Teifer top finisher for Little Tigers
By: Bob Nuse
The Princeton High golf team has high hopes for this season.
While most teams shoot for making the state tournament, the Little Tigers have their sights set a little higher they want to win the state tournament.
On Friday, Princeton got its first look at where it stands among the best in the state when it finished tied for sixth at the Garden State Cup. The 18-hole event, which featured 21 of the best teams in the state, was played at Blue Heron Pines East Course in Galloway Township in South Jersey.
Princeton, which finished sixth at the Tournament of Champions last year, finished with a team score of 318. Oakcrest won the event with a 308, while Peddie was second with a 311. Leading the way for the Little Tigers was junior Peter Teifer, who shot a 4-over par 75 and finished 10th as an individual. Steve Foley of Immaculata shot a 68 and won the individual title in a playoff.
"It was a great experience playing in a tournament like that," said Teifer, who has averaged 37.5 in two regular season matches to help the Little Tigers start the season 2-0. "Every guy in the group that I played with shot in the 70s. I shot a 75. It was just a great experience to play on a course like that against that kind of competition. They said it was all teams that were in the Top 20 in the state. You had to be invited to play in the tournament."
Based on what Princeton has done the last couple of years, the Little Tigers certainly deserved to be in the field. In fact, Teifer feels like the experience alone made the tournament a worthwhile event, even if Princeton didn’t finish first.
"You got a chance to play with and against the best players in the state," he said. "It was different than just playing against the players in (Mercer) county. There are some good teams in Mercer, but this was a different experience because every team there was really good."
The Little Tigers will get another taste of what it is like to play against the best competition when they travel to South Carolina later in the week to participate in a tournament against some of the best teams in the country. It’s another chance to get in 18 holes in one day.
"It always helps to play in tournaments like that," Teifer said. "We usually play the county tournament, the Cherry Valley tournament, and then states. So these are more chances to play good courses and good competition."
It helps Teifer, who is still getting his golf game back in shape after a full season of ice hockey.
"This year I didn’t pick up a club through the winter," Teifer said. "I came out the first day and shot a 42 and I’ve gone progressively down since then. Normally, I’ll try to get out some before the season, but I was real busy with hockey. I know some of the kids take trips to Florida to get ready. I have an uncle who lives in Florida, so I could go down and play, but I just didn’t have time."
He’s certainly not showing any signs of rust this spring. Teifer shot a 37 in an opening win over Hamilton, then shot 38 on Thursday against Allentown. In that win, five different Little Tigers broke 40 as the team shot a 186.
"We want to win the state championship this year, that’s our goal, to finish first in the state," Teifer said. "We have a good group of seniors who have been successful for three years. We know we always have five guys that we can count on to put up a big score. A lot of times teams know they have three good golfers, we know we have five. It’s great to have that kind of depth."
And on Friday, that depth was enough to lift the Little Tigers to a sixth-place finish in a field of some of the best golf teams in the state.

