The Olde Homestead Golf Club has tormented many high school golfers trying to advance to the District 11 championship.

This time around was no exception, as a number of hopeful players were looking for solid performances to lift them into next week’s final round.

A field of 27 Class 3A and 11 Class 2A boys competed in Monday’s district qualifier, while 16 girls also took part in the action.

The goal was to finish in the top half (for the boys), or meet the cut-off score (for the girls) and earn a return trip to Olde Homestead - a tough course which features a links-style design, with unpredictable undulating greens.

Six area golfers did just that, as Palmerton’s Connor Reinhard and Nathan Steinmetz, along with Pleasant Valley’s Lydon Patascher, advanced from the boys field. In girls action, Northwestern’s Addison Remaley and Avri Chandler, and Weatherly’s Maddie vonFrisch will be back to play again.

Under the Wire

The magic number for the girls playing the course was 110. Twelve of the 16 participants recorded scores lower than that to qualify for next week’s final.

Nazareth’s Allie Tarreto had the best round of the group, firing an impressive 89 to finish first.

The Tigers’ Chandler, just a freshman, turned in the best round among the locals. After shooting a 54 over the front nine, she knew she needed to pick up her game over the back nine. Chandler came out of her early funk by carding a 45 over the back nine. Her round of 99, which tied her for fifth place, included a pair of pars and a birdie on the par-3 17th hole.

“I pulled it together on the back nine,” Chandler said. “I really didn’t play well, and this is my home course. I’ve already shot an 89 for my best round here. My seven iron was my best (club) … I was hitting 150, 160.”

Remaley, Chandler’s teammate, finished with a 106 to make the cut by four strokes. She also shot a 54 over the first nine holes, but rebounded for a 52 over the homestretch to advance.

The sophomore said she struggled, especially with her wedge, over the front nine.

“I just wasn’t playing very well,” said Remaley, who usually shoots in the 90s on her home course. “It was one of my worst rounds. But I made the cut, which I was looking to do.”

Olde Homestead isn’t the home course for vonFrisch, a senior, although she has played there in the past.

On Monday, she was pleased with her 102 that allowed her to keep her season alive. She (vonFrisch) faltered somewhat in the early going with an eight on the opening hole and back-to-back sevens on Holes 5 and 6. But she also turned things around on the back nine, recording six pars to close with a 48 on the back nine.

“I’m finally learning how to play this course,” said vonFrisch, who finished in ninth place during her fourth trip to the course. “It definitely doesn’t get any easier, but I’m slowly learning how to play here, for sure. I really hit my driver very well, kept it in the fairway.”

Best boys round

Pleasant Valley’s rising sophomore, Lydon Patascher, had a solid round of 84, which is all the more impressive considering the number of holes he played the previous three days during an amateur tournament.

Needing to finish in the top half of the 27 Class 3A golfers, his score of 12-over put him in 11th place.

Weariness from all the recent play showed on the back nine, where he opened with a pair of double-bogey 6s. He bounced back, however, with a gutty par on the 12th hole. The PV sophomore also kicked it into gear down the stretch, closing his round with pars on 17 and 18.

“He’s been playing nonstop,” said Dan Patscher, Lydon’s father who is also a coach at Pleasant Valley. “He just finished runner-up in the Lehigh Valley Am(ateur) event. He’s played 60 holes in two days, and another 18, so that’s a lot of golf in those few days.”

Despite the hectic schedule, the 10th-grader came through when it mattered most on Monday.

“I didn’t play my A-game,” said Lydon, who recorded a birdie on the first hole. “I’ll take it … I qualified.

“My legs hurt last night, but I just had to come out here and work hard. The conditions were pretty good, but towards the back nine, the wind picked up.”

Bombers Away

A pair of Palmerton golfers will also be returning to Olde Homestead next week.

Reinhard and Steinmetz, both veterans on the Blue Bomber squad, started strong out of the gate and were neck-and-neck.

Both cards were nearly identical, with Steinmetz (44) one stroke better after nine holes than Reinhard (45).

Steinmetz was just one-over through the first four holes, recording pars on Holes 2-4. His round could have collapsed after suffering a seven on the 11th and a nine on the 12th, but he regrouped with back-to-back pars, and also birdied the 16th to end the back nine with a 44. That gave him an 88 to place him fifth in 2A.

“My driver was my best club today,” said the senior. “I (struggled) with my irons (especially) with my long irons … I was chunking and poking my hybrid.”

Reinhard just made the cut, placing sixth with a 92 - one stroke better than seventh place.

After his 45 on the front nine, he birdied the 10th and had pars on 12th and 14th. A couple rough holes could have derailed him from districts, but a bogey-four on the 17th helped him move on to next week.

IN THE MIX

… Northern Lehigh’s Connor Simms missed the cut after faltering on the back nine, where he shot a 54 after an opening round of 49. Tamaqua’s Kate Miller came up short in her attempt to garner a spot, shooting a 121. Miller had a 65 going out, but regrouped with a 56 coming in.

IMPRESSIVE

… Three golfers shot sub-80 rounds. Will Eberz, of Stroudsburg, led the field with a round of 76, followed by Liberty’s Matt Ronca with a 77 and Northampton’s Michael Seidik with a 79. Eberz shot a 1-over on the front, and 3-over on the back. The best shot of the day was an eagle from Ronca on the par-5 16th.

QUOTEABLE

… “My (irons) cost me about eight strokes on the back nine,” Steinmetz said of his 44 over the final nine holes.