No Stall-ing progress of Cougar senior

Top MHS golfer is seventh at SCT

By: Bob Nuse
   Jason Stall has made the kind of improvement on the golf course Charlie Olenick would like to see from all of his players.
   "He came to us as a freshman the year we won the Group II championship," said Olenick, the veteran Montgomery High golf coach. "He just missed out on a spot in the varsity lineup and didn’t play in varsity matches that year. As a sophomore he showed improvement and played in five or six matches and he continued to improve. Last year he was our No. 2 player behind (Landon) Boger.
   "He’s the kind of kid that, if you have the innate ability and take a liking to the sport, can develop into a player. He has the ability to be one of the better players in the state."
   Stall is certainly one of the better players in Montgomery this year. In fact, he’s been the best Cougar player in a relatively young lineup. He’s the most experienced player back in the lineup, and on Monday finished seventh at the Somerset County Tournament.
   "He’s the only player we have back that played on the tournament team last year," Olenick said. "Our No. 6 player from last year, Gino Marfuggi, is back, but everyone else is new. We have some younger players who are coming along. But the teams we have been playing are extremely good. Ridge shot a 199 against us. Bridgewater shot a 200 against us at Cherry Valley. The teams in Somerset County and our conference are really good teams."
   Stall shot a 77 at Neshanic Valley Golf Course on Monday, finishing just three shots off the lead at the SCT. And, with just four holes left to play, he was actually in position to make a run at the tournament title.
   "I played well, but I was disappointed because I bogeyed three of the last four holes," Stall said. "If I could have pared out, I would have tied (Rob) Cronheim and (Kevin) Foley. I actually started well and it wasn’t like I was hitting bad shots. My putts just didn’t go in. After the first bogey or two it felt like I had to make a big shot and that’s not what you want to do."
   Stall has certainly come a long way in his four years with the Cougars. And now, after three years of playing behind Boger, he is the top player that the younger players can aspire to catch.
   "It’s very different," Stall said. "It is a different mentality with the four guys that we lost not here, especially with Landon gone because he was such a good player for us. You feel like you need to shoot better scores, but there is really nothing you can do to make the other guys shoot better.
   "You want to give them something to shoot for, but you don’t want them trying to take too many chances trying to shoot too low. If you start taking too many chances, you can put up a big number real quick."
   So far, Montgomery has started the season an uncharacteristic 0-3. But, the Cougars feel like they have enough talent to make this into the successful season they have come to expect. Stall would like to be the player that leads them to that success.
   "It’s hard sometimes because you’re not directly playing against the other team," Stall said. "There is not a lot you can do about it. We have not played badly. It’s just that the other teams have played well. We seem to play better as a team in the tournaments.
   "I think I have gotten better, but my scores have not gotten any lower. I feel like I am better at every part of my game except my score. I feel like I am on the brink, I just have to put it all together. It’s still early and there is a lot of the season left."
   The next big event for Montgomery is the annual Cherry Valley Invitational, which will be held May 1 at Cherry Valley Country Club. The event will once again feature the best teams in the area.
   "We have 20 teams in it this year and it should be a real good tournament," Olenick said. "It is getting recognized as one of the premier events in the state and that is because of the effort they put into it at Cherry Valley. They do so much for high school golf. We have more and more teams calling us every year asking us to be in it, but we can only take 20 teams.
   "Hillsborough and Princeton will be tough. We should be contenders. I don’t know if we’ll win it, but we should contend."
   They always have in the past. And if the Cougars continue to improve, there is no reason they can’t contend again this year.