Two CNS Golfers competed in Rochester in NYSPHSAA State Golf Tournaments for the Boys and Girls. We are very happy to say that both Chloe Tice and Drew Kippen finished 17th in the State. What a great accomplishment for both of them! Round 1 was played on Sunday, with the girls playing at Wildwood Country Club and Mill Creek for the boys- and they both shot a 77! Round 2 was played today just before the thunderstorms came in - Drew, with a very sore right ankle, played remarkably and shot a 2 over 73, and Chloe scrambled unbelievably and finished with an 82. CONGRATS to both players! For the Section 3 competition- each team used 7 out of 9 scores for the team title Chloe was the overall low scorer out of the 9 section players and the team finished 6th overall. Drew's scores were used on both days and he helped Section 3 win the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!! CONGRATS to Drew and all the other players in the surrounding schools.
The day that Jamesville-DeWitt senior golfer Jackson Saroney had circled on his calendar for several years finally arrived Monday.
Saroney became the first Section III boys golfer to win the state championship since 2013 on Monday by crushing the field at Mill Creek Golf Club in Churchville.
Saroney led the pack with a two-round total of 10-under 132, six strokes ahead of his closest competitor. He shot a 65 Monday after posting a 67 on Sunday.
"Yeah, it's been circled on my calendar since I've been in ninth grade. And the past few years, I felt like I've had chances, but I've never really had control of the tournament," Saroney said. "And this year, I felt like my game, I was playing really, really well coming into it, and I felt like I was really in control of my game, especially mentally."
New Hartford's Derek Bard was the last Section III boys golfer to win a state title.
The total of 132 is the lowest 36-hole total in the history of the boys tournament, which dates back to 1973. Most of the previous tournaments had been played at Cornell's Robert Trent Jones golf course.
Saroney's sizzling effort also led Section III to the overall team title with an overall mark of plus-38. That was 14 shots ahead of second-place finisher Section II.
Saroney produced seven birdies and just one bogey on Monday. On Sunday, he posted five birdies and one bogey.
"I felt like the last two days I had a really good game plan of playing aggressive, but really smart to try to avoid bogeys, and I missed it in a lot of the right spots, and I had a lot of really good shots and I putted it really well," Saroney said. "I had a really good game plan. I was super, super prepared. So that's kind of what helped me not make many bogeys at all."
Saroney's previous high showing at states was fourth place as a sophomore.
Danny Young of Westhill finished tied for seventh at plus-4 146. Both he and Saroney will represent Section III at Sunday's Federation Tournament in Pleasant Valley.
Saroney will play collegiate golf at Penn State.
"I've been playing high school golf since I was in eighth grade and it just feels nice, being around a group of guys that you know from high school and that you play junior golf with and just kind of getting to know them and hanging out with them. It's a nice feeling to know that I ended it out as a champ," Saroney said.
Section III golf coordinator Erik Saroney, Jackson's father, said he couldn't remember the last time this section won the state title. Besides Jackson and Young, the other section competitors and their scorers were Tommy Goodelle of New Hartford (148, T-11), Drew Kippen of Cicero-North Syracuse (150, T-17), Braydon Sentz of Cooperstown, Jake Olearczyk of Holland Patent (150, T-17), Drew Mancini of Skaneateles (157, T-43), JP Lazzaro of New Hartford (157, T-45) and Jon Shoults of West Genesee (158, T-48).
"You never know what the other sections have. So I just think you go in and see where the chips fall," Erik Saroney said. "After we were tied for the lead after yesterday, you could just see the kids were really engaged and nobody caved in. They had a bad hole, and they would shake it off and keep battling. And the kids last night, they had a meeting to go over some rule stuff and everything for everybody, the kids looked ready to play. And it came through."
