SYRACUSE – Front to back, top to bottom, no opponent could match the depth and quality of the West Genesee Gold boys golf team in 2023.
And if anyone doubted this, they were converted by the time the Wildcats were done rampaging through Wednesday’s Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division tournament at Drumlins East.
It was WG Gold taking the title with a score of 409 to the 421 of runner-up Fayetteville-Manlius Green, with Cicero-North Syracuse Blue third, Liverpool fourth and defending champion Baldwinsville setting for fifth place.
Of the top 14 finishers, six were Wildcats, all of them advancing to May’s Section III State qualifier, with senior Ben Glass at the forefront amid hot temperatures, tough pin placements and firm, fast greens.
In a tight race for individual honors, Glass shooting a 78, held off F-M Green’s Tyler Burns to claim the individual honors.
Jack Einlich, with an 81, tied for third with C-NS Blue’s Drew Kippen, with Jason Clifton netting an 82 to share fifth place.
Frank Barbuto made his way to a tie for place with an 83, while Jon Shoults and WG Blue’s Andrew Banish were right on the state qualifying standard of 85, tied for 11th.
In all, 16 Wildcats golfers were at Drumlins, with Topher Shoults shooting 88 and Jameson Bard posting 89 to finish within the top 20.
Lincoln Christopher was right behind them with a 91 as Nick Stemkoski shot 94. Jonathan Lape, with a 96, beat out Ashton Fassinger (97), Alex Cammaratta (98), Colin Straub (101) and Dylan Radcliffe (110).
A day earlier, it was the small-school teams going first at the Pompey Club, where Skaneateles, coming off an undefeated regular season, was joined by Westhill and Marcellus, along with Jordan-Elbridge.
Ultimately, the Lakers did best among the local sides with a team total of 427 – but that was second to Christian Brothers Academy, who avenged a defeat to Skaneateles the week before by winning with a team score of 383.
Amid a leaderboard which had CBA take nine of the top 15 spots, Luke Mancini led the Lakers, shooting a 78 that tied him for fourth place with two of those Brothers, James Stanton and Emmet Kilmartin.
Jack Marquardt, with an 81, also got into the top 10, finishing alone in ninth place as he and Mancini both advanced to May’s sectional state qualifier. Charlie Girzadas had an 86, with James Lovier (88), Will Murphy (90) and Graham Bradley (92) close behind as Finlay Coyne had a 25.
Westhill, who finished third with 439, had Danny Young lead all local individuals, his 77 resulting in a third-place finish behind the 74s by CBA medalists Jack Gregory and Luke Snyder.
Both Grady Pens, with an 86, and Teddy DeMore, with an 87, just missed out on advancing, but Marcellus, who was sixth at 469, saw Ben Reome and Will Glass both get to the state qualifier by shooting 83 to tie for 13th place.
Far behind them was the duo of John Williams and Dieter Steigerwald, who both shot 97 as J-E was led by Caden Hearn tying for 16th place with an 85 ahead of Westhill’s Tripp Sauer (88) and Christian Loomis (91). Emerson Derby had a 96 for the Eagles.
Before all this, there was one more set of regular-season matches, including Skaneateles wrapping up its 14-0 league run by sweeping Hannibal and LaFayette at Skaneateles Country Club.
Shooting 222 to the Warriors’ 240 and the Lancers’ 247, the Lakers had Murphy shot 37, while Mancini had a 40. Getting chances on the top team, Max McConochy had a 47, Jack Harvey a 48 and Cole Bourcy a 50.
Far closer was Westhill claiming a 217-218 thriller over Marcellus at Camillus Golf Club, with three players – Pens and Young for the Warriors, Will Glass for the Mustangs – each shooting 40.
Williams got a 42 for Marcellus as Reome’s 44 was equaled by Anthony Sampo. Chris Loveless had a 45, but Sauer’s 46 and DeMore’s 47 were enough to help Westhill hang on as Dieter Steigerwald also shot 47.
At Woodcrest, WG Gold beat Fayetteville-Manlius White 181-199, with Glass and Clifton each shooting 35 and Barbuto adding a 36. Shoults (37) and Einlich (38) also played well.
What followed on Tuesday was a narrow 191-194 defeat to Baldwinsville at Timber Banks. Clifton’s two-under-par 34 beat the Bees’ Alex Blum and Owen Frechette by three, while Glass added a 39.
At Green Lakes, WG Blue ran into F-M Green and lost 199-216. Stemkoski shot 42, with Shoults, Straub and Henry Steitz each posting 43 as five Hornets shot 41 or lower.
