STATE COLLEGE – Sooner or later, all good things must come to an end.

For Palmerton golfers Tyler Hager, Connor Reinhard and Nate Steinmetz, day two of the PIAA Golf Championships provided a fitting conclusion to their outstanding high school careers.

Hager carded a six-over-par 78 on Tuesday to finish with a combined score of 157 for his 36 holes on the rugged Blue Course at Penn State University - good enough for a 22nd place finish in Class 2A. Steinmetz recorded a nine-over-par 81 to finish with a combined score of 160 and a 30th-place finish. Reinhard, battling tendinitis in his wrist, shot his second consecutive 84 to finish in 52nd place with a 168 total.

The cold and blustery weather conditions – the temperatures ranged from the high 30s to mid 40s during the round - made playing conditions difficult.

Reinhard said although the weather provided a stern test for the best high school golfers from across the state, it was something he was prepared for.

“I knew going up there the weather conditions weren’t going to be ideal,” he said. “So, I was trying to prepare myself mentally as best as I could to deal with the poor weather.”

Entering the day in 24th place, Hager climbed a couple spots on Tuesday.

“I wish I could have done a little more individually,” said Hager. “But Connor, Nate and myself will never forget just being out here together. It was a great time.”

The emotions for all three Bombers built up as they neared the final holes of their scholastic careers.

“Walking up to the 18 hole, I saw my parents (Aaron and Tricia) starting to tear up a little bit,” said Steinmetz. “I was fortunate enough to play my final round in the same group as Tyler, and I was talking to him on the final hole about what a great experience this has been.

“‘This is it.’ I said to him after we made our putts on 18 to finished out that’s when I thought to myself that it’s over.”

Steinmetz said he and Hager hugged at that point.

I told Tyler, ‘Great career.’ He’s been incredible the last four years. He’s one of the best golfers in Palmerton history.”

Hager recalled the final hole as well.

“It was quite emotional,” he said. “Nate and I had a long embrace on the 18th green, and kind of just congratulated each other on great careers and walked off the greens together. It was an emotional moment.”

Despite all the individual success the three Bomber golfers have experienced during their scholastic careers, it was the team accomplishments during that period they wanted to talk about.

That team success included four straight District 11 Class 2A titles, and three straight Colonial League titles.

“Honestly, it’s the best four years I could have asked for,” Reinhard said. “We had four great years with four different groups of guys. But it was a great four groups of guys - we all got along so well and played so well together.

“We had such good teams, and that helped us all become better individually. We all wanted to succeed for the team, and we all wanted each other to succeed.”

And that was something the Palmerton golf team did time and time again the last four seasons.

KUDOS FOR NATE … “I really have to give Nate a really big kudo,” said Palmerton coach Alex Knoll. “I thought he could finish in the top-50 in the state, which would have been exceptional. But he blew that out of the water with a top-30 finish. Nate really capped off his career with an incredible two days.”

KEEPING CALM … “Connor and Tyler could have come out today with a bad attitude after shooting rounds they were probably a little disappointed with on Monday, But they came out extremely positive,” said Knoll. “They were trying from the first hole until the end, and they both grinded out nice rounds.”

A TOUGH GOOD-BYE … “It’s really going to be sad to see them go,” said Knoll about his trio of seniors. “I know everyone was emotional watching them finish together today. Palmerton really got to see a special group of kids these last four years.”