Back in the fall, boys golf teams from West Genesee and Skaneateles earned Section III championships in their respective divisions, while in the spring Marcellus made an undefeated run to the top.
Now the best golfers from two different seasons gathered at Seven Oaks in Hamilton for the sectional state qualifying tournament, with nine spots in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at stake.
And as it turned out, four of those spots would head to area golfers from four different schools.
In last Thursday’s opening round, WG’s Nick Bove shot two-over-par 74, putting him alone in second place behind the pace-setting 72 from Manlius-Pebble Hill’s Johnny Gruninger as Colella was third with a 76.
Then Westhill’s Anthony Maglisco posted a 78 and shared fourth place with Liverpool’s Spencer Baum, while Skaneateles standout Tynan Jones had a 79 to tie Grant Lewis (MPH), Max Dec (Baldwinsville) and Peter Hatton (Jamesville-DeWitt) for sixth place.
When the final round began two mornings later, the goal for each of these four golfers – Bove, Colella, Maglisco and Jones – was to not just stay at the top of the standings, but make sure it didn’t have to face any drama to earn their state tournament berths.
All of them succeeded.
Bove not only advanced, he nearly won the qualifier. With an even-par 72, Bove tied Gruninger, whose 74 left him tied with Bove at 146. Since both were going to the state tournament, they broke the tie by comparing scorecards, and it was there that Gruninger got medalist honors over Bove.
Colella equaled Bove with a superb 72 of his own, his 148 total in third place by six strokes. And it was Maglisco notching fourth place by improving two strokes over his opening round with a 76 to get to 154.
Jones simply required breaking 80 again, which he did with a 78, the total of 157 creating a solo sixth-place finish.
Bove, Colella, Maglisco and Jones are joined on the state tournament team for Section III by Gruninger and his MPH teammate, Grant Lewis, along with Max Dec (Baldwinsville), Adam Butch (Fayetteville-Manlius) and Ian Rivers (East Syracuse Minoa), with Butch and Rivers needing to beat Jamesville-DeWitt’s Peter Hatton in a playoff to advance.
The 18-hole cut on May 23 behind several local golfers, including WG’s Tim DiPaola, Peyton Mullane, Joe Artini, Kevin McDermott and Lucius Allen.
Marcellus had David Bosak, Patrick Morocco, Lee Piekiel and John White miss the cut, along with Westhill’s Michael Britt, plus Jordan-Elbridge’s Jeremy Melfi and Bishop Ludden’s Noah Kerwin.
