South boys golf drops tiebreakers
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville North's E.J. Kuebler puts on the fifth hole in a 318-297 loss to Clarence on Sept. 18 at Westwood Country Club. The Spartans are 4-2 overall. Photo by John Rusac Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Williamsville South's boys golf team was part of some unusual history last week.

The Billies lost both of its matches on tiebreakers to Sweet Home and Amherst. South tied Sweet Home, 295-295, on Tuesday, Sept. 18 and Amherst, 302-302, last Thursday, Sept. 20. Both matches were at Audubon Golf Course.

"Tying is an once-in-a-lifetime occurrence but back-to-back is unheard of," said South coach Al Monaco. "When it happened again, I couldn't believe it. But it did make for some great competition."

In the event of a tie, each team's seventh score is dropped. Unfortunately for South, dropping the seventh score resulted in a one-point loss versus Sweet Home, 249-250, and a two-point loss against Amherst, 254-256.

South and Sweet Home posted identical top three scores. South's John Winstel and Sweet Home's Dave Sykes each shot 38. South's PJ Klocke and Rob Munley and Sweet Home's Brian Barnas and Mark Rusch shot 40 and 41, respectively.

Amherst's Jake Struebing was medalist against South with a 38. Marty Jeras (40) and Mike Hong and Will Pelham (42 each) also shot well for the Tigers. Winstel again paced the Billies with a 40. Munley and Klocke each had a 42.

South lost to Williamsville North, 327-288, at Country Club of Buffalo on Monday.

The Billies (0-5) host first-place Clarence at Country Club of Buffalo on Thursday.

The Amherst scramble, featuring every team in the ECIC North large school division - Amherst, Sweet Home, East, North, South, Clarence - begins at 1 p.m. on Friday at Audubon.

Williamsville North

If the Spartans didn't have to play Clarence, they would be undefeated this season. The Red Devils handed North its only two losses all season, a 324-295 decision at Brookfield Country Club on Wednesday, Sept. 5 and 318-297 at Westwood Country Club on Monday, Sept. 17.

North coach John Burns said his starting eight players did not play up to their potential against Clarence, especially in the second meeting because a day later, on the same course, the Spartans beat Williamsville East, 288-318.

"Against East, we were able to keep the scores low on our entire lineup," said Burns.

Senior Matt Sweeney led North against East with a 39. Sophomores Ben Katz and Dan O'Connor each shot 40, seniors EJ Kuebler and Alex Ulrich had 41s and eighth-grader Jake Rosen chipped in a 43. Junior Matt Proven added a 44.

"It was our overall best score of the year," said Burns. "We had seven guys who scored five shots of one another. That's how Clarence beat us."

East freshman Sean Mahon was medalist with an even-par 36. Senior Justin Cardon shot a 41.

Kuebler had a team-best 41 in the team's second meeting with Clarence.

North's other wins came over Amherst, twice, and Williamsville South. The Spartans beat Amherst, 288-314 on Monday, Sept. 10 at Park Country Club and 308-346 on Friday, Sept. 14 at Westwood. They beat South, 316-330, on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at Westwood.

Burns said his team played to their potential in the first Amherst match. Kuebler was medalist with a 39. Katz chipped in a 39. Sophomore Will Pelham shot 39 for Amherst. Kuebler had a 39 in North's second meeting with Amherst and a 42 against South.

Kuebler, the team captain, leads the team in stroke average with a 40.5.

"He's shooting higher than what he wants; he wanted to average in the 30s before the season, but he has been consistent," said Burns. "His score doesn't go much higher than 40.5."

Katz's stroke average is 42.8 followed by Ullrich (43) and O'Connor and Sweeney (44.2 each).

North also tied Canisius, 20-20 (Monsignor Martin Association format), at Westwood on Friday, Sept. 7. Burns' son, Colin, a sophomore, plays for Canisius, as does his nephew, senior Peter Creighton, a four-year starter.

North (5-2) beat South, 288-327, on Monday at Country Club of Buffalo. They play East Thursday at Transit Valley Country Club before competing in the Amherst Scramble at Audubon Friday. They close out the regular season with a home and home matches with Sweet Home Oct. 3 and 4.