A two-day tournament is tricky for any golfer, whether a professional or a rookie. However, as a 14-year old, it’s especially difficult.

For Palmerton freshman Tyler Hager, the first day of play at the PIAA Golf Championships began with a few hitches.

The first eight holes saw the Blue Bomber collect four bogeys and two double bogeys.

“I was a little nervous,” Hager said.

Understandably, nerves play a factor in big events — and for high school golfers there’s nothing bigger than the PIAA State Golf Tournament which opened on Monday at Heritage Hills Golf Course in York.

Despite the slow start, Hager eventually relaxed and settled into his first round. All things considered, the Bomber golfer turned in a very solid round

Of the field of 36 players in the Class 2A event, Hager stands in 24th place, just five strokes out of the final medal spot.

“After he settled in, he played really well and had a great back nine,” Palmerton assistant coach Mike Brennan said. “As a freshman, to hit some of the shots that he hit and shoot a strong round of 84, that was tough.”

On the ninth hole, a tough par-four, Hager had a par, where most of the other players blew up.

Early on, Hager was having issues with his driver and was hooking off the tee. Frustration and over-correction attempts then came into play

However, the experience and maturity he displayed in battling back was impressive.

“Nerves might have gotten to him on two holes,” said his father Jeff Hager, who serves as one of his son’s coaches. “He doesn’t really get overwhelmed. He’s extremely confident in his abilities, and he knows he deserves to be here, playing with the best.”

On Sunday, the day before the tournament, Tyler played his practice round with head coach Alex Knoll, assistant coach Brennan, and his father Jeff. They planned out the course, factored in approaches, possible danger spots, and broke things down for the youngster.

The inclement weather dealt them a blow on that day, but things cleared up for the opening round.

“His goal all season was to qualify for states,” Brennan said. “Now that he’s here, he’d love to get a medal. That is still a reasonable goal.”

Five strokes out of medal contention (the top 10 get medals), Hager and company realize that anything can happen on day two.

After the completion of the first round, Tyler retreated to the driving range in an attempt to correct some problems he had on the opening day.

“It’s a tough course, and there are holes to be aggressive on, and some that you can’t,” Jeff Hager said. “With some of the pin positions, there’s hardly any opportunity to chance it. So on day two, he won’t be more aggressive. He’ll just figure his driver out, which we did after the round today at the driving range, and go attack the course the same.”

“He showed so much maturity in that opening round, to be able to stay in it after a rough start,” Brennan said.

“For a freshman, his first time in this situation, we’re so happy with him thus far,” Knoll said. “After that rough start, he could’ve let it go, but he didn’t. He didn’t falter. He didn’t fold.

“He’s been doing that for us all season. He just keeps grinding and plugging away. He has that internal fortitude, that desire to stay in it, and it’s impressive to see.”

With a new day on the horizon, the approach is the same for Hager — play the game he has grown up loving, play the ball and see what happens.

“We’re just going to stick to the game plan that we made on Sunday,” Brennan said. “We detailed the plan of how to play each hole, we talked about what to do in case of bad drives, and we have the utmost confidence in his ability to come out and play even better Tuesday.”

With an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start, Tyler hopes to make some noise early in the day as he puts another round of golf under his youthful belt.

LEADERS ... Cam Colbert of Hickory, Elijah Ruppert of Brandywine Heights and Skyler Fox of Riverside all fired 1-over-par 72s to share the first-round lead in Class 2A. In Class 3A boys, Carson Bacha of Central York holds the first-round lead after firing a 4-under par 67. The girls are playing on a par-72 setup. In 3A girls, Sydney Yermish of Lower Merion leads with an even par 72. In 2A girls, Meghan Zambruno leads with a 3-over-par 75.