Five different high school boys golf teams all got underway last week, mostly finding success, even if, in one instance, two sides from the same school were facing each other.
It just so happened that the two teams from East Syracuse Minoa had a head-to-head season opener last Wednesday at the Links at Erie Village. The older ESM Blue side won this Spartan duel, defeating ESM Orange 224-255.
In the individual race, ESM Blue’s Ian Rivers led with a 42, while Justin Seltzer gained a 43 and Ryan MacCombie had a 44. David Griffith contributed a 47 and Jacob Harrig finished with a 48.
ESM Orange saw Joe Pacheco match Griffith with a 47 as Ryan Bova equaled Harrig’s 48. Otherwise, Donovan Marriott finished with a 52, ahead of Brent Smith’s 54 and Alex Leo’s 57.
To make it 2-0 on Thursday, ESM Blue turned back Cortland 207-212 as ESM Orange shot 244 in that same match.
Though the Purple Tigers’ Cooper Swartout (36) and Edwin Rozewski (37) had the best two rounds, ESM Blue made up ground with Rivers shooting a 38 and Seltzer earning a 39. Then MacCombie and Dan Sitnik both shot 43 and Griffith clinched the win by posting a 44.
For ESM Orange, Pacheco, with a 43, led the way. Bova had a 49 to beat out Marriott and Ryan Walsh, who both posted 50. Owen White had a 52.
Then, on Friday, ESM Blue made it three in a row with a 219-239 win over Central Square, who edged out ESM Orange’s total of 249 in a three-team match at Greenview Golf Course.
Seltzer shot 39, two strokes ahead of Rivers and the Redhawks’ Adam Woodmansee. Griffith posted a 43 as MacCombie had a 47 and Nate Powell got a 49. For ESM Orange, Pacheco, shooting a 45, beat all but two of the ESM Blue totals. Bova added a 48, with Walsh getting a 50 and Griffith a 52. Marriott and Leo both shot 54.
Also opening on Wednesday, Christian Brothers Academy found success against Mexico, beating the Tigers 213-243 at Drumlins. Joe Nicholson, with a 38, paced the Brothers.
Though Zach Revette shot a 43 for Mexico, two CBA golfers, Mike Santoro and Jack Lester, matched those numbers. Further depth came from Chris Bushnell, who shot a 44, and David Gross, who managed a 45.
CBA also won two straight to open the season, handling Phoenix 203-265 on Thursday as Nicholson and Gross both shot 39 to edge the Firebirds’ Ryan Shafer (40) in the individual picture. Santoro and Lester each matched Shafer’s 40, with Ryan McLaughlin and Dan Angelo both posting 45.
On Friday, CBA went to Camillus Country Club and lost, 204-232, to Westhill. Gross shot a 44, but five Warriors players matched or beat that total, led by Tim Alcaro, who had a 37. Angelo shot a 46, just ahead of Nicholson, Andrew Henderson (48 each) and Santoro (49).
By contrast, Jamesville-DeWitt lost its first match of the season, falling to Cortland 209-216. At Walden Oaks, Alvin Ratanaphan shot a 40 for the Red Rams, with Jake Ellithorpe posting a 41 and Peter Hatton getting a 42.
Despite those scores, and despite a 45 from Max Schulman and a 48 from Tyler Brang, J-D got beat because Cortland posted the three best individual rounds, David Benjamin leading the Purple Tigers with a 36 ahead of Rozewski’s 38 and Swartout’s 39.
J-D rebounded that same day to win a tight 223-227 match over Auburn at Highland. Ellithorpe tied the Maroons’ Tim Walsh by shooting 39, while Hatton had a 41. Despite Auburn getting a 43 from Ross Burgmaster and a 46 from Justin Kopec, the Rams prevailed when Turner Pomeroy earned a 47, while Ratanaphan and Schulman both shot 48.
Fayetteville-Manlius did not get underway until Thursday, when it beat Cicero-North Syracuse’s Green team 197-237 at Woodcrest Golf Club, located just up the road from the F-M campus.
The Hornets lost nine seniors to graduation, but did return Kyle Gilroy, who should be one of the Salt City Athletic Conference’s top players. Gilroy opened his season with a 41 but was topped by two of his teammates.
Adam Butch put together a 35, with Cal Isley also stepping up as he shot 38. Mike Millimaci shot a 41 to match Gilroy as Sean Arthur finished with a 42. Pat Cuddy, with a 44, had the low round for C-NS Green.
From there, F-M went on to Monday’s Drumlins Invitational, when it would match up against the other Class AA sides in an early-season test before a Friday showdown with defending Section III champion Baldwinsville at Timber Banks.
