How low can they go? Pretty low indeed — and that’s a good thing.
Fully half of East Hampton High School’s varsity golf team qualified for the Suffolk County individual championships on Friday with scores better than 85 on a nine-hole course. The team owns a 9-1 regular-season record — good for a first-place tie with Westhampton Beach — and is riding a nine-game winning streak into the county team tournament, which is to begin Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Amagansett Golf Club, formerly the South Fork Country Club.
Colin Kelley, a senior, shot a 72 Friday at the conference tournament, finishing in second place behind Westhampton Beach’s Zach Berger by just three strokes. “Colin’s been our number-one player for the entire season, and he’s looking to have a solid showing in the county tournament,” said East Hampton’s head coach, Rich King.
Also qualifying for the individual county meet, which was to have been played on Monday at the Pine Hills Golf Club in Manorville, were Andrew Brown and Pema Edwards, who are seniors, and Charlie McMillan and Ronan Walters, both juniors.
“They’re all very consistent players,” King said. In terms of ability level, “There’s not much difference between the five of them. They’re all, at this point, veteran players who are very capable of posting low numbers.”
Within the Bonac roster, the talent is so tight that there’s only a two-shot difference in scoring average between Kelley and Val Pipino, the sixth man. Rounding out the varsity roster are Lucas Centolanza, Dylan Pitts, and Mike Hren, who are seniors, and Miles Menu, a junior.
Every player on the roster, King reported, “contributed to the success of the team. Lucas and Val played in some big dual meet matches during the season where they played well, and we’re going to count on those guys to be part of the team tournament as well.”
Most of them are returning players from last year’s team, which had lost only one senior to graduation in June. “That obviously brings back a lot of experience, which is why I think we had so much consistency throughout this season,” their coach said.
Thursday’s team playoff opponent hadn’t been determined as of press time this week, but King has confidence in the Bonac boys’ ability to compete. The team’s only loss was to Westhampton Beach, in the first dual meet of the season, but East Hampton later beat the team in their second matchup.
“Everyone shares in the success of the team,” King said. “In any given match, different players have stepped up throughout the season. It’s been a true team effort.”
