A memorable season for West Genesee boys golf which included a dramatic Section III Class AA team championship in the fall would conclude with teammates Sean Stanistreet and Dylan Plis both taking part in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament.
As in years past, the state tournament was held at Cornell University’s Robert Trent Jones course in Ithaca. The field included 96 players, nine of them from Section III, and Stanistreet would fare best in Sunday’s opening round.
Making birdies on the 12th and 18th holes to partially make up for six bogeys, Stanistreet finished with a four-over-par 75, putting him in a tie for 13th place, just five shots behind the leader, Nathan Han (Section I), whose 70 was the only subpar round in wet conditions.
Meanwhile, Plis finished with an 82, earning just one birdie, on the par-five 7th. That left him tied for 54th, needing a great final round to get to the top half of the standings.
Stanistreet beat both of the medalists of the Section III state qualifier, Auburn’s Mike May (78) and New Hartford’s Alec Bard (79), in that first round, and had the best chance at winning the tournament, with nearly 20 players crowded within four shots of the lead.
Cicero-North Syracuse’s Jon Petrin matched Bard’s 79 in the first round, while New Hartford’s Ryan Zogby matched Plis by shooting an 82. Max Britton (Sherburne-Earlville) shot an 87, with Zane Monaghan (Clinton) shooting 89 and Kyle Gilroy (Fayetteville-Manlius) posting a 90.
The rain left for Monday’s final round – but the winds picked up and scores shot up. Han slipped to a 76, allowing Bronxville’s Connor Daly, with a 71, to post 145, three over par, and win the state title by one shot over Han, Brent Ito (Section I) and Gerry Mackedon (Section XI).
Stanistreet would have his struggles, too, shooting a 78 despite an eagle on the same 7th hole he made birdie on the day before. His two-day total of 153 put him in a tie for 14th with, among others, Bard, who had a 74 to share low sectional honors with Stanistreet.
Plis finished with an 84 and, with his total of 166, tied for 59th place. May and Petrin both tied for 29th with a 157, followed by Zogby (165), who was one shot ahead of Plis. Britton, finishing at 169, beat Monaghan (170) by one shot as Gilroy produced a 175, though he improved from 90 to 85 on the second day.
Back on Saturday and Sunday, Westhill’s Shannon Bunce competed in the state girls golf tournament at Bethpage State Park’s Yellow course on Long Island.
Finishing with a two-day total of 214, Bunce was well back of the top golfers, including Auburn’s Lindsay May, who won her third consecutive state individual title with back-to-back rounds of 70 that put her at 140, four shots ahead of Lauren Peter and Alice Hodge.
F-M’s Madison Kinsgley, with rounds of 80 and 79 for a 159, tied for 16th place, with Hornets teammate Maggie Bonomo 29th as she finished with 166. Liverpool’s Natalya Avotins (177), Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s Olivia Evans (180), C-NS’s Nessa McKie (188), Jamesville-DeWItt’s Lena Jones (210) and Utica Proctor’s Bella Facciolo (235) were the other Section III competitors in the field.
