Nearly 12 months ago, the Cazenovia boys golf team surprised just about everyone, perhaps even themselves, when it captured the Section III small-school fall tournament title after a 4-10 record in 2018.
‘Now finally back on the course, the Lakers had more excitement in its Sept. 24 season opener against Homer, needing to go to the last hole to pull out a 222-223 decision over the Trojans.
In order to finish ahead of Homer, five of Cazenovia’s top six golfers had to par the final hole at Cortland Country Club – which they did, overcoming the top individual score of 35 from the Trojans’ Mitch Riter.
Cody Dickinson, shooting a 40, paced the Lakers, with Alex Moesch and Jack Byrnes each shooting 43. Ben Orbach posted 47, with Liam Colligan and Dan Lines each finishing at 49.
On Homer’s side, Cooper Withey, with a 42, was seven shots behind Riter. Further back were Jacob Roebush (47), David Alger (49) and Lukas Quinn (50).
From there, Cazenovia proceeded to a three-team match last Monday with Skaneateles and Christian Brothers Academy at Cazenovia Country Club.
Cazenovia shot 211, just behind Skaneateles’ total of 206, with Dickinson’s 39 topped only by the 35 from Tynan Jones, the reigning sectional individual champion.
Byrnes improved to a 40, even with Skaneateles’ Tyson DiRubbo and Shawn Luce, with Colligan also lowering his score as he finished with 43. Moesch had a 44, beating out Chris Kelly’s 45 and Lines’ 48.
A close match with Tully followed on Wednesday afternoon at CCC and the Lakers beat the Black Knights 218-224.
Moesch, with a 40, and Byrnes, with a 41, were just ahead of the 42 from Tully’s Ryan Shute. Then Dickinson, with a 44, and Colligan, with a 46, helped the Lakers pull clear, Orbach contributing a 48.
Then Cazenovia rolled past LaFayette 218-264 on Thursday at Orchard Valley, led by 42s from Byrnes and Dickinson, with Moesch (43) and Orbach (44) rounding out a top-four individual sweep as Colligan (47) and Kelly (48) were close behind.
To cap off this opening stretch, the Lakers won a rematch with Homer 201-225 Friday at CCC led by a season-best 36 from Moesch, while Kelly stepped up with a 39. Dickinson, with a 40, tied Riter, with Orbach’s 42 just ahead of a 44 from Byrnes and a 45 from Colligan.
At the start of the week, Chittenango commenced its 2020 season, taking on LaFayette at Rogues Roost and doing just enough to defeat the Lancers 270-282.
Tyrus Kelly and Tanner Smith both shot 40 to match LaFayette’s Nelson Jones for individual honors. Maddox Garvey finished fourth with a 51 to help the Bears withstand a 69 from Nate Smith and a 70 from Mark Young.
A pair of three-team matches followed, starting Wednesday at Rogues Roost as Chittenango shot 267 to Homer’s 205 and Mexico’s 235.
Here, Kelly and Smith continued to play well, each posting 39, but no Bears teammate was close to those totals as the Trojans were led by Riter’s 36
Chittenango then went to Vesper Hills Thursday to take on Tully and Westhill. The Bears shot 245, behind the Warriors’ 201 and the Black Knights’ 216 despite Kelly shooting 39 and Smith adding a 41 ahead of Garvey’s 46.
In Friday’s match against Skaneateles, Chittenango lost 200-257, but Kelly still stood out, his 34 three strokes ahead of the 37 from Luce and 38 from Jones. Smith and Garvey had matching totals of 43.
