Four South Fork Golfers Qualify for State Meet; Hurricanes Reach County Finals of Team Tournament

Westhampton Beach head coach Fred Musumeci has said it time and time again, and has pretty much screamed it from the rooftops: League VIII boys golf is legit.

At the Section XI Individual Championships at Spring Lake Golf Club in Middle Island, which was played a week later than originally scheduled on October 31 and November 1 due to inclement weather, five of the top nine state qualifiers hailed from League VIII, which encompasses four of the five South Fork teams — Westhampton Beach, Southampton, Pierson/Bridgehampton and East Hampton. Hampton Bays plays in League VII, which is also highly competitive.

Four of those five individuals that qualified for the New York State Championships, which won’t be played until June 3 at Mark Twain Golf Course in Elmira, play for South Fork teams and include Westhampton Beach pair Owen Jessop and Zach Berger and East Hampton pair Nico Horan-Puglia and Trevor Stachecki. Jack Breutsch of Center Moriches was the other League VIII golfer to qualify for states.

Last week’s county individual tournament was a nerve-wracking one that included multiple sudden-victory tiebreakers. Even the county title was decided by a tiebreaker — Comsewogue’s Anthony Naples edged Commack’s Ayan Sheikh.

Jessop, Breustch, Stachecki and Ward Melville’s Gavin Gerard were in a battle on the second day of competition that eventually resulted in a tie for third between Jessop and Breustch. Jessop birdied 18 to force a playoff with Gerard, who just needed to par 18 but failed to do so. Gerard finished fifth and Stachecki sixth. It was the second year in a row Jessop qualified for the state meet.

A playoff also decided the final remaining state-qualifying spots between Berger, Horan-Puglia and Riverhead’s top golfer. Two of the top three from that group would make the state team. Horan-Puglia made a second shot out of the woods that got him on the green. His putt from about 5 feet for birdie guaranteed his spot for the second year in a row.

Berger, who Musumeci said struggled for most of the second day of competition, missed the green on his tee shot and was on the other side of the bunker, while Riverhead’s golfer had a 7-foot birdie shot, but he missed it, keeping Berger in the mix. Berger got himself on the green with a 2-inch chip and it was good enough to snag the last spot to go to states.

Southampton had three of its golfers — Liam Blackmore, Jack Browne and Ronan Brady — reach the second day of competition at individual counties. Their head coach, Tim Schreck, said both Blackmore and Browne had phenomenal day twos, but they had put themselves in a bit of a deeper hole than they would have liked coming out of day one. Blackmore wound up finishing 12th in the county, just two strokes away for competing for one of those last spots on the state team, and Browne finished 17th. Both earned All-County recognition.

Pierson’s Adam Drohan and Carter Kleinsmith also competed at counties. Drohan finished with an 86 on the first day while Kleinsmith shot a 93. Pierson head coach Clint Schulman said Drohan had a great front nine where he could have broken 40, but finished just a shot over that then struggled on the back nine.

“I was happy with how both played,” Schulman said. “I think they are hungry now and want to get better.”

Hampton Bays also had its top two golfers at individual counties. Erik Sandstrom shot an 84 and Mike Poremba a 92.

After the county individual tournament was done, there was still a ton of golf to be played with the focus shifting to the team tournament.

By winning League VIII, Southampton was seeded highest out of the South Fork schools at sixth and was able to host its first match in the second round after getting a bye in the first. Facing No. 11 Mount Sinai on November 2 without one of its top golfers in Blackmore, who missed the match with an illness, the Mariners — who were county finalists in 2019 the last time the team tournament was played out — wound up losing by just three strokes, 198-201, and a 6.5-2.5 overall score.

No. 12 East Hampton defeated No. 21 Eastport-South Manor in a first-round match on October 27, but then the Bonackers lost to eventual semifinalist No. 5 Commack in the following round. No. 23 Pierson lost its first round match to No. 10 Hauppauge.

That left No. 9 Westhampton Beach. The Hurricanes took care of No. 24 Smithtown West on October 27, then upset No. 8 Northport, by two shots on November 2 to advance to the quarterfinals against top-seeded Riverhead. The ’Canes upset the Blue Waves, topping them by five shots, to advance to what would be another long day of golf on Monday, with the semifinals and finals being played on the same day.

Back at Spring Lake Golf Club, Westhampton Beach defeated Commack by three shots to reach the county final against Comsewogue/Miller Place, which wound up winning the county title by three shots.

Some of the Hurricane golfers who played on day two of individual counties, then competed in the team tournament, wound up playing 81 holes of golf in the past week, and Musumeci really liked the way his team competed throughout.

“That 81 holes … those are all in high pressure spots, too,” he noted. “It’s not like they’re just going out there playing golf. It’s mentally fatiguing. But my boys compete, and I’m really proud of this group. They went on a great run, they got hot late, believed in themselves.”

Musumeci thinks playing in League VIII prepared his team for its deep county tournament run.

“All of those teams we played, they don’t have any real tough matches throughout the year,” he explained. “Every year, we’re playing very important league matches. We’re in a dogfight at least five times during the season, and I think that helps us. We’re used to winning close matches, we’re used to being in close matches where it comes down to one shot, and I think that helps us in the conference and county tournaments as well.”