It took two days, 27 holes and lots of precipitation to work through, but Cazenovia boys golfer Cody Thorp earned a berth in next weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship tournament at Cornell University’s course in Ithaca.
The Section III state qualifier got underway on a soggy Thursday morning at Seven Oaks in Hamilton. Thorp and Cazenovia teammate Alex Pezzi joined a field of golfers that included fall golfers, mostly from the large schools, and spring golfers who had advanced through sectional tournaments earlier that week.
Rain won the day, though, as the field was unable to complete full rounds. Thus, nine-hole scores were used to determine who made the cut for the final round and Thorp, with a 41, was tied for sixth place, two shots out of the lead. Pezzi did not advance.
Things were drier for Saturday’s championship round, so they got in a full 18 holes. Still, any round below 80 was a good one, and Thorp pulled that off, shooting a 78 to post a 27-hole total of 119 that qualified him for the state field with three shots to spare.
In fact, Thorp tied Joe Morgan (West Genesee), Teddy Trosset (Cooperstown) and Johnny Gruninger (Manlius-Pebble Hill) for second place, just two strokes behind Morgan’s West Genesee teammate, Dylan Plis, who won with 117.
Nine golfers advanced, with Baldwinsville having Maxwell Dec take sixth place with 120 and Ben Donohue tie Matt Barton (Thousand Islands) for sixth place at 121 as New Hartford’s Jack Angelucci, with a 122, grabbed the ninth and final spot.
