Three qualify for final round at Seven Oaks

Canastota's Ian Campbell, Chittenango's Mike McIntosh and Cazenovia's Matt Schaffner all made the cut at the Section III boys golf tournament Thursday.

HAMILTON >> As Cazenovia’s Trevor Gatzke waited to see where his scored stacked up with the other Section III golfers, he predicted that there wouldn’t be a lot of low scores on Thursday’s Section III championship results board at Seven Oaks. Gatzke’s prediction wasn’t far off, with the final cuts from day one made for golfers with a score of 83 or higher. The lowest score of the day was a three- way tie between West Genesee’s John Clare, New Hartford’s Alex Bard and Fayetteville- Manlius’ Mike Lee with a two- over par 74.

And while Gatzke’s prediction came off of “a tough day and a tough course,” it was the opposite for Cazenovia teammate Matt Schaffner, who was in the middle of the qualifying pack with a 78.

“It was the opposite golf day for ( Schaffner) because he played better than me, “joked Gatzke, who finished the day with an 86.

Schaffner was able to par a long and diff icult sixth hole and get into the groove early to make it to the championship finals on Saturday, along with 24 other Section III golfers,

“I was just hitting the ball really well ,” said Schaffner. “Things just kind of went my way today.”

Joining Schaffner from Dispatch- area schools is Chittenango’s Mike McIntosh, who shot an 80, and Canastota’s Ian Campbell.

Unlike Schaffner, who came off the course conf ident, Campbel l shook his head and said it just wasn’t his day all around. The frustration on his face was wiped after finding out he got in just under the cut with his score of 82, grinning from ear to ear when the announcement was made.

Smiles, though not as wide as Campbell’s, were also on the faces of Oneida’s Ben Kallet, Cazenovia’s Trevor Nourse and Hamilton’s Ryan McCann. Despite missing the cut the two freshman, Kallet and Nourse, and sopho- more McCann all agreed that the experience of playing against competition like Thursday’s was plenty.

“I didn’t play as well as I would have hoped but just making it here is a bit thrill,” said Kallet, who shot a 90 on the day.

McCann, who shot an 89, agreed that he was still pretty content coming off the course and Nourse, who recorded a 102, said being only a freshman he hopes to have his chance back in the Section III championships again in coming years.

Also i n at tendance Thursday was Camden’s Evan Kesler, who shot a 95.

Campbell and Schaffner were scheduled to be back at Seven Oaks Saturday for a chance to compete to be Section III champs.

Until then, Schaffner said he would be on the course.

“Just a lot of practice in between now and then, a lot of putting,” he said.

Results from Saturday’s f inal round were not available at the time of this report.