GOLF - LUCKY No. 77

By Bob Badders - Senior Writer

    LINWOOD -- He was one of the first golfers to finish his round at Linwood Country Club and his 77 jumped off the leaderboard as the best score of the day. More scores kept coming in and his 77 was still the best, but Jackson Memorial senior Steve Kezel was definitely sweating it out.
    "Win it?" Said Kezel when asked if he had his fingers crossed his scored would stay on top. "That would be amazing. But I'm just worrying about qualifying. Man I really hope this holds up."
    One of the last scores to come in was a 76 by defending Tournament of Champions winner Anthony Aloi of West Windsor-Plainsboro South to unseat the Jags senior, but there was no one else better than Kezel on Tuesday at the NJSIAA Central/South Jersey Group IV Tournament. His 77 gave him a second-place finish on the par-70 course and made him the first Jaguars golfer in about 10 years to qualify for the TOC.
    "I really just wanted to get top five and I'm not even sure it's hit me yet what I've done," Kezel said. "Without a doubt I'm just happy I made it there. Even if I go there and stink it won't matter. I made it and it's a great feeling."
    Kezel's seven-over round included birdies on holes No. 2 and No. 12. He started his day with a 39 on the par-34 front nine but picked up his game after making the turn with a two-over 38 on the par-36 back nine. Two of the day's toughest holes, No. 7 and No. 8, gave many golfers fits on Tuesday. But Kezel was able to par both of those holes, a feat that proved to be crucial on a day where mistakes separated those who moved on and those who did not.
    "Especially seven because it was right into the wind," Kezel said. "I hit my second shot 195 with a 3-iron, chipped that five feet away and made par."
    Monday's rain had the 6,339-yard course playing tougher than expected, but the wind that blows off the Lakes Bay with the Atlantic City skyline in the background makes being consistent a must. Kezel was just that on the back nine, as he hit all nine fairways to put himself in good position on a day where hitting irons was very difficult.
    "I was five over through 10 and just wanting to get top five and I knew if I kept playing well I should make it," Kezel said. "I hit all the fairways on the back nine and my chipping and putting came up big for me."
    Finishing tied for second but placing third via a match of cards was Manalapan junior Pat DiLeo. The Braves golfer had an identical 39-38 round like Kezel to qualify for the TOC for the first time in his career. His lone birdie came on No. 12, but he was consistent enough making pars the rest of the day to finish his round as one of just four golfers who broke 80.
    "I felt like I had what it took to move on," DiLeo said. "I didn't get to qualify my freshman or sophomore year so it feels very good."
    DiLeo said he expected the wind to play a major role in his success or failure on Tuesday and practiced his punch shots leading up to the tournament. Getting the ball to the green at Linwood can be tricky, so once you're there you don't have a lot of room for error with your putter. That's where DiLeo was solid for most of the day, including draining a 30-foot putt for par on hole No. 8. Even with a solid round behind him and having clinched a berth in the TOC, DiLeo couldn't stop thinking back at his final hole, No. 2, where he four-putted for a double-bogey when a two-putt would have put him in first place.
    "That's going to haunt me the rest of my life," DiLeo said. "They were going to impose a penalty on me earlier and I was thinking about that and it got me off my game."
    Earlier in his round, DiLeo was taking a few warmup swings when he struck a tree and sent pine needles falling to the ground. The rest of the players in his group contended that he had improved the path of his swing and should be penalized. After the round was complete, Colts Neck head coach Bryan Parks, who supervised the group, made a call to the USGA and they confirmed no penalty needed to be handed out.
    The next best scores from Shore Conference golfers came from Howell's Corey Carrick and Trevor Rockhill, who each shot 83 to lead the Rebels to a 341 team score. However, they missed out on a trip to the TOC by one stroke to second-place West Windsor-Plainsboro South. Marlboro's Brett Markowitz shot an 84 and the Mustangs finished tied for fourth with a 345. Colts Neck, led by Andrew Schonholtz' 86, finished tied for sixth with a 352. Lenape was the team champion with a 332.
    The Tournament of Champions is this coming Monday at Beacon Hill Country Club in Atlantic Highlands.



E-mail: badders@digitalsports.com