Just a few days after the Fourth of July, West Genesee boys golf stars Dylan Plis and Sean Stanistreet did their own bit of patriotic duty.
Together, Plis and Stanistreet were part of the United States team that took on a side from Canada in the North America Cup, a match-play tournament that took place at Weston Golf & Country Club in Ontario.
Styled after the Ryder Cup, the tournament, run by the International Junior Golf Tour, would have fourball (best ball) matches on the first day, foursome (alternate shot) matches on the second day and singles matches on the third day.
The fourball openers on Tuesday saw Plis and Stanistreet oppose Canada’s Angelo Giantsopolous and Andrew Russ. Steadily, the West Genesee duo built a 3-up lead with three holes to play, only to have to hang on and close it out at the 17th hole, winning 2 and 1.
Still, Canada led 4-3 at the end of the first day, meaning the American, who had won nine of the previous 12 North American Cup gatherings, had a bit of rallying to do.
During Wednesday’s foursome matches, Plis and Stanistreet had a lot more difficulty, taking a 4 and 2 defeat to Canada’s duo of Matthew Vihant and Aiden Gavey,
However, Team USA won four of the other six matches, meaning that, by day’s end, it stood dead even at 7-7. Whoever did better in the 14 singles matches on Thursday would claim the North America Cup.
Plis would go first on Thursday morning, taking on Canada’s Ryan Trapp, while Stanistreet, in the penultimate match, faced Ty Celone. They would gain 1.5 points between them, Plis defeating Trapp 3 and 2 as Stanistreet went all 18 holes with Celone, halving that match.
And those points allowed the United States to split the final 13 points with Canada, so the matches ended in a 13.5-13.5 tie, meaning that Canada, who won the previous year, was allowed to retain the North America Cup. All told, Plis and Stanistreet won 2.5 points apiece.
