GOLFERS SURVIVE WIND TO MAKE STATE TEAM
ALTAMONT, N.Y. >> There could only be one medalist and nine golfers advancing Friday during the second day of the Section 2 state golf qualifiers, but every duffer who braved the cold, the course and especially the wind deserve a medal after 18-holes at Orchard Creek Golf Club.
With the temperature below 60 and wind coming in at 20 miles per hour at times on the Altamont course, the test was as much mental as it was physical for the high school golfers looking to represent Section 2 in June at Cornell University at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament.
“The yardage you take is basically irrelevant because the point you are aiming at on Tuesday (first round) is 40 yards left or right of where you have play today,” Shenendehowa’s Paul Goetz said. “The yardage you get is 20 yards up or down of where you have to play, it’s just amazing the difference between Tuesday and today, 80 then 50 today, not fun, and you have to figure out how to work on it.”
The top 20 golfers from Tuesday carried over their scores and looked to move up the leaderboard or hold their position on Friday and secure one of the precious nine spots available on the Section
2 squad.
Saratoga’s Nolan Crowley topped the leaderboard on Tuesday and Friday, earning medalist honors with his early round of 75-77 152 score.
“Tuesday was really perfect conditions, just a little wet, but the wind was really a factor today and the cold and the wetness again,” Nolan Crowley said. “So it was really three factors coming in and making it hard on us.
“Before the round my goal was to get back to even and then I’ll go from there. When I was going through
it I was like ‘Try to shoot 75, 75’, I was on track to do it, but I was getting worn down a bit.”
Crowley managed to keep his score low and his emotions in check, shooting the low score in the final group, the lowest foursome after Tuesday’s first round.
The final round was moved from Thursday to Friday due to the weather forecast that dumped an inch of rain throughout the Capital Region. That allowed the golfers an extra day to prepare, physically and mentally for the final chance at the state squad.
Not many prepared for the sustained gusts throughout the afternoon round, affecting the golfers from the
tee to the greens.
“When you’re standing over the ball it will just make you think about the wind and then you’ll overplay it or underplay it,” Crowley said. “It’s just hard, you don’t really factor wind into your putts in everyday rounds.”
Goetz shot a 76 on Tuesday, tied with Hoosick Falls’ Matt Smith and was paired with a trio of golfers who each shot a 77. All four were in the hunt for medalist honors andaspot of the final roster, but the weather played a factor in their scores also.
“At the beginning of the day I just wanted to beat all of them in my group,” Goetz said. “I figured if I beat them, I would have a great chance at being in and around the
back nine I figured ‘I’ve got them,’ and then I just started to steer clear because they were getting really angry.”
Goetz shot a second-day score 80, the lowest in his group as two other golfers fell out of the top nine mark.
Rooming for the state tournament will be easy for the Section 2 staff as Goetz will be joined by Plainsmen teammates Anthony Cavotta who shot an 80-79 159 and Mike Westfall’s 8179 160 forcing a playoff with Albany Academy’s Aidan Fitzgerald.
“It is absolutely terrifying,” Mike Westfall said. “I was in a playoff two years back to move to the second round, I had the feeling, but you still have to execute and
stuff.”
Fitzgerald was solid off the tee, hitting the green in two, but three putted. Westfall was able to get up and down from the fairway and two-putt to secure the final spot on the state team.
Crowley will be joined on the road with Anthony Cavotta who shot an 80-79 159 to avoid the playoff.
Hoosick Falls teammates Matt Smith and Ryan Bloomer will travel to Cornell in June after Smith followed up his opening round 76 with an 82 for 158 and Bloomer shot an 80-79 159. Section 2 golf
State team qualifiers Nolan Crowley (SAR) 75-77 152, Paul Goetz (SHEN) 7680 156, Matt Smith (HOOS
FALL) 76-82 158, Jack Manning (SHEN) 78- 80 158, Aidan Seery (GUILD) 75-84 159, Trevor Wolfe (IC) 75-84 159, Anthony Cavotta (SAR) 80-79 159, Ryan Bloomer (HOOS FALL) 80-79 159, Mike Westfall (SHEN) 8179 160*.
Other scores
Aidan Fitzgerald (AA) 7783 160, Will Braxton (SAR) 77- 85 162, Ryan Lovelass (GAL) 80-82 162, Nick Lyons (AA) 79-85 164, Ryan Warnick (AA) 77-88 165, Clarkie Carroll (SAR) 81-84 165, Stuart Bond (BP) 84-82 166, Mike Mullen (BC) 80-89 169, Ethan Wager (JOHNS) 84-87 171, Luke Potter (SHEN) 8391 174, Jake Owens (GREEN) 85-90 175.
*Won one-hole playoff