Drew Kippen can call himself a state champion.
The Cicero-North Syracuse boys golfer was part of the Section III team which finished on top at this week’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament at Mill Creek Golf Club in Churchville.
Individually, Kippen shot an opening-round 77 Sunday which included back-to-back birdies on holes 2 and 3 and another birdie at the par-3 17th,
This put Kippen within the top 30 as Jamesville-DeWitt’s Jackson Saroney led through one round with a four-under-par 67 on the Mill Creek layout and had Section III tied with Section II atop the team standings going to the second and final round.
They started early Monday morning in the final round to try and beat incoming rainstorms and were able to finish. Kippen improved to a 73, making only one birdie on 15 but recording 14 pars and just three bogeys. His aggregate of 150 tied for 18th place.
Meanwhile, Saroney, already in front, shot a back-nine 30 to finish at 10-under-par 132, set the tournament record and win the first individual state title for a Section III golfer since 2013 prevailing by six shots over Albany CBA’s C.J. Strong.
With Saroney as the spark and Kippen also cracking the top 20, Section III claimed the team portion of the tournament with a cumulative plus-38 which was 14 shots ahead of runner-up Section II.
Westhill’s Danny Young finished tied for seventh at 146. New Hartford’s Tommy Goodelle tied for 11th at 148 as Kippen shared his score with Cooperstown’s Braydon Sentz and Holland Patent’s Jake Olearczyk.
Drew Mancini (Skaneateles) and J.P. Lazzaro (New Hartford) both finished at 157 one shot ahead of West Genesee’s Jon Shoults, who played in this tournament in between rounds of the state Class A boys lacrosse tournament where Shoults is the starting goalie for the sectional champion Wildcats.
With medalist honors in the May 22 Section III state qualifier to boost her, C-NS girls golfer Chloe Tice would find her way into early contention and record a top-20 finish during her NYSPHSAA tournament at Wild Wood Country Club in Rush.
Tice was accustomed to pressure at this tournament and would produce the best opening round of any area golfer in the field. She made birdies on the 1st and 13th holes, ultimately posting a 77, five over par, which left her tied for 10th seven shots off the pace-setting 70s shot by Ursuline’s Nina Choe and Corning’s Delaney Abel.
Moving to Monday’s final round, Tice would shoot 82 and finish at 159 in a tie for 17th place. Choe would shoot 68 and win the state title at 138 seven shots clear of South Glens Falls’ Hayden Knapp. By eight shots, Tice beat the next-best Section III total of 167 from Sauquoit Valley’s Kamryn Yerman with West Genesee’s Ellie Kent (168) a further stroke back.
