In the many years that Cornell University’s Robert Trent Jones course had hosted the New York State Public High School Athletic Association boys golf championship, Section III golfers had rarely put themselves in contention.
That wasn’t the case in 2019, though, with Manlius-Pebble Hill superstar Johnny Gruninger making his way near the top of the standings, closely followed by Fayetteville-Manlius’ Adam Butch, before falling back a bit by tournament’s end.
Helped by three birdies in Sunday’s opening round at holes 4, 13 and 18, Gruninger shot a three-over-par 74, which left him tied for seventh place, three shots out of the lead shared by Nathan Han (Section I, Somers) and Nolan Crowley (Section II, Saratoga Springs)
Butch was close behind, his 76 tying West Genesee’s Nick Bove for 11th place, five shots behind. Meanwhile, East Syracuse Minoa star Ian Rivers shot an 80 to put himself in a tie for 31st place, with two birdies on holes 7 and 17, and Gruninger’s MPH teammate, Grant Lewis, had an 83 to tie for 48th place.
Then there was the fight for the team championship. Section III, with no round worse than 84, shared second place through one round at 550, only trailing the 534 from Section I.
During Monday’s final round, the Section III team would eventually settle into second place alone, at 1,104, as Section I won with 1,058, and individual honors would prove elusive, too.
Gruninger would shoot an 81, his total of 155 leaving him in a tie for 16th place, while Butch finished with an 83 and share 30th place at 159, one stroke ahead of Rivers, who had a second straight 80 to finish at 160.
Only Lewis improved upon his first round in the cold, windy conditions, posting an 80 to get to 163 and a tie for 38th place.
Han was the individual state champion, his 141 seven strokes ahead of Evan Sitts (Oneonta), Alex Kyriacou (Suffern) and Shane Devincenzo (Port Jefferson). Bove had the best finish among Section III golfers, tying for 10th place at 152.
Back on Saturday, the NYSPHSAA girls golf championships got underway at Deerfield Country Club in Brockport, with Fayetteville-Manlius part of the team competition.
Of the Hornets’ golfers, Bailey Wallace had the best finish, tying for 35th place as she shot a 92 in the first round, but improved to an 87 in the second round to finish at 179. Only Liverpool’s Nataly Avotins (177) had a better total among Section III golfers as Wallace matched the 179 from the Warriors’ Mia Avotins.
Jamesville-DeWitt’s Lena Jones had a solid showing, too, tying for 38th place as she shot an opening-round 90 and a second-round 96 to finish at 186.
F-M’s Justine Burness had rounds of 97 and 96 to finish at 193, tied for 55th place. Lucy Fowler improved from a 100 to a 96 in her second round to finish at 196, with Elly Hulslander finishing at 230. Ashley Carter shot a first-round 118.
Melanie Green, a Section VI golfer from Medina, repeated as state champion, her two-day score of 145, one over par, edging out Bailey Shoemaker (Section IV, Unadilla Valley) by one stroke.
