Batavia, Geneva defend Cup
The first two rounds of the McChensey Cup could not have been more hotly contested Monday afternoon at the Geneva Country Club.
The boys golfers from the two St. Charles high schools held a point lead over their Upstate Eight Conference River Division rivals Batavia and Geneva with the singles matches in the Ryder Cup-style format still looming.
The St. Charles teams were looking good as the final dozen individual matches were coming to a close, only to have two results completely alter the competition.
Batavia junior Taylor Brandt and Dan Cisco, a junior at Geneva, each won their matches by scores of 7-and-2 (each hole in the nine-hole final of the 36-hole format was worth a point).
The Brandt victory negated St. Charles’ 5-point lead, and the Cisco verdict provided the essential difference as the Batavia-Geneva union produced a 174.5-167.5 victory over the Saints and North Stars.
“There are big momentum swings (in match play),” Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker said of the twin one-sided matches that paved the way for the Bulldogs and Vikings to take a 3-2 lead in the five-year exhibition series. “It’s always a big turnaround when you have matches like (Brandt and Cisco authored).”
The four schools drew no blood in the opening round — nine-hole better ball — with the rivals scoring 27 points each.
St. Charles East and St. Charles North recaptured the lead when the Saints’ Connor Dieckman and the North Stars’ Raghav Cherala collaborated for a decisive 12-6 win in the 18-hole alternate shot competition.
The St. Charles schools maintained an ever-tenuous grip on the symbolic tournament plaque during the early stages of the 12 singles matches as North junior Matt Samuelson aced the par-3 sixth hole to frame his 2-shot victory.
“It was a very cool experience,” Samuelson said after his sawed-off 3-wood one-hopped into the jar on the 200-yard downhill hole. “It was my first hole-in-one ever. The ball divot was five or six feet short (of the pin). I was glad I could pull out the match with a hole-in-one.”
But Brandt negated St. Charles’ seemingly comfortable lead with his victory moments later.
“(My opponent) only won one hole,” Brandt said. “I usually don’t do that (hit fairways and greens in regulation with consistency). I was doing that today. I was winning (holes) with pars, really. I was forcing him to make putts (to halve holes).”
Batavia and Geneva were still staring at a deficit of a single point when Cisco delivered the knockout blow for the two teams with his level-par 34 showing that earned 5 more critical points.
“(My St. Charles East foe) never recovered after I won a couple of holes (early),” Cisco said.
Other singles winners for Batavia and Geneva in the singles were Ted Cuscaden (Geneva), Jacob Piechota (Batavia), Colin Lillibridge (Geneva) and Billy Zwick (Batavia).
“I anticipated a little closer match,” said Lillibridge, the Vikings’ top player who enjoyed a 4-point win. “I played safe and smart and put the pressure on (my opponent).”
“I congratulate the Bulldogs for carrying the Vikings,” Geneva coach Bill Koehn said. “Looking at the scores, I don’t think our kids played all that well.”