Early in the last week of August, Baldwinsville’s boys golf team found itself at Drumlins Country Club, setting off on its 2013 campaign – and by week’s end, it was already on top of the CNY Countiese League standings.
The Bees joined nine other local sides to take part in last Monday season-opening Henninger Invitational, and led by Christian Nizamis and Matt Monaco, earned a third-place finish.
B’ville had a team score of 198, edging out Auburn (199) and Oswego (200) and just behind West Genesee (196) for the runner-up spot as Fayetteville-Manlius, with 191, took the team title.
Nizamis covered nine holes in 37 shots, one more than Monaco’s 38. James Pelcher finished with a 40, with Paul Pitcher managing a 41, Sean Barron getting a 42 and Griffin Bruce posting a 43.
However, B’ville did see the tournament mark of 34 set by one of its former players, Billy Ward, broken as Cicero-North Syracuse’s Joe Petrin tore around Drumlins in a 32, winning individual honors.
The Bees, who will play home matches at Timber Banks Golf Course this fall, had its home opener one day after the Henninger Invitational, and routed the Central Square Red Hawks 193-236.
Nizamis went for a 35, one under par, just ahead of Monaco’s impressive total of 37. Pelcher and Pitcher each finished with 39 as Barron contributed a 43, while Justin Powless led Central Square’s effort with a 38.
In a much closer match on Wednesday afternoon at Timber Banks, B’ville slipped past Oswego 200-205, this despite Alec Kunzwiler shooting a 34 for the Buccaneers to lead all individuals.
Monaco shot his second consecutive 37, with Barron improving to a 40 and matching Nizamis on that number. That, plus a 41 from Pelcher and a 42 from Pitcher, helped the Bees overcome the efforts of Kunzwiler and Noah Lee, who posted a 38 for Oswego.
Then B’ville made it three victories in as many days on Thursday when it went to Camillus and knocked off West Genesee 186-188.
Barron, with a 36, matched the Wildcats’ Adam Korzeniewski for low individual round. The difference was that Monaco and Pelcher each posted 37, while no other WG player did better than 38, shared by Ethan Smith, Sean Stanistreet, Pat Matkowski and Patrick Ciarla. Plus, Nizamis and Pitcher both shot 38 to maintain that slim B’ville edge.
To cap off this perfect opening week, B’ville gained a huge early-season boost when it defeated Cicero-North Syracuse’s Blue team by a score of 178-184 on Friday at the Northstars’ home course, Beaumont Country Club.
Though C-NS Blue’s Joey Petrin led all individuals with a 33, Monaco and Barron countered with under-par totals of their own as they each shot 34. Nizamis had a 36, with Pitcher and Pelcher earning matching rounds of 37. Nate Hilt (36) and Jon Petrin (37) also had good rounds for C-NS Blue.
