As defending Section III Class AA champions, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys golf team carried its usual weight of high expectations into 2015, but had a bit of trouble at the outset before quickly finding its top form.
All the Hornets could manage from last Monday’s season-opening Drumlins Invitational was a fifth-place finish in an eight-team field, with a total of 210. Oswego, from the Onondaga High School League, prevailed with a tournament-record 188 and had the top two individual rounds as Noah Lee shot a 34 and Buccaneers teammate Sean Dain added a 36.
Jason Coleman led F-M’s efforts, finishing with a nine-hole score of 39. Just behind him, Kyle Gilroy shot a 41, with Tommy Ryu managing a 42, with Nick Perry (43), Andrew Massa (45) and Colin Sommers (46) trailing.
At Liverpool two days later, the Hornets won its league opener, handling the Warriors 193-213. Massa shot a 36 at Liverpool Golf and Country Club, with Perry and Zapisek each getting a 39. Ryu and Coleman, who both shot 40, matched the Warriors’ top individual, Spencer Baum.
F-M made it 2-0 on Thursday, beating Cicero-North Syracuse’s Green team 184-212 at Northern Pines. Each of the top six rounds belonged to Hornets’ golfers, starting with Perry earning a 34. Coleman and Sommers each managed a 36 as Gilroy, Zapisek and Will Franey all finished at 38.
A rematch with C-NS Green had the same victorious result. Prevailing 186-204, F-M saw Gilroy and Massa both shoot 36, with Zapisek (37) and Perry (38) in close pursuit. John Cacchio added a 40.
While F-M took a couple of matches to get going, other local teams, wedged into the OHSL, had far more success.
CBA and Jamesville-DeWitt, who both play home matches at Drumlins, each opened last Monday with convincing wins – the Brothers 204-256 over LaFayette, the Red Rams over Mexico 205-234.
David Gross led CBA with a 38, the only player on either side to break 40. But William Ierlan, Bryan Casler-Tyrell and Steve Fournier each had rounds of 41 and Mitchell Taylor had a 43. Just one LaFayette player, Tom Long, shot better than 46, finishing with a 41 of his own.
Also playing at Drumlins, J-D nearly matched CBA’s team score, largely because Abel Ratanaphan blistered the course with a 28 as Alvin Ratanaphan managed a 37. Patrick Cramer had a 41, just ahead of Jakob Ellithorpe’s 44 as Ron Marsden led the Tigers with a 31.
In Wednesday’s action, CBA handled East Syracuse Minoa’s Orange side 233-252 at the Links at Erie Village. Amid high scoring, the Brothers’ Geoff Parkes, with a 39, beat the Spartans’ Tyler Harrig (45) by six shots, though Fournier also managed a 45.
Taylor got a 46 and Gross picked up a 48, with Jack Lester adding a 55. ESM Orange had David Griffith finish with a 47, with Joe Regan shooting a 52, one better than Jacob Harrig.
To complete a 3-0 week, CBA held off Mexico 217-223 at Drumlins on Friday. Gross shot a 42, the same as the Tigers’ Dylan Manisse, but got support from Fournier, who shot a 43, and Parkes, Ierlan and Taylor, who all finished with 44.
J-D went on the road and handled OHSL newcomer Central Square 206-246 at Greenview. Alvin Ratanaphan, with a 35, topped his brother, Abel, by five shots, with Ellithorpe posting a 42. Cramer (44) and Matt Cappelletti (45) were close behind.
East Syracuse-Minoa’s Blue side handled Chittenango 190-228 last Monday at Beaumont Greens. Kyle Reader, a returning All-League performer, had a 35, while Ian Rivers posted a 37. Dan Marriott and Dan Williams each shot 39, with Colin Sloan getting a 40 and Alex Regan adding a 43.
It was similar in Wednesday’s 211-243 win over Phoenix at Rose Creek, where Reader and Rivers both shot 40, one better than the Firebirds’ Chase Cavanaugh. Sloan shot a 43, with Marriott and Williams both finishing at 44 as ESM Blue improved to 2-0.
That brief win streak for ESM Blue ended with Friday’s 198-205 defeat to red-hot Oswego at Erie Village. Sloan and Williams both posted 38, with Rivers and Marriott finishing at 42, but each of them trailed Dain and Lee (36), who helped the Buccaneers win its 20th consecutive match.
When J-D met Chittenango Thursday at Drumlins, the Rams rolled to a 211-233 victory, with Alvin Ratanaphan gaining a 37 ahead of Abel Ratanaphan’s 42. Though the Bears’ Ryan Delaney also had a 42, Ellithorpe and Cramer each shot 43, and Maclean Mott added a 46, to help the Rams pull clear.
ESM Orange lost its opener, 199-236, to Cortland. Tyler Harrig’s 41 at Willowbrook Country Club trailed the Purple Tigers’ trio of Jake Woods (36), Luke Lang (37) and Tyler Zacek (39). Mike Mozilla had a 46 in front of Regan (48), Jacob Harrig (50) and Dan Sitnik (51). A 220-252 defeat to Homer followed on Friday afternoon as Jacob Harrig shot a 45 and Nate Powell contributed a 47.
