Back in the fall, boys golfers from Cicero-North Syracuse, Liverpool and Baldwinsville had their regular season and Section III Class AA tournament, where the top performers advanced to the sectional state qualifier.
Seven-plus months later, the season resumed with the qualifier at Seven Oaks in Hamilton, with nine spots in the June 2-3 state tournament at the Cornell University course in Ithaca on the line.
And when all was settled, it was the Bees’ Max Dec able to earn his place in the state tournament, while three other local players got close to advancing.
In last Thursday’s opening round, Liverpool’s Spencer Baum led the local contingent, shooting a six-over-par 78 to tie Westhill’s Anthony Maglisco for fourth place, six shots behind the leader, Manlius-Pebble Hill’s Johnny Gruninger.
Meanwhile, Dec joined a tie for sixth place with Ty Jones (Skaneateles) and Peter Hatton (Jamesville-DeWitt) at 79, with two C-NS golfers, Andrew Brunozzi and Ryan Sisco, also advancing, Brunozzi with an 81, Sisco with an 84 to make the cut on the number.
B’ville’s quartet of Matt Shipman, Aiden Farmer, Tanner Glavin and Carter Nichols, along with Liverpool’s Dylan Husted and C-NS’s Ethan Shallcross, did not make the cut.
Two days later, the final round took place. Dec remained steady and poised, improving his total by one stroke to a 77 so that, with a two-round score of 155, he finished fifth, easily earning his state tournament berth.
Meanwhile, Baum struggled to an 85, leaving him at 162, a single stroke out of the playoff for the final berths. Brunozzi’s second straight 81 left him matching Baum’s 162 and just short as Sisco had an 83 to finish at 167, alone in 14th place.
Dec was joined on the state tournament squad by Gruninger and West Genesee’s Nick Bove, who tied for medalist honors at Seven Oaks with 146.
Gruninger’s teammate, Grant Lewis, qualified, too, finishing seventh at 158. Shawn Colella (Marcellus) was third at 148, with Maglisco fourth at 154 and Jones sixth at 157.
A three-way playoff was held for the final two spots after they all finished at 161. Adam Butch (Fayetteville-Manlius) and Ian Rivers (East Syracuse Minoa) outlasted Hatton.
