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Undefeated at 6-0 as of Tuesday morning, the Westhampton Beach boys golf team finds itself in the driver’s seat for another League VIII title.
The Hurricanes did play at Southampton on Tuesday afternoon, results of which were too late to get into this week’s article, and they have still yet to play East Hampton on its home course at Amagansett Golf Club, which comes later next week. A win over Southampton would have guaranteed the ’Canes at least a share of the league title.
For now, Fred Musumeci and his ’Canes are enjoying yet another good season that has included some welcomed surprises.
Zach Berger continues to play like the top golfer he is in the state, Musumeci said, but a pair of players in Danny Schumacher and Niko Arena have really stepped up. Both were on varsity last season but playing in the back end of the lineup. Now they’re consistently shooting well under 40, in fact, Arena outshot Berger in a season-opening win over William Floyd, 36-37. Both Arena and Schumacher are averaging 37s, Musumeci said, which are what many number ones on other teams shoot.
“I didn’t know where we’d be, we were so young that this was kind of a rebuild year for us, but they’ve met every expectation to this point,” Musumeci said. “We’re right where we hoped to be at 6-0.”
Westhampton Beach shot a season-low 185 team total on Friday in another victory over Floyd. Musumeci said 185 was about where last year’s team finished, so to be at that point now is a good sign.
Musumeci also said he’s been really impressed with the back end of this year’s lineup, which includes Benny Prescutti and Caeden Padavan, and at times Dagny Beasley, who has been rotating that sixth and final spot with Luca Carriera and Oliver Webb, who was pulled up from junior varsity.
“Everyone is playing lights out right now. We’re rolling and we have to keep it rolling,” Musumeci said. “Niko and Danny have stepped it up to the point where they’re now one of the most solid twos and threes in the county.”
East Hampton’s only loss this season came in Westhampton Beach. Outside of that, it’s 5-1 and playing well. The Bonackers defeated both William Floyd and Center Moriches, 9-0, in what was a tri-meet at Rock Hill Golf and Country Club in Manorville on Monday.
Colin Kelly has been Bonac’s most consistent and number one player this season in terms of scoring average, head coach Rich King said, but his lineup has been extremely competitive one through six, to the point where the back end of the lineup has seen a steady rotation of players. Ronan Walters, Andrew Brown and Charlie McMillan seem to get themselves into the lineup, but Pema Edwards, Val Pipino and Lucas Centalonza have all had their turns too. King said his exhibition players up until this point have been playing so well that a few of them are going to get their chances as well.
“They’ve earned that,” King said. “We definitely have some depth this year.”
King said that depth could come in handy during the Conference IV Tournament that is played after the regular season, but that it shows up during match play just as well.
“We may not have a kid of a caliber of Zach Berger, but if you don’t have a weakness at the bottom of the lineup it makes up for it in the overall score,” he said. “Right now we have about six kids who are shooting right around 40 and I’d rather have that than a top heavy lineup. It would be nice to have a guy shooting in the high 30s, some of the best in the county shoot in the low to mid 30s, but that’s a luxury.”
East Hampton is still holding out hope that it can win a share of the League VIII title with Westhampton Beach. There is a lot that would have to happen between now and the end of the regular season for that to happen, so the Bonackers are taking things one match at a time. They also still have to play Southampton on its home course, which is never easy to do, so there’s still a lot of golf yet to be played.
The Pierson/Ross golf team is holding its own among the competitive ranks of League VIII. Head coach Clint Schulman thinks his team has improved this season, evident in the fact that it shot its lowest team total (219) since he took over the program in 2017 at Westhampton Country Club. Spencer Cavaniola and Theo Venkatesh have both been averaging around a 42, Schulman said, then Dom Mazzeo and Kyle Caufield have been coming in around 43-44.
“Compared to last year, our averages are better,” Schulman said. “But our focus is still on that conference tournament and getting as many of our guys to counties.”
The Sebonack Challenge, which pits the four Southampton Town varsity high school pairings from Westhampton Beach, Pierson, Southampton and Hampton Bays against one another at Sebonack Golf Course, has been set for Friday, October 17. Westhampton Beach, with Zach Berger and Owen Jessop, the latter of whom has since graduated, won it last year.
Numbers Improve Slightly
For Hampton Bays
After playing with just a dozen or so players last year, between both varsity and JV, the Hampton Bays golf team saw that number jump up a bit to 14, which is a good sign for a rebuilding program.
The Baymen are now led by head coach Frank Verdone, who is making the jump up to varsity after coaching JV for the past couple of years, replacing longtime head coach Pete Meehan. As of Tuesday morning, they were still searching for their first victory of the season. That could have happened on Wednesday, when they faced Shelter Island, but this time on their home course of The Woods at Cherry Creek in Riverhead.
Hampton Bays has five starters return this season in junior John Tedesco, sophomore Sean Donahue, sophomore Tom Malone, senior Julius Lattanzio and junior Jack Perez. Grace Sutton is a first-year senior who decided to come out and play for the team this season. Sophia Luzadre is a freshman who has been playing both varsity and JV and rotating in the team’s sixth spot. Rocco LaFazia, a sophomore, was expected to play a big roll this season but will miss the entire season due to a broken arm.
Verdone said the future of the team certainly lies in its sophomores in Donahue, Malone and LaFazia.
“They really love the sport and want to keep playing it, and I see them as pretty strong players on our team for the next few years,” Verdone said. “Right now, John and Sean are playing the most consistent, but we’ve got four seventh-graders who are playing a lot and they’re going to help us out in the next couple of years as well.”
