When Baldwinsville’s Matt Monaco survived a tense playoff at Seven Oaks on May 23 and advanced to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association boys golf tournament, he joined a strong Section III team that was on its way to Ithaca.
Just how strong was made evident over two wet, cold days at Cornell University’s Robert Trent Jones course, where Section III occupied five of the top 13 finishing spots and, with Monaco’s help, would hold off Section I for the team title.
The practice round on Saturday was held in hot, humid conditions, with the thermometer pushing close to 90 degrees. By the time they teed off Sunday morning, though, everything had changed.
Heavy rain had soaked the course the night before, and temperatures had dipped nearly 40 degrees, closer to the conditions Monaco faced at the end of his fall season with the Bees.
Monaco shot a first-round 84, not making a single birdie, which left him in 60th place, but he was far from alone. No one broke the RTJ course par of 71 in that opening round.
From the outset, Section III’s golfers were in the mix. New Hartford’s Alec Bard, with a 72, tied Brent Ito and Christian Cavaliere for the lead through that first round.
Bard’s New Hartford teammate, Tom Mandel, was two shots back, with the trio of Oswego’s Alec Kunzwiler, West Canada Valley’s Bobby Davenport and Auburn’s Mike May tied for ninth at 75, four shots back.
It was still cold and wet when the final round began onMonday morning. Monaco would face the same struggles that he did the day before, again finishing with an 84 as his two-day total of 158 left him in a tie for 62nd place.
But by not falling apart, Monaco helped Section III clinch the team championship, as the combined total of 1,059 was six shots better than Section I (Westchester and Rockland County, Hudson Valley), who finished at 1,065.
Bard just missed out on winning the individual title, shooting a 75 in the final round to finish at 147, one shot behind Scardsale’s James Nicholas, who posted a one-under-par 70 in his final round to win with a 146.
Davenport tied for fourth, with 149, while May, Mandel and Migliore all shared seventh place at 151. Oswego’s Matt Dreimiller (Oswego) tied for 30th at 157, with CBA’s Jack Bellardini, who posted a 158, tying for 32nd, followed by New Hartford’s Alec Kunzwiler shooting a 160 to tie for 40th place.
With Monaco done, attention will turn to B’ville girls golfer Katie Walsh as she completes her high school career with an appearance in next weekend’s state tournament at SUNY-Delhi’s course.
