WW-PN golf shoots for CVC Valley title

Knights dominated nine-hole matches

By: Bob Nuse
   When it comes to playing a nine-hole golf match this year, there are few teams better than West Windsor-Plainsboro High North.
   The Knights entered Thursday’s season-ending tri-match against Ewing and Trenton at Mountain View needing a pair of wins to ensure a Colonial Valley Conference Valley Division title. The Knights entered the match with a 15-1 record, having won 13 straight matches. Ewing and Trenton had combined for four wins all season entering the match.
   "We’ve had a good season in the CVC," said North coach Doug Harman, whose team has broken 200 in seven of its matches this season. "The kids are a little disappointed we didn’t do better in the tournaments. We didn’t play well in the Mercer County Tournament or the state sectional tournament. It was just one of those things."
   The Knights have stumbled just once in a dual match this season, falling to Hopewell Valley in mid-April when they shot an uncharacteristic 235 as a team. But since that match they have not been beaten, earning a key win over Hopewell in the rematch two weeks ago.
   "We’ve made a good showing in the CVC," said junior Andrew Williams, who has joined sophomore Sean Willard at the top of the lineup for the Knights most of the season. "We had a bad showing at the Mercer County Tournament. And we didn’t play well at the states. But overall, we’ve had a good season."
   And without a senior on the roster this year, the future looks very bright for the Knights.
   "We thought before the season we could do well," Williams said. "I think next year we’ll be even better. We have a bunch of guys who love to play golf and we’re all planning to play a lot over the summer and get better. I’ll be getting my (driver’s) license this summer and I know I’ll be over at Mercer Oaks every day working on my game."
   Harman knows that attitude is prevalent throughout his team. He’s got a good young team that hopes to become an even better team a year from now.
   "We’ve had some strong days where we have been hitting on all cylinders," Harman said. "Our two low guys, Andrew and Sean, are both right around 39 for an average this season. And they are both guys that are going to bring that down next year because they love to play the game and they work hard.
   "I think Sean made the bigger leap this year because he had further to come than Andrew did. I think Andrew and Sean each had one match where they shot a 44 and everything else has been in the upper 30s. They’re both kids that get out and play a lot at Mercer Oaks and want to do whatever they can to improve their game."
   Willard and Williams are not alone in leading the Knights this season. Marc DeVincenzi and Jeff Yasinski have also been consistently around 40, while someone from the combination of Brian Short, Ahmed Gabale and Steve Farkas usually fills out the scoring.
   "I think everyone on the team feels like if we work hard over the summer we can be a very good team next year," said Williams, who shot a school record 34 at Cranbury Golf Club in a win over Lawrence. "We’ve had a good year, but we didn’t do as well as we wanted to do in the 18-hole tournaments. But I think everyone on this team is going to put in a lot of time over the summer."
   And that should make the Knights an even tougher team to deal with next spring, especially on the days when they play more than nine holes.