Ryan tryin’ to rebound

By: Redd E. Patrick
   Ryan Cohen would like to forget the 2004 golf season, but then again, if he didn’t go through everything he did a year ago, he may not have the positive outlook he does now.
   As a sophomore, Cohen averaged two strokes-over-par in helping South Brunswick win its first Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament title.
   A year ago, as a junior, Cohen’s season began to deteriorate. Averaging four, then five strokes-over-par, Cohen wound up getting sick and leaving the team prior to the GMC Tournament. The Vikings finished third.
   "There was no growth last year," said Cohen. "I was trying to hang in there, but it just wasn’t happening. I was dead weight, I was not helping the team.’
   Cohen didn’t play again, until one day in the summer when he decided to hit the links again at the Bunker Hill Golf Course with a few teammates.
   "I went out and shot 33," said Cohen. "The guys were saying, ‘man, we could have used you last year.’ But I knew then I wanted to get back into it. Last year, I lost sight of what golf was all about and what it meant to me. I have a totally different mindset this year."
   Cohen and his mates are off to a 3-0 mark in 2005. He has shot seven, six and nine-over-par so far, but everything considering, he’ll take it.
   "I had surgery three weeks ago to have my jaw sewed," said Cohen. "The day before the season, I got the OK from the doctor to play. This week, on Monday, I had brackets taken off and I went out and shot 39 in a practice round, so now I feel great. I want to get my average down to two-over-par."
   The Vikings have a three-day stretch beginning Wednesday with a home date vs. Middlesex, then a huge date at perennial GMC power East Brunswick on Thursday and a home match with Hillsborough on Friday.
   In match with J.P. Stevens at Bunker Hill last week, South Brunswick prevailed 166-179. Sophomores Rich Stewart and Christian Dellow led the way with 40 and 41, followed by Cohen’s 42 and senior Rob Ayala’s 43.
   The Vikings then posted a clutch 174-177 victory over West Windsor-Plainsboro South at Bunker Hill. Ayala, Dellow and senior Brian McCracken all shot 43s, followed by a 45 from Cohen.