CV's Adriance wins district title; Four NTL golfers qualify for regionals out of Class AA
By: Chris Manning | Towanda Daily Review | October 8, 2017
WILLIAMSPORT — Two years ago CV's Tanner Adriance found heartbreak at Williamsport Country Club.
Adriance missed regionals, coming in third on a playoff with two spots open.
This year at Williamsport, it was only triumph for the Cowanesque Valley junior as he took the District IV, Class AA golf title on a one hole playoff over Lourdes' Evan Salamone.
"It feels so good," said Adriance. "I have worked so hard and it just really shows if you stick with every shot and it comes down to the end you do your best and you don't know what can happen."
Adriance (154 two day total, plus-12 overall) rallied from a 3-stroke deficit with two holes to go to tie Salamone (154, plus-12) before besting him with a par on the playoff hole, hole one.
This is the fourth straight year an NTL golfer has claimed the district title — four different players from four different teams to boot — with four local golfers qualifying for regionals out of the eight spots.
Adriance's teammate Austin Outman (155, plus-13) was one stroke back in third.
"It feels really good," remarked the sophomore. "I'm happy."
It's the second straight year for him.
Wellsboro's Ben Barnett (158, plus-16) will be making his first trip to regionals after tying for fifth.
"To be going to regionals was one of my goals for this season," remarked Barnett. "I wish I could have placed a little bit better in districts, but any way I can get there is a win for me."
And defending District IV champion Ryan Murrelle (164, plus-22) tied for seventh to advance. It's not the tournament he wanted, but he's glad to be going for the fourth straight year.
"I'm just excited to be going down, again," he said.
Also going in AA from the district are Salamone, Central Columbia's Grant Gronka (158, plus-16), Warrior Run's Vincent Bender (164, plus-22) and South Williamsport's Bryce Brewer (167, plus-25).
Towanda's Tyler Hawley (183, plus-41) came up short of qualifying.
It was a tight day throughout in the final group of Adriance, Salamone, Outman and Barnett.
Adriance shot 75 on Thursday to come in with the lead while Barnett was a stroke back at 76. Salamone and Outman were three strokes back.
"I was just thinking about the same thing I was on Thursday," Adriance explained. "Play the ball in front of me, don't make too many mistakes, try not to make doubles and just try to stay below the hole."
Right away, it was Salamone setting the pace on the front nine, shooting a 38 with a birdie on the first hole.
A double on the par-4 fourth hole pushed Adriance to a 41 and into a tie with Salamone at the turn.
Outman had a birdie on one, but a double bogey on two to take a 39 at the turn, 1-stroke back of the leaders while Barnett struggled with a 43, including two double bogeys on one and seven, but still remained two strokes behind. He would recover with a birdie on the 10th hole, one of two birdies on a par-3 on the back nine, to move closer to the top.
Then on 11 and 12, Salamone made a move, birdieing both holes to take a 2-stroke lead on Adriance and a 3-stroke lead on Outman and Barnett, who bogeyed 11.
That put a charge in Adriance as he knew his chances to close the gap were dwindling.
"I knew from there I had to get some birdies," he explained. "I didn't end up doing that, but it still worked out for me."
Outman, though, wasn't worried about what was going on around him.
"I just stayed motivated and tried to get a couple back on him," he said.
Salamone would bogey the 13th hole thanks to an approach shot that went left. Outman and Adriance had good birdie looks but couldn't get them to go down, picking up just one shot on Salamone.
Then on the 14th hole, nobody found the fairway with Adriance and Salamone getting double bogeys while Outman and Barnett saved bogey.
In back of the leader by four strokes, Barnett birdied the par-3 15th hole, putting in a fast downhill putt to get the deficit back to two strokes as everybody else bogeyed.
Then on the par-5 16th hole, Salamone played it safe and got a par while Outman and Adriance sprayed shots left and finished with double bogeys to fall to three strokes back.
Barnett also fell back another stroke with a bogey of his own.
All three of them made up strokes on the uphill par-3 17 as Salamone 3-putted for a bogey while the others got pars as Adriance got an up and down for his.
On the final hole, drama took hold.
Outman and Barnett put themselves out of contention before they got to the green.
"I put it in the fairway bunker and just messed it up," said Outman.
He would save par thanks to a nice chip, but the errant tee shot kept him from an eagle or birdie. The sophomore finished with a 77 on the day.
"Hopefully next year I can win it," said Outman. "It was tough to lose, but it was a good battle."
Barnett's second shot landed on a side hill with his chip shot rolling over the green. He would finish the hole with a double-bogey and an 82 on the day.
"I knew it was close," said Barnett. "A couple of key shots on 15 and 17 brought it down the line, but I couldn't get it done."
Adriance and Salamone hit long shots down the middle of the fairway with Adriance reaching the green on his second shot.
"I was thinking ‘hopefully I can make eagle,'" said Adriance. "I really wanted to make that putt, but birdie was enough."
Salamone hit the green in regulation but 3-putted from a close distance for a bogey, tying him with Adriance.
"I wasn't even watching him putt and I looked up and he missed," explained Adriance.
Salamone finished with a 76 for the second round, second best on the day, while Adriance shot 79.
