Matches show AHS players they only can control what they do on the course.
By: Kyle Moylan
Doug Hunt has said it before and he will probably say it again:
"Golf isn’t like football or some of the other sports," the Allentown High School long-time golf coach noted in the past. "You don’t play defense."
Golfers can not control what their opponents do on a particular day. Golfers can only control what they do on the course. As a result, Allentown had a pair of peculiar matches last week. It had a match against West Windsor South which it couldn’t win. Then, against Ewing, it had one which would have been hard to lose even if it tried.
Playing against West Windsor South back on April 10, Allentown played well in a 203-222 setback to West Windsor in a match held in the rain.
"That was not too bad of a score for us," Hunt noted. "West Windsor was just unconscious with a score of 203 in less than ideal playing conditions. They were very good."
Ron Gesualdo had the low round of the match for Allentown with a score of 41. Brad Horner shot a 44, Matt Messinger and Eric Coccia each shot a 45, Marc Batzel a 47 and Craig Wharton a 50. By comparison, West Windsor’s fifth player shot a 40.
"That’s just a very good team," Hunt noted.
Playing against Ewing at Mountain View last Thursday, Allentown shot a solid round of 218. Not that it really mattered in the team score. Ewing came in with a round of 271.
Horner shot a 40, Messinger a 42, Gesualdo a 43, Batzel a 45, Lee Christoff a 48 and Wharton a 59.
"We played a little better," Hunt said. "We shot a 222 in the rain and a 218 that day."
What was really important about this match was the Allentown golfers got a chance to play and perform well on the course where the Mercer County championships will be held later this year.
"It was good to play there," Hunt noted. "We’ll even play there a couple of more times before the county match. That will help."
Allentown is scheduled to have a very busy week. In fact, Allentown should be very busy the rest of the season. The way spring vacation fell this year cost the team the opening week of the season. As a result, those matches will be squeezed into the schedule.
Allentown was scheduled to golf against Hamilton on Tuesday and Hightstown this past Wednesday. Allentown will compete against Notre Dame today at the Princeton Country Club. Allentown will be back at the Cream Ridge course on Friday to face Trenton.
Not that the opponent matters too much in golf. It’s the personal challenge and the course. It always has been. Always will be.