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3 Franklin County golfers make District 3 cut


After one day of the District 3 Golf Championships, the Franklin County contingent of 10 was reduced to just three.

Seven area golfers were not able to make the first-day cut and had their seasons ended.

But three are still alive for Saturday's final round and hoping to advance to the PIAA Eastern Regional tournament. In Class AAA boys, Chambersburg's Karsen Rush shot a 3-under par 69 at Briarwood East Golf Club and is in second place heading to the final round.

In Class AAA girls at Briarwood West, Olivia Gardenhour of Waynesboro is third after shooting a four-over par 74, and Chambersburg's Mary Kate Norcross is in a tie for 10th with an 82.

Rush started on No. 2 and the only birdie on the front was on No. 7. But he caught fire on the back, and recorded birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 17. He had only one bogey for the day.

"I played pretty good," Rush said. "The putts started to drop for me late in the round."

He will play in the final group Saturday, teeing off at 12:10. The leader is Trey Kuntz of Manheim Township, who shot a 67, while Joe Parrini of Central York is right behind Rush after a 70.

Rush said, "I like being in the last group so I know what the leader is doing. I'm in good shape for advancing (to regionals), so tomorrow is just about winning."

Gardenhour scored on a 40 on her front side, but was 2-under on the back side after birdies on Nos. 11, 13 and 18.

"I was hitting my irons well and I was pleased with how I played," said Gardenhour, who is six strokes behind the leader, Julianne Lee of Central York. "I'll just go out and play tomorrow and whatever happens, happens. I want to make sure I qualify for regionals, though."

In AAA boys, the top 16 advance, while in girls, top eight move on. That means Norcross will have some ground to make up.

"I think if I can shoot under 82 tomorrow, I should be all right," Norcross said. "And maybe if it rains like it's supposed to, some of the other girls will struggle."

Norcross started on No. 9 and had a rough back nine, shooting 8-over 43.

"I had two doubles on easy par 4s when my drives got me in trouble," she said. "So I went to my 3-wood and that helped. I'll probably hit that again tomorrow on any of the short par 4s."

Also in the girls tournament, Amanda Steier of Greencastle-Antrim shot 89 to tie for 18th and missed the cut by two strokes. In the boys, Chambersburg's Grayson Hopple and Waynesboro's Paul Steiger each shot 82 and fell three strokes over the cut, tied for 42nd.

James Buchanan's Jacob Suder (84) was tied for 47th, and John Williams and Chad Harbaugh of G-A tied for 55th with a pair of 86s.