| troy golf column 5/8 |
| Wednesday, 07 May 2008 | |
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Don’t read any further if you can’t stand the sight of blood.The Capital District’s best amateur golfers suffered their worst loss ever Wednesday against the area’s profession¬ als in the Challenge Cup.“It’s a bad defeat,” former Albany County champion Jon- Michael Socaris said after¬ wards. “We’ll have to swallow hard and come back better next year.”Socaris and the rest of the amateurs were ambushed, 44½-9½, by the Northeastern New York PGA at Albany Country Club. Don’t read any further if you can’t stand the sight of blood.The Capital District’s best amateur golfers suffered their worst loss ever Wednesday against the area’s profession¬ als in the Challenge Cup.“It’s a bad defeat,” former Albany County champion Jon- Michael Socaris said after¬ wards. “We’ll have to swallow hard and come back better next year.”Socaris and the rest of the amateurs were ambushed, 44½-9½, by the Northeastern New York PGA at Albany Country Club.It was an incredible 17 1/2 to ½ after nine holes.The professionals ran their winning streak to three in a row – longest for them in the series which began in 1976. The amateurs still lead the overall series, 8-6-1, however.Mill Road Acres Golf Club head pro Peter Gerard was confident his team would win, but he didn’t think the outcome would be so great.“I’m pretty surprised by that,” said Gerard, the defending section’s Player of the Year. “The amateurs usually play more golf than the profession¬ als. There were a lot of good players here.”Gerard rattled off five birdies with Taconic Golf Club head pro Rick Pohle. They blanked an amateur team of Country Club of Troy’s David Mooradi¬ an and Joe Quillinan.Schenectady native Jeremy Kerr, head pro at Oneonta Country Club, didn’t seem squeamish about the ava¬ lanche of pars and birdies.“I’m not surprised,” said Kerr, former assistant pro at Shaker Ridge Country Club, Wolferts Roost Country Club and Colonie Golf & Country Club. “My team putted very well.”“It wound up a lot more lop- sided than I thought it would,” Quillinan said. “Rick and Pete played very well.”Quillinan added, “I don’t blame anything. It was just a beating.”A three-time Tri-County Golf Association champ and former Rensselaer County titlist, Mooradian said, “I care about this match….but I won’t lose any sleep from losing. I’m still searching for my golf swing.”Besides the Gerard-Pohle team, Cobleskill Golf & Country Club head pro Bob Meheran and Wyantenuck CC’s Tom Sullivan also posted a 9-0 vic¬ tory.Best players for the ama¬ teurs were 2007 New York State Golf Association Mid-Am champion John Vaccaro, Schuyler Meadows Club’s David Hayes, Jon-Michael Socaris of Capital Hills at Albany and Dan Russo of Antlers Country Club.The professionals buried the amateurs, 35 ½ -18 ½ last year. In 2006, the score was 34 ½-19 ½.Skidmore Gains: The Skid¬ more College golf team has earned another shot at an NCAA Division III champi¬ onship.The Thoroughbreds are led by sophomore shot-maker Matt Canavan of Saratoga Springs. He is a former New York State Golf Association boys’ champi¬ on who plays out of McGregor Links Country Club.Canavan won both the Liber¬ ty League Championship and Hamilton College Tournament. Skidmore, which won seven tournaments this year, opens the NCAAs in Braselton, Geori¬ ga next Wednesday.Overheard: It’s great to see Louise Starzenski once again knocking in long putts. The Saratoga Golf & Polo Club member tells me her ailing back is fine this year….Former Saratoga National Golf Club men’s champion Tim Zilka says he’s leaving the area in a few weeks to move to Utah. I’ll miss him.That was quite a donnybrook Monday when professional golfers were handed 2-stroke penalties for arriving at the first tee late at Saratoga Golf & Polo Club. Willie King put on quite a fuss.Stadium Golf Club in Sch¬ enectady hosts a Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital seminar on golf on May 30 at 8:30 a.m. Tom Quinn, national coordina¬ tor of the National Amputee Golf Association, will serve as instructor. Call 382-4576 for details.The Spero Golf Tournament for St. Jude’s Children’s Reasearch Hospital of Albany benefits from a tournament July 19 at Fairways of Half¬ moon Golf Course. Cost is $140 per golfer.Reminder: The fourth annu¬ al Sgt. David Fisher Golf Tour¬ nament will be held May 19 at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Clifton Park. Fisher, a graduate of Water¬ vliet High School and Hudson Valley Community College, was killed Dec. 1, 2004 when the Humvee he was riding in rolled over in Baghdad. Fisher, then 21, a National Guards¬ man, was serving with the 42nd Infantry “Rainbow” Divi¬ sion. His unit was on patrol in Baghdad. Cost to play in the golf tour¬ nament is $110 per individual and $440 per foursome. Dead¬ line to enter is this Saturday. Golfers will tee off at 8 a.m. in a shotgun start.Proceeds from the event will help Watervliet High School, Watervliet Civic Center, Wounded Warriors and other organizations. For more details, contact Matt LaBom¬ bard at 858-7639.Country Club of Troy hosts the Whitney M. Young Jr. Golf Invitational on June 2. Pro¬ ceeds will benefit the founda¬ tion’s health services.There will be a 12:30 shot¬ gun start. For more details call Takara Wiles at 465-4771.Hole–in-One: Former Coun¬ try Club of Troy assistant pro Brian Damon aced the 165- yard 13th hole at Schenectady Municipal Golf Course. Brian, who used a 7-iron, tells me it is his third career hole-in-one.Eagles: At Mechanicville Golf Club Art Munger eagled the eighth hole with a driver, 4- iron and wedge; and Mike Ciul¬ la eagled the third hole with a driver and a chip-in.This Week’s Elite Eight: 1., Tom Oppedisano; 2., Peter Gerard; 3., John Vaccaro; 4., Glenn Davis; 5., Frank Mellet; 6., Aaron AuBuchon; 7., Jim Mueller; 8., (tie) John Neet; Mike Stefanik.Mike Dyer can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
