MHS golfers win Group II title

Boger’s 78 leads Cougars to another impressive showing

By: Bob Nuse
   Landon Boger didn’t have to be around his new Montgomery High golf teammates long to realize there was a wealth of talent on the team.
   "This is my first year playing in New Jersey," said Boger, a sophomore who moved to Montgomery from Arkansas last summer. "Just by looking at the other guys and seeing them play a little, I knew we were going to have a good team."
   Even Boger may not have realized just how good the Cougars were going to be. They entered Thursday’s scheduled match with Somerville hoping to put the finishing touches on an undefeated regular season. On Monday, they shot a team score of 326 at Burlington Country Club to capture the Group II state championship by five shots over Haddonfield. The Cougars’ score was also good enough to earn them a seventh-place Tournament of Champions finish, just five shots behind overall champion Westfield.
   The strong effort on Wednesday comes on the heels of a second-place finish in the Somerset County Tournament, a first-place finish in the Skyland Conference Tournament, and a first-place effort at the Cherry Valley Invitational.
   In each instance, Montgomery seems to play a little better than the tournament before.
   "They’re proving it in every match," Montgomery coach Charlie Olenick said. "It seems like each match we have a different low guy on the team. We keep hoping that one day they’ll all put it put it together at the same time and that could be something to see.
   "We were only five shots away from taking the whole thing. And each one of them was disappointed with the way they played on one of their nines. So we were right there with a chance to take the whole thing."
   Boger shot a 78 to lead the way for Montgomery on Monday. Steve Mottola followed with an 81, while Dan Treichler shot 83 and Steve Fischer recorded an 84.
   "We went down there for the Group II trophy and we got it," said Olenick, whose team has won 25 straight dual matches dating back to last season. "I don’t know if they went down there thinking they had a chance to win the whole thing, but we were close and it was fun to see them all play so well. There are a lot of good golfers in this state and we were right there with them."
   The Cougars are happy to have added a new one in Boger, who was a high-level player in Arkansas as a freshman. He has quickly adapted to the New Jersey courses and has made an impact for Montgomery.
   "The courses are different, but golf is golf," said Boger, who started swinging a club at age 2 and hasn’t stop since. "I had a chance to play Cherry Valley once before the season with Steve Fischer and it is a great course. Our whole team has had people play well. But I still don’t think we’ve all put it together on the same day.
   "I’m excited about the season we’ve had and we have some good players coming up, so I think we can do just as well next year."
   Over the last two years the Cougars are 29-1. They also managed to avenge a couple of their earlier setbacks this season with their strong effort on Monday.
   "We had lost to Ridge in the county tournament, but then we beat them by five shots at the Tournament of Champions," Olenick said. "And we lost by two to Haddonfield at the sectional tournament, but then beat them by five this time. So for us, it’s been a real nice season."
   But a season that still leaves Olenick wondering what it would be like to see all of his players on top of their game on the same day.
   "They’ve all had great rounds this year," the Cougar coach said. "But I don’t think we’ve had a day yet where they’ve all come off thinking they could not have played better. This is really a great group and they’ve played well. You just wonder what it might be like if we had that one day where they all played as well as they could play.
   "Our top four have all consistently shot in the 30s this year. And each of them is capable of shooting even better. We’ve had guys shot 32 and 33 this year. So it’s a talented group."
   Even without that day the Cougars have had themselves quite a season. And Monday’s performance was certainly a great way to close it out.