PIAA golf: Nick Franki, Ian Patterson have rough days in Heritage Hills

YORK >> The Heritage Hills Golf Resort was the deciding factor in this year's PIAA state tournament.

THE COURSE'S ROUGH TERRAIN AND CHILLY WEATHER THWARTED IAN PATTERSON AND NICK FRANKI'S CHANCE AT A BETTER FINISH IN THEIR FINAL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT.

Franklin County's two participants, Patterson and Franki began the second day of the tournament in very different fashion, with Franki closely trailing the leaders in 14th, shooting 78 on day one. Patterson fell behind with a score of 88 on Monday, and shot a very similar round Tuesday, finishing the second day of competition with a score of 89, coming in 36th in Class AAA with a total of 177.

Franki's score also went up on the second day of competition, shooting an 80 as the final stretch on the back nine set him back. Franki finished tied for 15th with a final score of 158.

"The course was really tough," Franki said. "It was a struggle out there the last couple of days. It's a tough stretch on the back nine and I made a couple of doubles and lost a couple of balls, but I think I held it together pretty well."

He found luck on the front nine, where he birdied hole No. 4 on both days of competition, and scored an eagle on the second hole Monday.

Steve Cerbara of Holy Ghost Prep shot the best round of the day, a 1-over par 72 and tied for first with Great Valley's Geoff Rice. Cerbara won the title on the first playoff hole with a bogey.