Kevin Kunkle loves to play golf, but he is happy he didn't have to play in last Monday's District 11 Qualifier as he played in the state tournament last season and was exempt straight in to the district tournament.

He is even happier now knowing that he will be playing in Tuesday's PIAA East Regional Tournament.

The senior earned his spot in the regional by playing solid, consistent golf this past Monday and Tuesday in the District 11 Golf Tournament at Blue Ridge Country Club in Palmerton. Kunkle battled the best golfers in the Lehigh Valley for 18 holes and also Mother Nature on Monday as her wrath suspended play for the day and forced the golfers to finish their rounds Tuesday morning. He won both battles by surviving the 11 holes he played on day one in the weather conditions and going +1 in his last seven holes on day two.

Kunkle talked about his mindset coming in to this tournament.

"I was hoping to just keep it between the trees. You don't have to hit ever fairway, but you have to keep it in play. If you keep it in play you can score. It isn't extremely difficult. You can definitely make putts out here."

He finished fifth with a score of 78 as he hit nine greens in regulation and six fairways. Kunkle finished day one on a bad note as he double-bogeyed the 11th and started shaky on day two with a bogey on the 12th hole. He was able to recover and par-out the rest of the way, including the 14th hole.

"Definitely my defining moment was number 14," said Kunkle. "I sunk a par putt from about eight-feet and that is what really kept me in it. From there I stayed positive and just kept plugging away."

Northampton's head coach, Brian Davies, talked about Kunkle and his golf game.

"With Kevin it is all in the mental game. He has the [actual] game. He can shoot in the high 60's. It is just about getting in that right mental framework after hitting a bad shot. Sometimes Kevin can get derailed after hitting a bad shot. We try to work on it by saying that he can only be angry for only five seconds and then move on."

Davies was hoping that a few other K-Kids would be able to head to Golden Oaks Golf Club on Tuesday with Kunkle, but unfortunately they all finished out of the top six, which one needs to finish within to be a regional qualifier.

Senior Tyler Smith came close to joining Kunkle as he shot a 79 and tied for sixth after 18 holes with Kevin Zakseski from Liberty. Smith parred hole 10, the first playoff hole, and Zakszeski sunk his birdie putt to qualify for the East Regional. Carter Test finished 15th and shot an 84. Also, Anthony Cavallo tied for 23rd and shot a 94.

With finding success this week with his "keeping it in play" mentality, Kunkle, is planning on doing much of the same at the East Regional.

"I just want to keep the ball in the fairway. I seem to struggle if I don't. I can hit the ball a long way and I just want to keep it in the fairway. I want to do that at regionals and move on to states and do better than I did last year."

If Kunkle hits a bad shot at regionals he only has five seconds to think about it. If he sticks to his plan and keeps it in the fairway, he can think about that forever.