28 Photos
Zach Berger of Westhampton Beach.
East Hampton's James Bradley
East Hampton's Juan Palacios
Mariner Liam Blackmore
Pierson's Reed Kelsey at the first day of the Suffolk County Boys Golf Championships at Smithtown Landing on Monday. RON ESPOSITO PHOTOS
Owen Jessop's approach on the 17th hole on his way to making a birdie and clinching a spot at states.
East Hampton's James Bradley
East Hampton's J.P. Amaden
East Hampton's James Bradley
Bonacker Trevor Stachecki
East Hampton's Trevor Stachecki
East Hampton's James Bradley
Erik Sandstrom of Hampton Bays during the first day of the Suffolk County Boys Golf Championships at Smithtown Landing on October 25.
Owen Jessop at a match earlier this season. The Westhampton Beach freshman earned a trip to the state meet by placing sixth in the county. RON ESPOSITO
Owen Jessop at a match earlier this season. The Westhampton Beach freshman earned a trip to the state meet by placing sixth in the county. RON ESPOSITO
Owen Jessop at a match earlier this season. The Westhampton Beach freshman earned a trip to the state meet by placing sixth in the county. RON ESPOSITO
Pierson's Brenden Burke
Pierson's Coleman Dee
Southampton's Jack Blackmore
Southampton's Brian Emmons
Southampton's Brian Emmons
Southampton's Brian Emmons
Southampton's Jack Browne putts during the first day of the Suffolk County Boys Golf Championships at Smithtown Landing on October 25.
Southampton's Jack Blackmore
Southampton's Jack Blackmore
Southampton's Liam Blackmore
Ryan Springer of Westhampton Beach gets himself out of a trap during the first day of the Suffolk County Boys Golf Championships at Smithtown Landing on Monday.
Hurricane Harry Moloney
Plenty of East End boys golfers reached the second round of the Suffolk County Championships this past Tuesday at Smithtown Landing, while three were able to qualify for the New York State Championships.
East Hampton sophomore James Bradley, who entered the tournament as the reigning champion, tied with Jack Breutsch of Center Moriches for third place in the county after the two finished with a pair of 153 scores. Bradley had edged Breutsch for the county title last season. Since the top nine in the county qualify for states, both Bradley and Breutsch easily advanced.
Northport’s Padruig Douglas was the overall county individual champion by shooting a two-day total of 150. West Babylon’s Tyler Clark was runner-up finish just a single shot ahead of Douglas.
Bradley will be joined at the state meet — which isn’t competed until June and will be at the Mark Twain Golf Course in Elmira — by his Bonac sophomore teammate Nico Horan-Puglia, who snagged the ninth and final spot to states by shooting a two-day total of 158. Since there was no state meet last season, this spring mill mark the first time either Bradley or Horan-Puglia will appear at the state level.
Westhampton Beach freshman Owen Jessop also qualified for states after finishing sixth overall in the county with a 157. Jessop was one of three Hurricanes who qualified for the second round, along with classmates Zach Berger and Charlie Beasley. Berger and Beasley finished with a 161 and 162, respectively, and were able to earn All-County honors for their efforts.
On the team side of the tournament, Ward Melville, for the fourth straight season, was county championship after a team total of 801, finishing 25 shots ahead of second place East Hampton. The Bonackers shot a 398 as a team and held the lead after round one of the tournament, but as their head coach Rich King explained, they didn’t play as well a week later in the second round.
The tournament initially began on October 25 and the second day was originally scheduled for the following day but it was postponed a week later due to the nor’easter that came through the region. King said the coaches were never given a concrete reason as to why a week was needed in between but he also said that decision was made and communicated to everyone prior to play began on October 25 with the forecast looming.
Still, King thinks the week layoff hurt his team’s chances in the second round.
“I think at the time we would have preferred to play the next day. The seven days that separated it all made it kind of feel like two separate tournaments. With an eight shot lead after round one, I think it would have served us well had we played immediately the next day, but you've got to show up and play when it’s scheduled and we weren’t able to do that.
“We placed second this year, third last year, I think overall initially you’re disappointed. We did have a shot to win the overall Suffolk Championship, so from a competitive standpoint, you're disappointed,” King added. “When you look back on it, you have to be proud of your accomplishments, and this season, finishing second place overall in Suffolk County is definitely a good feat.”
Westhampton was tied with Hauppauge for sixth place in the county but after a strong second day it was able to jump a few teams and finish fourth overall.
Southampton brothers Liam and Jack Blackmore reached the second round. Liam just missed finishing in the top 10 as an alternate to the state meet — three golfers shot a 160 to tie for 10th. Jack Blackmore finished with a two-day total of 164.
Pierson’s Brenden Burke was closest to the cut to advance to the second round with an 87. Hampton Bays sophomore Erik Sandstrom shot an 88 in the first round of the tournament and missed the cut for the second round by five shots. Hampton Bays head coach Pete Meehan thought the cut being at 83 was difficult. Aidan Kamp was another Bayman expected to compete in the tournament but missed it with an illness, so teammate Mike Poremba, who was an alternate for counties after missing the cut by one shot at conferences, took Kamp’s spot. Poremba shot a 103.
