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By Ben Reese
LIMERICK — Excitement!
That was the key word in a lot of conversations on Wednesday at Turtle Creek Golf Club at the completion of the District One Golf Tournament.
And, suffice it to say, it ran rampant through the hearts of five of the Suburban One League golfers who participated in the tourney. 
But there was also disappointment. For the five other SOL golfers, it was the word of the day.
Let’s go to the good parts first.
Five SOL boys have advanced to the PIAA Golf Championship. They are Zac DeVos of Bensalem, Colin Chelak of Central Bucks South, CB West’s Andy Brexler, Ryan Brnich Springfield Township and New Hope Solebury’s Charlie Plebani.
While it would be hard to tell if the stoic DeVos was excited, he did crack a smile when asked about how he felt.
“(It’s) great,” he said. “But you’ve still gotta play there.”
Brexler was more demonstrative.
“I’m so excited,” he said. “I didn’t play my best today, but I got the job done.
“I just think that my wedges and my irons weren’t as dominant as yesterday. I missed a lot of putts that could have gotten me a lot better.
“But we made it.”
For Brnish, it was something of a redemption.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I went last year so I want to see if I can do better than last year.
“(I shot) 80-81, nothing great. Hopefully this year I can play in. Last year, I played so bad.”
Chelak was more relieved than anything else.
“(It) feels good,” he said. “It’s a relief.
“It was fun today. I just tried to do the same exact thing I did yesterday.
“It’ll be fun. Two days off from school.”
Plebani knows what disappointment feels like.
“I’m very excited” he noted. “I missed the cut last year but pulled it together.
“Last year, it was raining and like a 30-mile-an-hour wind and I got off to a rocky start. This year the conditions were a little better.”
However, for the two girls, SOL co-champs Gigi Gratz of North Penn and Council Rock North’s Noor Mehta, disappointment was on the menu. Neither one advanced.
“Pretty bad,” Mehta said when asked about her round. “I just played bad on a few holes, and it messed my score up.
“I feel that overall it wasn’t really bad. It was just that I had some rough shots and a rough time getting out of them.”
For Gratz, it was a bad day.
“Very bad,” she said. “Very, very bad.”
What was “bad”?
“Everything,” she replied. “I couldn’t putt. My driver was a little wild. My irons, everything was bad.”
Mehta actually had the worst time of it. After talking with a math-deficient writer, she thought she might have made it. But, once the final scores were posted, it showed that she finished tied for 10th in a race for the first nine spots.
DeVos had the most consistent day of all the golfers from the SOL. He started the day at even par and finished in the same spot with a pair of 72s, good enough for a tie for third.
He did have one blip on his radar, however. He took a double bogey six on the par-4 14th hole.
He hit his drive into the deep rough on the hole. And then spent a long time trying to find it.
“I found my ball,” he explained. “It was in the fescue.
“I tried to hit it, and I stood up on it and hit it into more bushes. I took an unplayable (lie, which incurs a penalty stroke).
“I put it on (the green) and two-putted for a six. I was able to bring it back and make up for it.”
He certainly did make up for it. He birdied three of his final four holes.
Plebani, who moved on to states in AA, also had large number on his scorecard.
“I made a nine on hole 8,” he said. “But I ended up with a 38 on the back nine for an 85.”
Brexler finished the two-round tournament with 146 to tie for seventh. He had rounds of 70 and 76.
Chelak grabbed a share of ninth place with a 73-75 for a 148. Brnich shot 75-74 for 149 to tie for 13th.
The gold medalist for the boys was Cole Berry of West Chester Rustin. He followed his opening round 69 with another 69 to finish at 6-under-par 138.
Topping the girls was Kayley Robert of Phoenixville. She shot rounds of 68 at Raven’s Claw on Tuesday and 71 at Turtle Creek for a 4-under 139.
In the boys’ team races, Unionville took the AAA slot and Delaware County Christian the AA place.
The PIAA tournament will be held at Penn State University on Oct. 22-25.
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