Thirty-nine golfers in Section II will converge on Orchard Creek Golf Club in Altamont, NY Tuesday when the Class A, B, CD playoffs take place.

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The section will take the top 16 from Tuesday (a playoff if there is a tie for the 16th spot) for Thursday's round..On Thursday, there will be four groups going off starting at 10 a.m., the leaders will be in the last foursome. After Thursday’s round, the nine players with the best 36-hole total will be named as the Section II team for the state tournament in June 2012. The 10th and 11th players as alternate 1 & 2 in case someone is unable to go to Cornell in June.

Bethlehem High School head golf coach Richard Villa has a couple of golfers in Victor Fox and Jeff Palmerino competing in the playoffs.

Fox, a junior, earned medalist honors with 71 at the Class A sectionals held last Wednesday at the Town of Colonie Golf Course. Fox played at Orchard Creek in 2009 and missed the cut by a couple of strokes. He took his sophomore year off to try and focus on school and play in more tournaments.

"I didn't want to get behind in my school work and the tournaments I was looking to play in were ones that it took me to travel to. I didn't want to have to travel to other tournaments and not be there for the team," said Fox.

So Fox has some unfinished business and Villa feels he can conquer Orchard Creek this time around.

"Orchard Creek is a tough track when you stretch it out like they probably will for the ABCD playoffs. They will also probably get the greens rolling pretty fast. With some of the greens there, getting on the green is not enough; you have to get on the right part of the green to have a chance to get a birdie or par," he said. "It's a pretty wide-open track, but there are holes there where you just have to try to make par and avoid big numbers. Not just for Vic and Jeff, but for all of these players, it will be about handling the pressure and managing the game they bring to the course that day."

Many in the field have been here before and four players – DJ Tozier (2010) of Shenendehowa along with Aaron Simone (Niskayuna), Alex Kinkaid (Shenendehowa) and Austin Teal (all 2011) of Albany Academy – have been on the Section team in previous years.

"From the Academy perspective, seniors Austin (Teal) and Justin (Brock) both are capable of making the Section team. We play at Orchard Creek during the season – against Schalmont – so they know the course pretty well. Austin was on the Section II team last year and Justin made it to the round of 16 two years ago, but came up short," said Jak Bestle, Albany Academy coach and Section II Chairman.

There are some really good players in the Bs and CDs as well. SJ McDermott, Granville, and Matt Parrottino, Voorheesville, from the CDs are strong players. Alex Gibson of Glens Falls, the medalist from the Bs, is a player to watch. Cory Purcell of Catholic Central was here last year and Ryan Lynch of Schalmont knows the course well. Orchard Creek is Schalmont's home course.

And the playoffs will include two female golfers, Bailey Cocca of Shaker and Grace Ziamandanis of Voorheesville.

The Qualifiers are as follows:

Class A

Victor Fox (Bethlehem) 71, Jon Farah (Niskayuna), 74, Calvin Beckwith (Saratoga), DJ Tozier (Shenendehowa), Bobby McCarthy (Shenendehowa) 75, Zach Scala (Ballston Spa), Davis Jensen (Shaker), Hunter Donovan (Shaker), Alex Kinkaid (Shenendehowa) 76, Aaron Simone (Niskayuna), Jimmy Greg (Shenendehowa) 77, Tim LaSarso (Queensbury), Devin Coffey (Saratoga), Bailey Cocca (Shaker) 78, Austin Teal (Albany Academy), Justin Brock (Albany Academy), Jeff Palmerino (Bethlehem), David Wellington (BH-BL), Dylan Gladd (Columbia), Luke Goldstock (Niskayuna), Christian Flemming (Saratoga) 79

 

Class B

Alex Gibson (Glens Falls) 81, Jacob Rounds (Broadalbin Perth), David Renko (Scotia-Glenville), Cody Husek (Broadalbin Perth) 83, Cory Purcell (CCHS), Joey Kilmartin (Ichabod Crane), Ryan Lynch (Schalmont) 84, Quinion Washburn (South Glens Falls), Mitch Vdoviak (Johnstown) 86.

 

Class C-D

S.J. McDermott (Granville) 76, Matt Parrottino (Voorheesville) 79; Kyle Preusser (Taconic Hills) 82, Elliott Hansen (Greenwich) 83, Josh Manko (Sharon Springs) 84, Grace Ziamandanis (Voorheesville), David Malfetano (Voorheesville) 85, Connor LeClair (Coxsackie-Athens), Evan Ottman (Schoharie) 86.

Article by Mike Collar

 

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