Springfield’s Stephen Suarez and India’s Rahul Bakshi are off to a great start in the New Jersey Junior Golf Competition tour.
Both picked up their second wins of the young season on Thursday on the Cranbury Golf Course.
Suarez, 15, a junior at Oratory Prep in Summit, got off to a shaky start with a double-bogey on the first hole. But he quickly settled down and got into a par-making mode and carded a 77. He won the boys 14-15-year-old division by three strokes over Thomas Huton of Ridgewood (80). Chris Piumelli of Mountain Lakes took third on a match of cards at 82.
Bakshi captured the boys 12-13-year-old division for the second time with the best score of the day, a 75. Hamilton’s Jack Murphy was runner-up five strokes behind at 80. Morganville’s Keith Markowitz was third (81).
Bordentown’s Eric Timm posed a come-from-behind win on the back nine to win the boys 16-17 division. He was one over par on the last nine holes, which enabled him to score a 76 and win by three strokes over Andrew Silver of Bridgewater and Craig Tully of Mountain Lakes, who carded 79s. A match of cards gave Silver second place.
In the nine-hole boys 9-11 competition, Kevin Lee of Monroe won by two strokes over Bernardsville’s Austin Zurlon, 39-41. Michael DeGennaro of Colts Neck was third (47).
The girls 15-17-year-old division provided the drama of the day. Christina Hall of Wall Township, Anne O’Leary of Fair Hills and Jacqueline Stean of Red Bank finished in a three-way tie, having scored 85s. A playoff was required to determined the division winner. Red Bank’s Stean had the momentum going into the playoff after her 40 on the back nine helped her catch Hall and O’Leary. But on the first hole of the playoff, she had a double-bogey and was eliminated, finishing third.
On the second hole, a par-3, Hall won the playoff with a par. O’Leary, gunning for her second win of the junior golf circuit, settled for second.
Brittany Cardinale of Staten Island, N.Y., won the girls 9-11 division with a 62 over nine holes.
Yesterday, Lakewood’s Eagle Ridge Golf Club hosted the next stop on the NJJGC 2004 tour. On Monday, the junior golf competition will move to Bayville at Cedar Creek Golf Course.
For details on the NJJGC and its upcoming schedule, call (732) 683-9042, go to www.njjgc.com, or write to Chuck DiLeo, NJJGC, P.O. Box 617, Englishtown 07726.