For the most part, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls golf team had to wait to get on the course, with practices and early-season matches thwarted by the lingering snow and cold temperatures.
Yet it had warmed up by the time the Hornets finally opened its season last Monday against Cicero-North Syracuse’s Blue team, and F-M was ready, putting up strong scores in a 182-195 victory over the Northstars.
Paige Freyer emerged as a leader for F-M, shooting a 42 for nine holes at Green Lakes. Both Freyer and Bailey Wallace, who shot a 44, topped the low C-NS Blue round of 47 by Morgan Siechen.
Then Justine Burness matched Siechen’s 47, and further help came from Lucy Fowler, Grace Perry and Elly Hulslander, who had matching totals of 49.
F-M went from there to taking on West Genesee on Wednesday, where in cooler temperatures it had five different players break as the Hornets pulled away to handle the Wildcats 164-236. That 164 total shattered the Hornets’ previous team mark of 176.
Maggie Bonomo, one of F-M’s proven veterans, stepped up with a 40, a number Burness also posted. Wallace and Fowler were close behind, each shooting 42 as Hulslander got a 48 and Ashley Carter contributed a 51.
In Thursday’s match against Oswego, the Hornets won again, 173-205, over the Buccaneers.
This time, Bonomo led the way as, with a front-nine 39 at Green Lakes, she set a new low score for that nine, topping the 40 done by F-M’s Alex Seabury and Auburn’s Larissa Carter and well ahead of Oswego’s Catherine Volkomer, who led her side with a 49.
When F-M hosted Central Square on Friday, it broke the team mark it had set against West Genesee two days earlier while beating the Redhawks 161-269.
Wallace and Bonomo led the way, both shooting 38 to set individual marks, and close behind them Nancy Loh stepped up to shoot a 41, with Perry and Burness both posting 44. Fowler finished with a 50.
