Megan Esterbrook was pretty sure she was playing for third.

 

In the end, it turned out to be a golden afternoon for her.

 

Equipped with a solid putting stroke and a patience that buoyed her through the round, Esterbrook, a senior from Ephrata, posted 83 to capture the girls' title by three shots over teammate Lacey Bensing.

 

Ater shooting 7-over 42 on the front nine, Esterbrook was pretty sure she wasn't doing enough to compete for the girls' title.

 

Until, of course, she turned in her card and took a look at the leaderboard.

 

"I was in shock at first," she said. "I actually thought (walking off the course) that I might have gotten third."

 

After moving to 3-over with a bogey on No. 16 and a double on No. 18, Esterbrook -- who started on No. 14 Monday -- had to battle around Foxchase's front nine, where she recorded just two pars to go with seven bogeys.

 

Still, as it turns out, she was doing enough.

 

"I think the big thing was keeping my mistakes to a minimum and taking bogeys (after getting into trouble)," she said.

 

Helping matters, too, Esterbrook said was the rediscovery of her putting stroke, which had been "shaky" of late, by her own admission.

 

Monday, though, she 3-putted just once, helping her keep the damage to a minimum.

 

"It just all kind of came together," she said. "It's exciting."

 

Notes: Monday's tournament also served as a qualifier for the District Three Championships, which will be held Oct. 5-6 at Briarwood Golf Club in York. This will be the first year the boys' field will be separated into Classes AAA and AA. Ephrata's Ryan Lefever (84) and Nick Hatch (87) are two of the 18 Class AAA boys who shot 86 or better Monday, Hatch won a four-man playoff for the final spot in Class AAA after shooting 87 Monday. Incidentally, Hatch's playoff victory knocked Aaron Hubbard (87) into an alternate position. Also competing for the Mounts Yesterday were Mitchell Storb (89), Ryan Fritz (93), and Marc Storb (95).

 

The District was also qualifying the top 10 girls who shot 103 or better. For the Mounts that means that Esterbrook (83) and Bensing (86) will be heading to Districts. Also competing, but not qualifying for Districts were Paige Hammaker (122) and Lauren Moyer (129).