Hurricanes Zach Berger, Owen Jessop Compete at Boys Golf State Championships

Westhampton Beach pair Zach Berger and Owen Jessop wrapped up their seasons at the New York State Boys Golf Championships at the Mark Twain Golf Course in Elmira, New York, on Sunday and Monday.

It was a tough weekend, in general, for most, if not all, of the golfers this past weekend with the course playing extremely difficult. Westhampton Beach head coach Fred Musumeci said one hole for Berger kind of summed up the entire weekend.

Lined up to finish in the top 20 and become All-State through 10 holes on day two of the tournament on Monday, Berger hit a nice chip off the green on the par-3 11th hole. The ball seemed to be lined up with the hole, Musumeci said, when all of a sudden it goes around the stick, makes a left turn and trickles down off the green. What could have been a birdied hole, or at the very least for par, turned into a 5-plus shot that just totally ruined Berger’s day. He went on to par the next three holes and birdied his final two — he had five birdies on the day — to finish strong. But he was still 4-over because of the 11th hole.

Berger wound up finishing 27th in the state, finishing with a two-day total of 158 having shot an 82 on day one on Sunday when winds were whipping toward 30 miles per hour making conditions even harder, followed by his 76 on Monday. Musumeci said the course, which is in the second year of its three-year deal with the state, was very unforgiving.

“It was tough last year, but with yesterday’s rounds with the wind, it was tough, and the wind was really blowing yesterday,” he explained. “It wasn’t as bad today, but there were three or four greens that were really unfair. Think of it this way, you had the best amateur golfers in New York State and the winning score was a plus-2, so the course was very challenging. I’m so proud of the boys and the way they competed and bounced back after facing adversity the first day. Both played very well today.”

Jessop, who qualified for states for the second year in a row back in November when the Suffolk County boys golf season is played, finished 50th overall, shooting an 85 on Sunday followed by a 79 on Monday for a total of 164. Musumeci said he played much better on Monday with a pair of birdies.

With only two players expected to graduate this month in Zach Bennett and Avery Merrihew, many of the Hurricanes, including Berger and Jessop, will be back with the rest of the team in the fall, leading to what should be another very successful season for the team.