Every tee shot, approach and putt would matter plenty for the Skaneateles girls golf team as it beat back a close challenge from Utica-Notre Dame to win the Section III Division II team championship Tuesday at Kanon Valley Country Club in Oneida.
The Lakers finished at 412, just two ahead of the Jugglers’ total of 414. Marcellus finished third with 429 and Cazenovia was fourth with 480.
Heavy rains in the two days before the sectional tournament meant golfers could lift, clean and place balls in the fairways to avoid muddy lies.
In those conditions, Jenna Fields fared best for the Lakers, as her front-nine 50 and back-nine 45 gave her a score of 95, just four shots out of qualifying for the June 3-4 state tournament at Bethpage State Park on Long Island.
Jill Barker, with nine-hole scores of 55 and 50, finished at 105, while Karah Blair reversed those nines – 50 on the front, 55 on the back – to also finish at 105.
Addison Gremli recovered from a front-nine 60 with a back-nine 47 to finish at 107 overall. Mackenzie Ward finished with a 133.
Auburn’s Lindsay May, a three-time individual state champion, shot a blistering 68 to win the individual sectional tournament by 11 shots over Fayetteville-Manlius’ Maggie Bonomo.
May and Bonomo are joined in Section III’s state tournament field by two other F-M golfers, Madison Kingsley and Bailey Wallace, along with Liverpool’s sister tandem of Nataly and Mia Avotins, plus Olivia Evans (Vernon-Verona-Sherrill), Mary Colella (Marcellus) and Nessa McKie (Cicero-North Syracuse).
