Without question, the Chittenango boys golf team anticipated its first head-to-head meeting with its neighbors from Cazenovia since the Lakers moved to a fall schedule.
And they didn’t wait long to square off, clashing last Monday at Rogues Roost with the Bears getting the best of its, defeating the Lakers by a score of 231-249.
Individually, Tyrus Kelly paced Chittenango, his nine-hole score of 36 threatening par and three strokes ahead of Cazenovia’s top performer, Alex Moesch.
Tyler Moscarito, with a 45, and Tanner Smith, with a 48, helped the Bears get away as Maddox Garvey had a 50, ahead of Brendan Fraser’s 52 as Nick Callahan posted 59.
On the Lakers’ side, Cody Dickinson’s 49 was a full 10 shots behind Moesch’s 39. Max Beam had a 51, followed by Aiden Houseman and Jake Marconi, who both got 55 as Ted Williams posted 57.
Cazenovia then hosted its fellow Lakers from Skaneateles on Wednesday, taking a 233-239 defeat. Loesch shot 40, just one behind Skaneateles’ Ty Jones.
The difference came in the second scores from each team. Ben Spinelli had a 41 for Skaneateles as Dickinson improved to a 46, but was five shots behind. Ben Orbach managed a 47, while Beam and Houseman both finished at 57.
Meanwhile, at Rogues Roost, Chittenango won again, topping Mexico 235-243. Winds brought up the scores, but the Bears had Kelly shoot 43 and Moscarito a 44 ahead of the Tigers’ Connor Revette, who led his side with a 45.
Brad Randall gave Chittenango a 47 to tie Mexico’s Andre Burns for fourth place. Then Smith tied the Tigers’ Ryan Mosher for sixth with a 48 and Fraser clinched the victory with a 53.
After years of spring schedules and long delays to get on the course due to uneven weather, Cazenovia decided to move to a fall schedule, all but guaranteeing that it will start and finish a season on time with little interruption.
Still, it was windy on Aug. 21 when the Lakers got underway against Christian Brothers Academy at Cazenovia Country Club, where it took a 225-249 defeat to the Brothers.
Moesch shot a 45, topping everyone except CBA’s Dan Angelo, who had a 39. But four other Brothers finished ahead of Cazenovia’s Alex Fitzgerald, who had a 49 ahead of Beam (50), Houseman (52) and Chris Kelly (55).
A day later, at Emerald Crest, Cazenovia took on Mexico, but met with the same result, falling 224-251 to the Tigers.
For Moesch, his 40 was only topped by Mexico’s Logan Craig. Bearn again posted 50, behind the Tigers’ Ryan Mosher (42), Connor Revette (45) and Lyle Trimble (47) as Houseman shot 53, with Ben Orbach and Jake Marconi each posting 54.
Chittenango struggled out of the gate, taking a 236-246 loss to Homer on Aug. 22 at Rogues Roost.
Kelly shot 41 for the bears, the same as the Trojans’ Riley Delage and Mitch Riter. Moscarito posted 43 to match Homer’s Cooper Withey as Brad Randall (52) was just ahead of Tanner Smith (53), with Callahan contributing a 57.
In Thursday’s match with Phoenix, the Bears turned it around, defeating the Firebirds 251-307 by posting the three lowest individual rounds.
Kelly, with a 43, led the way, two strokes better than Moscarito’s 45. Randall improved to a 49, five ahead of Phoenix’s Justin Alberici (54) as Callahan got a 55 and Evan Smith posted 59.
