Golfers prevail in tournaments
By: Bob Nuse
While Sue Sardi has been playing golf every chance she gets, Willie Rosso has been limited in how much he can play due to a shoulder injury.
In the end, both players played enough to emerge as champions in last weekend’s Cherry Valley Cup, the stroke play championship at the Montgomery club.
Sardi shot a two-round total of 75-80-155 to win the women’s championship, while Rosso shot a 74-74-148 to capture the men’s championship.
"I was actually 1-under after 10 holes in the second round, then I had a meltdown," Sardi said. "I still had enough to win, but I think I started to get ahead of myself. I started thinking about breaking par and before I knew it, I was all over the place."
Sardi did enough to win the tournament in what has become a very busy summer of golf for the 50-year-old. She continued her fine play during the week and had the lead after the first two rounds of the 54-hole Women’s Trenton District Golf Association Amateur Championship, which was scheduled to conclude on Thursday.
She will play in the New Jersey State Amateur beginning July, then the Cherry Valley Club Championship beginning Aug. 5.
"I have been playing a lot," Sardi said. "I just turned 50, so now I can play in the Senior events."
She may have just turned 50, but Sardi knows that’s just a number. In fact, she’s probably in the best shape she’s been in as she gets in this much golf.
"I’ve been riding my bike to the course, sometimes with my bag over my shoulder," Sardi said. "It’s not that far, but part of it is uphill and it’s actually made me realize how far uphill some of the holes are on the course."
In addition to the WTDGA events, Sardi has also been playing in a number of Garden State events as well. Some of those events are on her own, while some others are with partners from Cherry Valley. Overall, Sardi is just one of a growing group of top female golfers at Cherry Valley.
"We have some good competition," she said. "After the first round of the last Trenton District tournament, five of the top 10 were golfers from Cherry Valley. So we have a good group of golfers."
And with her continued improvement over the years, Sardi is moving to the top of that talented bunch.
"A lot of it is from taking lessons with Allan Bowman," Sardi said. "I was a 40-handicap when I started nine years ago, that’s when I joined Cherry Valley. Now I am a 4-handicap. I took a lot of lessons and I still take one or two lessons a week now. I’ll take playing lessons and strategy lessons. They all help me continue to improve."
Rosso hasn’t been able to play as much as Sardi this summer due to a rotator cuff injury, which sidelined him for seven weeks. He’s just now easing his way back on the course, and the CV Cup was his first competition back.
"I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play at all this summer," Rosso said. "I rested it and did my exercises and I just started back about two weeks ago. I was able to hit a few balls and I putted a lot. I went out the first time and played nine holes and I felt pretty good."
Rosso isn’t able to practice as much as usual, but he has been able to play on the weekends. He’s currently involved with the club championship tournament at Springdale Golf Club, which moves to match play this weekend.
"I’ve been a little sore, but I can handle that," he said. "I just have to go out and play and then see how it feels. I don’t practice as much because too much swinging puts stress on the injury. I’ll just play the club tournaments this year and see how I do.
"I was out for seven weeks and that put a damper on the season. By the time I was able to come back, it’s already the middle of the summer. I’ll just continue with my exercises and hopefully be able to rest it."
And when he does take the course, Rosso is still able to play well enough to win a championship.