By The Daily Item
FLEETWOOD -- In each of the last two seasons Danville golfers Robbie Seebold and Austin Renz missed qualifying for the PIAA Championships by a single stroke, Seebold in 2010 and Renz last year.
This time the teammates didn't miss.
Renz, the District 4 Class AA champion, finished one shot out of a playoff for the top spot in the regional, finishing third to secure a bid to next week's state meet. Seebold ended up with an 81 and survived a five-man playoff to earn one of the final two spots as well at the PIAA Eastern Regional at the Golden Oaks Golf Club in Fleetwood on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, it was another close call for Shikellamy senior C.J. Tyler, the two-time district champion, who came up just short in Class AAA, this time missing the state cut by a pair of strokes after coming up one short a year ago. Tyler, along with Lewisburg's Russell Nash, Selinsgrove's Justin Geedey, Milton's Katie Behrent and Shikellamy's Raven Fatool failed to advance to states, which are Monday and Tuesday at Heritage Hills Country Club in York.
Every time Renz faltered on a hole on the front nine, he responded. The Danville junior birdied two of the first four holes, then had a double-bogey on the eighth, only to eagle the ninth to finish even-par on the front. He was plus-four on the back, finishing with a four-over 76, one shot behind Mt. Calvary Christian's Heath Firestone and Wyomissing's Evan Thornton. Firestone won the regional title in a playoff over Thornton.
Seebold rebounded from a rough start to finish with a nine-over par 81. The senior was plus eight after the first nine holes, but shot 37 coming in. He finished in a five-way tie for 15th place with the top 16 players advancing. He and Central Columbia's C.J. Hollister survived the five-man playoff to advance.
Nash finished 27th in Class AA with an 87.
Tyler was right in the mix, just one-over after nine holes in Class AAA. He birdied the first and eagled the fourth and then eagled the ninth hole to go out in 37. He stayed in contention until the final two holes and finished with an 81, two strokes out of a top 24 spot and a bid to states. Geedey shot a 90 to finish 50th.
On the girls' side, Behrent shot a 99 in Class AA to finish ninth out of 10 players. In Class AAA, Fatool shot a 90 to finish in a tie for 14th, missing the cutoff for states by three strokes.
