The scores were high.

The play was slow.

And the weather was the dictator.

But while the skies were cloudy and there was a chill in the air Monday at Olde Homestead Golf Course for the District 11 championships, there was plenty of sunshine for Palmerton and its players.

The Blue Bombers - paced by their top player Tyler Hager - won a fourth consecutive Class 2A team title.

“Four years in a row for our seniors winning a district title is incredible,” said Palmerton head coach Alex Knoll, whose team went 16-0 during the regular season.

The feat was especially remarkable since there was plenty of pressure on the shoulders of the five team members.

Hager, meanwhile, nearly came within a lip-of-the-cup putt in regulation of winning the outright individual title in a battle with Moravian Academy’s Evan Eichenlaub.

Both golfers were in a back-and-forth tussle all day long on the tough links course, which became even tougher with cold and windy conditions. Heavy rains the previous two days took away some roll, and made some of the greens very fast.

The players shot two-over on the-par 72 course, and needed a sudden-death one-hole playoff to determine a champion, which was eventually won by Eichenlaub.

The front nine served as the finishing holes to the clubhouse, as tradition would have it. Hager looked solid when the second nine unfolded. The senior registered a birdie on Hole 1 to begin the back nine, shooting a four on the par-5 to take a one-stroke lead on Eichenlaub, who double-bogeyed the hole.

The two matched each other on the next two holes before Eichenlaub’s par tied Hager after the 13th. The duo remained knotted until the 16th when Eichenlaub birdied to go up by one. Hager, however, recorded his fourth straight par and his fifth par on the backside to force another tie, as Eichenlaub bogeyed the 17th.

Then, on the closing hole, the drama unfolded for both golfers.

At the par-3, 187-yard ninth, Hager was away but drilled a 7-iron and was 15 feet from the cup. Eichenlaub didn’t fare as well, and needed a stroke to get within three feet, which resulted in a tap-in putt for par. That gave Hager a birdie try to win the title.

When Hager hit his putt, he was unsure at the onset, but then the ball kept getting closer and closer.

“I really thought it was right (on line),” Hager said later.

The shot just missed, and the Blue Bomber had to settle for a tap-in instead of clinching birdie, thus sending the two into a playoff round.

Hager was away again on the playoff hole, which he felt would give him an advantage. But his 7-iron went right, while Eichenlaub was much closer. Hager hit a chip shot, yet still had work to do. His two putts carded a 4, while Eichenlaub posted a 3 for the championship.

“It was a great match; he is such a good golfer and I had to earn it,” said Eichenlaub. “I thought the putt (in regulation) was going to drop ... I guess you can say I caught a (lucky) break.”

While Hager had to feel some disappointment of just missing the individual crown, the team title somewhat erased those feelings.

Palmerton’s Connor Reinhard placed fourth with an 85, while teammate Nathan Steinmetz finished sixth with an 88. Jared Reinhard contributed a 90, with Justin Sebelin ending with a 110.

“I could of done a lot better,” said Steinmetz, who also shot an 88 last week during the district qualifier.

Steinmetz said the wet conditions were a factor, and he attributed some of his chunk shots due to the surface.

Connor Reinhard, meanwhile, was elated with another team title.

“Holy Moly,” said Reinhard with a smile. “I started off rough. Putting was really bad on the front nine. I’ve been playing hurt all year … I checked my wrist and looked at the leaderboard, which I normally don’t do. I knew I had some leeway, so I kept my cool on the back nine.”

Reinhard shot a 45 on the frontside, and then finished strong with a 40 on the final finishing holes for his 85 score.

“It was so cold, so tough, I’ve never seen the greens this fast,” said Reinhard. “I play here all the time.”

Jared Reinhard, Connor’s younger sibling, was also critical to the final outcome as the team carded an overall score of 337. The Palmerton golfer was happy to contribute to the team win.

“We’ve worked so hard this year; we wanted to keep our undefeated (team) winning streak,” said the younger Reinhard.

“I don’t know of too many schools double-A or three-A, that have done that,” said Knoll about four straight team championships. “We’ll give it a try next week (Wednesday). We have the states subregional team round-up here at Olde Homestead (vs. Devon Prep). We have a good chance this year, because it’s on home turf.

“We know the course, and I think the team is looking forward to one last crack at the apple to get the team into team states.”

Also in the Tourney

The top six golfers in 2A and 3A were awarded spots in the state tournament, which gets underway in two weeks at Penn State University. The girls will send two golfers from the District 11 field, as well. The top three would normally advance, but they needed to shoot under 100 to qualify. The overall winner in the 2A field was Moravian’s Mara Daubacher with her round of 94, while North Schuylkill’s Brooke Powis - the Schuylkill League girls champion - qualified with a 99.

Three girls in the 3A field made the cut with Nazareth’s Camryn Hoff (85), Bangor’s Natalie White (86) and Parkland’s Chloe Chase (92) earning a trip to PSU.

Tamaqua’s Lucas Milot and Peter McGinley both shot rounds of 98 to finish tied for eighth in Class 2A. Lehighton’s Trey Spring carded a very respectable round of 82, which tied him for 10th overall in 3A. Spring had an opening nine of 43, and finished the back nine very strong with a 39, with one birdie on his card on the par-5 17th.

Keep an eye out on up-and-coming sophomore Lydon Patascher. The Pleasant Valley golfer finished 26th in the 3A bracket. Patascher was more than solid on the frontside with a 44 and one birdie, but faltered some on the closing nine, shooting a 54.