Vikings happy with effort at state tournament

By: Sean Richards
   Although the South Brunswick High School golf team once again failed to advance to the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions, it continued to show there’s no reason to think it won’t in the near future.
   Competing in the Central/South Group IV sectionals at the Buena Vista County Club outside Atlantic City on Monday, South Brunswick shot a 350 to finish approximately 12th out of 16 teams. It was not the showing the Vikings had hoped for, but keep in mind the team has only one senior.
   Sure enough, very promising freshman Tyler Zenda led South Brunswick with an85. Zenda’s score wasn’t low enough to advance him to the T of C, but it was good enough to place him in the top 20.
   Senior Bryant Morin was next with an 87, followed by an 88 by sophomore Nick Trill, and the 90s of juniors Rich Stewart and Christian Dello.
   "We played well," said legendary South Brunswick coach Mark Kraft. "We didn’t play as well as we wanted to, but we played well.
   "With just our one senior, they’ll all be back next year and can learn from this experience. Two of our best scores came from a freshman and a sophomore. You have to be excited about that."
   Not helping South Brunswick any was a course that played extremely long because of wet conditions.
   "It wasn’t the course we’ve seen the last three years," said Kraft. "It’s a fair course, but it’s long to begin with. It was not the course we had prepared for.
   "The sun came out and it was actually pretty nice as the day went along, but it was raining like crazy on the ride down there. We got off a slow start."
   Fortunately, for the Vikings, there’s still plenty of golf remaining this season. A week ago Friday, the team improved its record to 12-4 with a scintillating165-167 win over a strong Bridgewater-Raritan squad at Bunker Hill.
   Dello lit up the course with a one-over 37 against a Bridgewater team that had recently impressed with victories over Immaculata and Hillsborough. The main focus right now is the Greater Middlesex Conference Championships on Thursday, May 25, at the Tamarack Golf Club in East Brunswick.
   In between, the team was to have played East Brunswick, Piscataway and Old Bridge this week and is set to take on always-strong South Plainfield Monday.
   Although nothing is written in stone until it actually takes place, Kraft anticipated his team would receive a top four seed Tuesday at the GMC seeding meeting and advance straight to the finals.
   "We’ve got plenty of matches to keep sharp," he said. "Some of our scores(at sectionals) were disappointing, but I really think we can bounce back and have a strong finish."