For the second year in a row, the West Genesee boys golf team had to settle for a middle-of-the-pack regular-season finish.
And once again, when it mattered most, no one was in front of the Wildcats.
WG’s superior depth made the difference in Wednesday’s Section III Class AA tournament at Radisson Greens, where with a score of 386 it edged Fayetteville-Manlius (390) for the top spot.
The roots of this victory were planted throughout August and September. WG’s 8-4 record trailed that of F-M (10-2), and it included two head-to-head defeats to the Hornets six days apart in mid-September.
However, in the course of 12 regular-season matches, 11 different golfers shot a low enough nine-hole score to qualify for the sectional tournament, and those numbers would really matter at Radisson.
That was due to the new sectional tournament format. Unlike years past, coaches did not have to designate five players for the team portion. Anyone who qualified could post the team’s lowest five scores.
This, in itself, helped the Wildcats because it had 11 players present, while F-M only had seven, the same number as another contender, Cicero-North Syracuse Blue. Baldwinsville had nine golfers, most of whom were quite familiar with Radisson, where the Bees had won the sectional team title in 2017.
With all this as a backdrop, WG set out on a rain-soaked Radisson course, with Nick Bova again at the forefront. Bova shot a one-under-par 71, topped only by B’ville’s Max Dec, who with a 70 took medalist honors.
All season long, Bove and fellow senior Tim Dipaola had posted the Wildcats’ most consistent low scores, so it wasn’t a surprise that Dipaola checked in with a 75.
At this point, WG was two shots better than F-M, who had a 72 from Adam Butch and a 76 from Velton Perry. It was here that the Wildcats’ deep bench proved the deciding factor.
Ninth-grader Peyton Mullane, the youngest player on the squad, put up a seven-over-part 79, and senior Joe Artini, rarely part of the top squad during team matches, had a 79 of his own.
When senior Lucius Allen and junior Kevin McDermott each posted 82, it gave the Wildcats the sectional victory since F-M’s next best three rounds came from Mike Millimaci (78), Andrew Heyman (80) and Sean Arthur, whose 84 matched that of Matt LaCombe.
As to the Wildcats’ other golfers, senior Will Good had an 87, with senior Jack Gordon contributing an 88. Senior Connor Barry had a 95, two ahead of junior Dan Beneti as another junior, Jacob Weaver, shot 104.
By shooting 82 or lower, Bove, Dipaola, Mullane, Artini, Allen and McDermott each qualified for the sectional state qualifying tournament in late May at Seven Oaks in Hamilton.
