B-P golfers third at Foothills tournament
By BILL CAIN, The Leader-HeraldArticle Photos
GLOVERSVILLE - On a wet day at Pine Brook Golf Club, Queensbury's golfers outshot Scotia-Glenville for the Foothills Council championship and Broadalbin-Perth was the best of the rest.
Led by Mike Byrnes and Ken Hand, both of whom carded a 77, the Spartans shot a league-best 316. Scotia-Glenville's Matt Bradt was the medalist with a 5-over 75.
Broadalbin-Perth was led by Garrison DeRocker's 80.
"The first time around, I had a couple bad shots, but I saved myself," DeRocker said. "The second time around, I parred six or seven consecutive holes."
The course at Pine Brook has nine holes, so each golfer played two rounds. DeRocker shot a 42 the first time through and a 38 the second time.
B-P coach Eric Sengenberger said the scores showed most golfers were able to make adjustments the second time through the course.
"Just going through the scorecards, I think three quarters of them played better on the second nine, particularly the kids who aren't going to get frustrated the first time through," he said. "It helps because they're familiar with pin placements and gives them a higher level of comfort with the entire layout."
B-P's Jake Rounds and Brandon Bush both shot 84s, while Frank Fernandez scored with a 94 to give the Patriots a 342, third behind Scotia's 324.
"I think we were hoping to finish as high as fourth," Sengenberger said. "We were hoping to get three of our guys to play well. Three of our guys played extremely well and placed in the top 10, then we got a good score from Frankie Fernandez, who is a senior and has played well over the last two weeks."
The Patriots also got a 98 from Tom Mittler and a 100 from Matt Carter.
Kevin Corbett and Ryan Steinbach shot 81s to score for Queensbury. Scotia's Connor Shapiro shot a 78, Kyle Palumbo carded an 85 and Dave Gennett an 86. Bradt's 1-over 36 was the best nine-hole score for the day. Shapiro's 37 was the best on the second nine.
South Glens Falls was fourth at 349, edging Gloversville at 350. Glens Falls was sixth at 362, Johnstown seventh at 363 and Hudson Falls eighth at 419.
South High was led by Matt Elliot's 78, Glens Falls by Connor Abess' 87 and Hudson Falls by Kevin Donohue's 98.
Gloversville was led by Andrew Ficili's 85, while Mike Marra finished with an 87. Chris LeFever shot an 88 and Joe LaPorta carded a 90. Chris Mosconi shot a 96 and Tanner Stewart came in at 98.
Johnstown's Jeff Erwin shot an 86 and Adam Kline carded a 91. Both Cam Husain and Richie Christman shot 93s for the Sir Bills. D.J. Ioele carded a 95.
DeRocker was the top finisher from the area. He said he was just trying to match his teammate, Bush.
"I didn't think I'd be the medalist on our team," he said. "People shot a lot higher than I thought they would. I thought I'd come in around the same score as Bush, but I didn't think I'd beat him."
The Patriots were helped by playing at Pine Brook twice this season, Sengenberger said, once in a league match and once in a non-leaguer.
He said he hopes the performance Monday gives his team momentum heading into Thursday's Section II tournament Thursday at the Saratoga state course. The Patriots will bring four golfers - DeRocker, Bush, Rounds and Mittler.
"It's nice to bring four, to bring a full team," Sengenberger said. "Brandon has made it to state qualifiers each of the last two years and Garrison has just missed. Hopefully, this will propel him. He's been consistent this season and a little better than last year. I think he wants to be focused and advance to the next round."
Bush has scored a sectional-qualifying round each time out for the Patriots this season.
Gloversville will send LaPorta, Marra, Ficili, LeFever and Mosconi to sectionals. Johnstown will send Husain, Kline, Christman, Erwin, Mike Gifford and Ioele. Johnstown's Erwin, B-P's Bush and Gloversville's LeFever garnered all-league honors. Queensbury placed three golfers on the all-league team (Byrnes, Hand and Steinbach) and Scotia placed two (Bradt and Gennett).
