Berger, Jessop Are Ready To Compete at Upcoming New York State Boys Golf Championships

Zach Berger and Owen Jessop are golfers, through and through. They don’t play any other high school sports, and when the boys golf season ends in the fall, the two Hurricanes continue to play at various tournaments throughout the country.

That’s why expectations are high for both to compete at a high level at the New York State Boys Golf Championships starting this Saturday, June 1, at Mark Twain Golf Course in upstate Elmira. Both Berger, a sophomore at Westhampton Beach, and Jessop, a junior, have set their own lofty goals for the upcoming tournament, which begins with a practice round on Saturday before play gets underway on Sunday, and the final round is played on Monday.

“I haven’t played my best golf up there, but at this point I know the course pretty well,” said Jessop, the reigning county and Conference IV Champion. “I’m confident going into it, and I’ve been hitting the ball well. I think I can play really well up there. I’m looking to at least make Federations, which I’d need to place top six. That tournament is the weekend after and played at Bethpage Black, and that’s a course I’ve always wanted to play. That’s kind of always been my goal this year, but going into every tournament, my goal is to win, so that’s the ultimate goal.”

Berger, who placed third in the county at the end of October, has very similar goals.

“My game is feeling good,” he said. “I feel like I’ve gotten so much better just within the past year, and having played that course before does give us an upper hand since a bunch of people haven’t played it.

“My goal is to play the best golf I can, and I know if I play my best, I’ve got a good shot at winning,” Berger added. “I’d like to get top six since that qualifies for the high school federations tournament at Bethpage Black. Even if I don’t play well and the outcome isn’t what I want, as long as I stick to my game and have a good mindset throughout the whole tournament, I’ll be happy with myself.”

Both Jessop, the first-ever Westhampton Beach golfer to win an individual county title, and Berger are coming off qualifying for some pretty steep regional tournaments. Jessop qualified for the 76th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship to be played at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan July 22-27 after finishing a qualifier at Southampton Golf Club on May 20 with a 68.

Jessop said he was playing that tournament well for most of the day, shooting a 2-under through 11 holes when he ran into some trouble midway through putting one-over par through 14. He needed to finish one-under to force playoffs, but he eagled 17 and birdied 18 and he qualified outright. Berger also played and just missed qualifying with a 70.

On Thursday, May 23, Berger played in a sectional qualifying round for the 69th Ike MGA Stroke Play Championship, where he shot a one-under par 71 to qualify for the tournament that will be played June 25 and 26 at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove.

In addition to playing in various tournaments, both Berger and Jessop have been practicing every Monday and Tuesday with their head coach at Westhampton Beach, Fred Musumeci, for the past month. He said they’re both ready.

“They’re talented and both have the right mental games to play well,” he said. “Golf, it’s two fold. You have to be able to hit the ball off the tee well, but you also have to have a strong mental game, especially in this tournament. They could easily, if they play well, make a pretty good run, and I’m hoping a minimum top-10 finish from both of the boys.”

It will be Jessop’s third time playing in the tournament, and Berger’s second, so both have a pretty good feel for the course at this point.

“Last year, the greens were set up really challenging,” Berger said. “They’re typically really firm and fast, so I’ll be looking at putting the ball on the right parts of the green from the fairway with my approach shots.”

“The terrain is very different,” Jessop said of the course. “It kind of goes along a side of a mountain and we don’t play too much elevation here. But the greens are also fast and there are some tough pins out there, which always makes it a little tough. But it’s definitely getable.”