GOLF - SURVIVE AND ADVANCE

By Bob Badders - Senior Writer

    PITTSGROVE -- Have you ever tried sinking a three-foot putt through mud? Or butter? Or quicksand even? No, this wasn't some wacky sideshow skills competition, these were actually the conditions at Monday's NJSIAA Central/South Jersey Group II Tournament at Centerton Golf Course.
    Heavy, unforgiving ran and winds that gusted up to 40 miles per hour and blew steadily at no less than 20 made the course a nightmare to navigate and turned the qualifying round for next Monday's Tournament of Champions into less of a tournament and more of a scramble to survive.
    "I live in Belmar and I woke up at five in the morning and heard the wind and saw the rain and was like, 'Well, this is going to be just great'," said Manasquan senior Sam Gordon. "I was just hoping to break 85."
    Shooting an 85 actually wasn't such a terrible thing considering the conditions, but Gordon was better than that, carding a 79 on the 6,142-yard, par-71 course to place fifth and advance to the TOC next Monday at Beacon Hill Country Club in Atlantic Highlands. The top five individuals out of 69 participants moved on. Finishing his round on the par-4, 355-yard first hole, Gordon dropped his third shot three feet from the hole and then knocked down a par putt that helped him finish just high enough to extend his tournament season. Fittingly, the ball floated in the cup because the ground was so water-logged the cup had filled with water.
    "I guess it's good to get it over with and not have to come back tomorrow," said Gordon, who was the defending champion heading into the tournament. "I shot eight-over, but it can only get better from here without the rain."
    Gordon shot five-over on the par-35 front nine but battled back to go just three-over on the par-36 back that included a birdie on the par-3 12th. His score led the way for the Warriors to finish second as a team and earn the trip to the TOC that comes with finishing in the top two. CJ Davis came in behind Gordon with an 81 while Matt Caughey's 83 and Brian Riley's 84 gave the Warriors a 327. Eric Engler rounded out the lineup with a 90. Last season the Warriors shot a 317 but finished two strokes out of a trip to the championship round.
    "It was rough in the morning," Davis said. "No one wanted to play and the coaches didn't want to go out there, but when we came in and saw we had a shot to go to the TOC, especially after missing out by two strokes last year, it felt good to be in the hunt."
    Manasquan has played well in in dual matches this season, compiling a 10-2 record. But in their two tournaments prior to Monday, the Monmouth County and Shore Conference Tournaments, the Warriors could do no better than eighth. Even with their prior success at Centerton, it didn't look like Monday was going to be the day they broke through.
    "After the Monmouth County Tournament and Shore Conference Tournament, where we didn't play our best golf, it kind of demoralized us," Davis said. "But to come out and be able to advance to the TOC shows we're a better team than we showed in those two tournaments."
    "After today with our second-place showing I'm very proud of the kids," said Manasquan head coach Pete Cahill. "We have a good group, but the last two tournaments we didn't shoot our best, so it's nice to shoot a decent score to advance."
    Of the rest of the Shore Conference teams, Rumson-Fair Haven finished fourth with a 336, Pinelands was seventh with a 345 and Barnegat was 12th with a 385. Individually, after Gordon's 79 and Davis' 81 was Red Bank's Ryan Tuomenoksa with an 81, Rumson-Fair Haven's Charlie Edler and Dan O'Connor with 82s and Pinelands' John Schilling also with an 82 to finish in the top 10.
    Sweeping the team and individual titles was Allentown, which was led by champion Mike Argondizza's 74 and second-place finisher Matt Novozinsky's 75 in shooting a 318. Argondizza was particularly brilliant in shooting an even-par 35 on the front nine with birdies on holes No. 4 and No. 6. After bogeying two of his first three holes, he made par or better on six straight to assume the early lead. He bogeyed 10, 15 and 18 on the back nine but was otherwise consistent to grab the individual championship.
    "It was really tough out there today," Argondizza said. "I had to make a lot of adjustments - not hitting any full shots and choking up on the club - but I hit the ball pretty much solid all day and only had a couple bad holes."
    Just as it did for every golfer, the course, complete with puddles on the greens and debris in the fairways, didn't leave Argondizza feeling great after his first couple holes.
    "I didn't think we were going to play at all today," said Argondizza as he wrung water from his jacket. "I three-putted the first hole and on the second hole I sliced my drive way to the right. I said to myself, 'This is going to be a very long day,' but I had a nice par save and played great the rest of the way through."
    As much as the water on the greens made putting an adventure from any distance, the slow surface also allowed golfers to take some chances on their approach shots, which was what Argondizza took full advantage of. On his first birdie, he got to the green in two on the par-5 fourth and was able to two-putt in for a four. On the par-4 sixth he hit his 7-iron to within about four feet from the cup and sank his putt for birdie.
    Gordon also found that out early in his round and wasn't bashful if he had a good line to the green.
    "You could really bang 'em to the holes, you couldn't really put it past them," Gordon said. "I got up and down a lot, the only thing is you can't be too aggressive because into the wind sometimes you need to go up three extra clubs. You learn to be a lot more smart with club and shot selection in this weather."
    Many players and coaches left Centerton's clubhouse on Monday surely a bit annoyed that the weather at the only Central/South Jersey sectional not to be postponed on Monday might have cost them a trip to the TOC. But for those who survived, they literally navigated the storm to come out on top in one of their most satisfying rounds.
    "If I can play in this, I should be better when it's nice out, right?" Argondizza said. "This gives me a lot of confidence. I always knew I had the game to do well in tournaments. I just showed up today."
    Shore Conference golfers will get back into action at the NJSIAA sectional tournaments on Tuesday. The Central/South Jersey Group IV Tournament will be played at Linwood Country Club in Linwood, Atlantic County. The CJ/SJ Group III Tournament is at Running Deer Golf Club in Pittsgrove and the CJ/SJ Group I Tournament is at Town and Country Golf Links in Woodstown, Salem County. The Non-Public A and B Tournaments will be played on Wednesday at Mercer Oaks Golf Course in West Windsor, Mercer County.


Team Scoring
(Top two advance to Tournament of Champions)

1. Allentown 318
2. Manasquan 327
3. Lower Cape May 334
4. Rumson Fair-Haven 336
5. Middle Twp. 338
6. Burlington Twp. 344
7. Pinelands 345
8 (tie) West Deptford 348, Delsea 348
10. South Plainfield 367
11. Hopewell Valley 370
12. Barnegat 385
13. JFK-Iselin 398.

Individuals
(Top five advance to Tournament of Champions)
x-fourth on match of cards

1. Mike Argondizza (Allentown) 74

2. Matt Novozinsky (Allentown) 75

3. Jordan Ransom (Lower Cape May) 78

4. x-Tyler Zavorski (West Deptford) 79

5. Sam Gordon (Manasquan) 79

Beau Guarino (Burlington Twp.) 80

C.J. Davis (Manasquan) 81

Ryan Tuomenoksa (Red Bank) 81

Paul Griser (Lower Cape May) 81

Charlie Elder (Rumson-Fair Haven) 82

Dave May (Middle Twp.) 82

Dan O’Connor (Rumson-Fair Haven) 82

J.R. Licato (South Plainfield) 82

John Schilling (Pinelands) 82

Matt Caughey (Manasquan) 83

Shane Dooley (Burlington Twp.) 83

Bob Magee (Lower Cape May) 84

Nick Salemme (Allentown) 84

Brian Riley (Manasquan) 84

Ryan McCulley ( Delsea) 84

Kyle McMullin (Middle Twp.) 84

Chad Cerino (Delsea) 84

Mike Schutsky (Rumson-Fair Haven) 84

Matt Jakubowski (West Deptford) 84

Matt Scheeper (Delsea) 85

Will Morris (Allentown) 85

Dennis Roberts (Middle Twp.) 85

Curt Cramer (Pinelands) 85

James Fredericks (North Plainfield) 86

Eric Logue (Pinelands) 86

Alex Hicks (Middle Twp.) 87

C.J. Nafus (Allentown) 87

Erich Fredericks (North Plainfield) 87

Sam Warshauer (Rumson-Fair Haven) 88

Conrad Roman (Hopewell Valley) 89

Ryan Gittleson (Rumson-Fair Haven) 89

Wil Hawthorne (Point Boro) 90

Bobby Lovenduski (Burlington Twp.) 90

Eric Engler (Manasquan) 90

Brian Franzblau (Hopewell Valley) 90

Adam Kleinschmidt (Lower Cape May) 91

Matt Mendell (Burlington Twp.) 91

Bryan Osborn (JFK-Iselin) 91

Joe Prandato (Barnegat) 91

Sam Caucci (West Deptford) 92

Tony Bowen (Pinelands) 92

Chris Eobstel (Burlington Twp.) 92

Taylor Orr (Hopewell Valley) 92

Kevin Peters (Barnegat) 93

Shane Kelly (West Deptford) 93

Jason Kepple (Pinelands) 93

Brad Martin (South Plainfield) 93

Andrew Gray (South Plainfield) 93

Mike Maglione (JFK-Iselin) 94

Joe Decker (Delsea) 95

Brandon Grace (Lower Cape May) 96

Eric Hess (Hopewell Valley) 99

Vinnie Padulla (South Plainfield) 99

Brian Lodato (Barnegat) 99

Billy Hanouser (JFK-Iselin) 100

Rocco Burrell (Delsea) 101

Steve DeCeasar (West Deptford) 102

Jack Mulvihill (Barnegat) 102

Jordan Tucker (Barnegat) 104

Pat Gallagher (Hopewell Valley) 104

Rich Szeliga (South Plainfield) 106

Kevin Dean (JFK-Iselin) 113

Anthony Lizzano (FK Iselin) 116

Steve Modzelewski (Middle Twp.) 117




E-mail: badders@digitalsports.com