Vikings go 11-2 for season with one match to go
The Cape Henlopen High School Vikings golf team put up two more wins in recent contests, bringing themselves to an 11-2 record.
The team does not depend on a particular group of four golfers. Instead, head coach Claudio Smarrelli has been mixing and matching through the spring. His combinations have tended to work out nicely, even in the April 14 two-stroke loss to Sussex Tech, where the Vikings posted their season-best team score.
The Vikings hosted Sussex Central May 7 at Rehoboth Beach Country Club, in a rain-and-thunder-and-lightning-delayed match that clearly affected the scores of both teams, as the final totaled 204-215.
Quincy Duckworth, perhaps appropriately for the weather, led all scorers with a 48. Mike DeStasio struggled a bit, coming in with an uncharacteristic 51. Sophomore Jack Ashby posted a 52, while freshman Matthew Zehner contributed a 53 to complete the team scoring.
The Vikings then traveled to Heritage Shores Club near Bridgeville May 13, and eked out a two-stroke victory over Woodbridge, 187-189.
The course was beautiful and in good shape, but the winds were up quite a bit. Nate Milligan of Woodbridge won medalist honors with his 40, followed by Cape’s Mason Jones and his 41.
Jones said he had several birdie chances, but none fell in. “I had a really good par on the par 3 over the water [14th], and that was fun,” Jones said.
Duckworth shot another 48, on what he described as a good day marred only by an 8 on a par 5, including a shot into a pond. “I made a really good sand shot on the 16th hole, a par 3. I hit it out to about three feet, and made bogey,” Duckworth said.
Luke Brenner said he made several greens in regulation, but he left himself far from the hole on most of those occasions. “I had a lot of three-putts,” he said, on the way to his 49.
DeStasio also shot a 49, thanks mostly to two bad holes. “I made a quadruple bogey on the par 3 [14th], and followed that right up with a triple bogey on the par 5 [15th]. I played fine other than that,” he said.
After the Dover match May 15, the team will compete in the Henlopen Conference championship Wednesday, May 21. The state championship takes place after Memorial Day at Maple Dale Country Club.
First Rookery Cup a success
Rookery Golf pros Butch Holtzclaw and Kyle Deas captained two teams in the inaugural Rookery Cup tournament, styled after the Ryder Cup series. Twenty-four Rookery regulars from both the north and south courses played a better ball of partners format on the Rookery South course May 3, and the next day competed in individual matches.
Deas and Holtzclaw split the teams by handicaps to produce as even a match as possible, but that’s not what happened. The Green team beat the Red team 8-4 on the first day, and by 13.75 points to 9.23 points on the second.
Despite the lopsided margin, Holtzclaw said, “This was a great event that everyone seemed to enjoy.”
The Red team included Deas, John Cole, Dale Jarrell, Brett Warren, Jim Hutchins, Jim Lingo, Ken Miller, Joe Zingaro, Mike Cavanaugh, Shad McDuff, Gary Norris, Andy Paternoster, and Bill Barnard.
The Green team included Holtzclaw, Charlie Gouert, Bob Burd, Brendan Kelly, Pete Morole, Gerald Burbage, Don Dwyer, Curt Rayner, John Hensley, Gene Burdine, Dr. Venkataramana, Chris Osberg, and yours truly.
Local club competition results
The Kings Creek Ladies 9-Hole group played a Bakers Dozen competition May 8. Kathy Nave won first place, and Robbie Monkman came in second. Nave also put her tee shot to two-feet-two-inches on the 11th hole for the closest to the pin contest.
The Sussex Pines 18-Hole Ladies played a fewest putts contest May 13. Carol Love took first with only 28 putts, followed by Terry Daisey and Jennifer Hagy, both of whom used 33 putts for their rounds.
