Boys golf: Surprise ending – Manlius Pebble Hill wins Section III title

Manlius Pebble Hill boys golf coach Will O’Malley said he was as surprised as anyone that his young team captured the Class C sectional title today.

“This was completely unexpected,” O’Malley said of the Trojans’ six-stroke win over Bishop Ludden over the par-72 Barker Brook layout in Oriskany. “We got hot at the end of the year.”

MPH won with a five-player total of 438. Ludden shot 444, and Herkimer and West Canada Valley tied for third at 459. Pulaski was fifth at 461.

Bobby Davenport of West Canada Valley was the medalist, with a 3-over 75. Casey Scida of Fabius-Pompey and Waterville’s Luke Nassimos finished one stroke behind with 76.

“Our kids just played well,” O’Malley said of the team, which went 10-4 in the Patriot League but won that league tournament on Saturday at the Pompey Club. “Over our last three to four matches we really started to play well.”

Three of the Trojan golfers – John Alley (79), Mark Murray (85) and Garrit Church (87) – were among 19 players from Class C who will tee it up in the overall sectional (state qualifier) at Colgate University’s Seven Oaks course in Hamilton.

O’Malley, who said he has been the MPH golf coach about 12 years, couldn’t recall if the school had ever won a sectional golf title. If it has, it’s been awhile, he said.

Other members of the MPH team who played today included Bryce Church, Zain Nizam and Adam Hartnagel. Of the six players MPH sent out onto the course today, only one, Nizam, is a senior.

Team scoring:

Manlius Pebble Hill – 438

Bishop Ludden – 444

Herkimer – 459

West Canada Valley – 459

Pulaski – 461

Little Falls – 472

Thousand Islands – 479

Port Byron – 486

South Lewis – 491

Cooperstown – 492

Bishop Grimes – 498

Individual scores (19 players eligible for Thursday’s first round of the state qualifier at Seven Oaks):

Bobby Davenport, West Canada Valley – 75

Casey Scida, Fabius-Pompey – 76

Luke Nassimos, Waterville – 76

John Alley, Manlius Pebble Hill – 79

Andrew Stilwell, Herkimer – 80

Tyler Lemery, Waterville – 82

Tom Vrooman, Pulaski – 82

Dante Migliore, Frankfort – 83

Nick Arrigo, South Lewis – 83

Zach Bright, Little Falls – 83

Kevin Sierotnik, Bishop Ludden – 84

Jacob Baldwin, Thousand Islands – 84

Will Wallace, Bishop Ludden – 85

Mark Murray, Manlius Pebble Hill –     85

Tim Murphy, Bishop Ludden – 85

Tyler Harvey,   Bishop Ludden – 85

JT Smith, South Lewis – 86

Ryan Stilwell, Herkimer – 87

Gerrit Church, Manlius Pebble Hill – 87