Brayden Jones, Lackawanna Trail 38-45—83
Landon Weida, Mountain View 37-46—83
Gehrig Dibble, Blue Ridge 42-42—84
Cooper Sipe, Elk Lake 42-42—84
Talin Vitzakovitch, Lakeland 43-42—85
Andrew Kowalewski, Blue Ridge 42-43—85
Ryan DeMarco, Old Forge 44-42—86
Mikey Pisarcik, Lakeland 43-43—86
Matthew Haggerty, Scranton Prep 44-43—87
Ben Kulikowski, Riverside 45-43—88
Hayden Lord, Elk Lake 45-43—88
Joey Revello, Old Forge 43-45—88
Max Graci, Western Wayne 41-48—89
William Evans, Lackawanna Trail 44-45—89
Liam Dooley, Blue Ridge 45-44—89
x-Anthony Yerka, Dunmore 41-49—90
x-qualified on first playoff hole
Class 3A
Cade Kelleher, Abington Heights 39-35—74
Robert Munley, Abington Heights 35-39—74
Phillip Matthews, Abington Heights 36-39—75
Robert Bingham, Abington Heights 39-37—76
Robby Lucas, Abington Heights 36-41—77
Luke Swank, Abington Heights 38-40—78
C.J. Koger, Delaware Valley 45-36—81
Jason Walsh, North Pocono 40-41—81
Conner Abel, Abington Heights 43-39—82
Jayden Dombrowski, West Scranton 41-41—82
Lucas Stephens, Honesdale 41-43—84
Sebastian Meyer, Abington Heights 43-44—87
Reed Howell, Honesdale 42-45—87
Jake Gorzkowski, North Pocono 43-45—88
Antonio Cordaro, West Scranton 44-44—88
Colin Burton, Valley View 42-46—88
