NTL GOLF: NP-MANSFIELD'S HERMANSEN AND STRANGE BOTH QUALIFY FOR STATES (2024-10-05)
BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports ReportWILLIAMSPORT — NP-Mansfield will be sending two golfers to the PIAA Championships, as Andy Hermansen took fourth, and Tate Strange finished seventh at the District IV, Class AA Championships to punch their tickets.
Strange had the second lowest round of the day, shooting an 80 after coming in with an 86 from Thursday.
“It feels good,” Strange said about sneaking in by three strokes with a plus-24 on the tournament. “I had a really rough first day, but the second day I felt like I kept my composure really well.”
Strange had two birdies on the second and, outside of an eight on the 11th hole, he didn’t do worse than bogey.
“My mental state the first day I started off bad,” said Strange. “I feel like that conflicted on a lot of my bad shots.”
He kept one eye on the leaderboard throughout the day.
“I probably shouldn’t have but I was,” he said.
He was in one of the earlier groups so finished well ahead of some golfers behind him, making for an interesting 18th hole.
“On the 18 tee box I was shaking quite a bit,” he said. “I didn’t hit the best drive, but I got a lucky kick back into the fairway.”
This will be his first trip down to states, but he’ll be going with Hermansen, and Canton’s Izzie Schoonover.
“I think we’ll have a great time down there,” he said.
Hermansen came in with a solid 82 and finished with an 81 on the day. He started off rough, going 5-over after the first eight holes.
Back to back birdies on nine and 10 allowed him to settle down.
“That gave me some more confidence to keep pushing,” he said.
After taking a six on the 11th hole he followed that up with back to back pars. From there he hit five straight bogeys grind his way into fourth.
“Luckily I had some room to work with so that didn’t really matter,” remarked Hermansen.
This will be Hermansen’s second trip down to State College, so he has an idea of what to expect.
“I’m going to be putting a lot,” he said. “I missed a lot of putts over the past two days.”
Talon D’Angelo finished 15th overall with a plus-39. After carding an 86 on the first day had shot a 95 on the second.
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PHOTOS: Chris Manning
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