Experience matters. As a veteran of the Junior Golf of America tournament circuit (founded by his parents, Chuck and Gina DiLeo), Manalapan’s Pat DiLeo has experienced it all on a golf course.
At the Freehold Regional District Golf Tournament onMay 27 atEagleOaksCountry Club inHowell,DiLeo used all of that experience to help him overcome early adversity and capture his first high school title. He started out with a par and two birdies. Thatwas followed by a double-bogey (he drove into the unforgiving rough) and a triple bogey (he hit his tee shot into the water on a par 3) on his next two holes.
“I went from two-under to three-over in two holes,” the Braves junior remarked. “It [tournament experience] helped. I said to myself, ‘Let’s start playing golf.’
He would get two of the strokes back with birdies on the sixth and seventh holes before settling into a groove. He played the back nine one-under-parwith eight pars and one birdie for an outstanding even-par round of 71, good enough towin the district title by two strokes over Marlboro’s Keith Markowitz (73).
“I hit two bad shots,” DiLeo noted. “I hit my irons well.”
It helped, he noted, having 5-footers for birdie rather than par. That was because he was hitting his irons dead-on.
DiLeo has always played the EagleOaks course well (he was second here last year) because it puts a premium on driving the ball straight and long, two things he does well. Finding the rough, which DiLeo said was extreme, is an automatic bogey.
DiLeo took the 71 to the clubhouse not sure where it stood against a quality field, but confident it would be tough to beat.And it was.
His play at the District Tournament was a continuation ofwhat has been a strong finish to the season forDiLeo.He finished third at the NJSIAA Central/South Jersey sectional and was the only golfer from the district to qualify for the Tournament of Champions.He credited his solid play to his putting.
“My putting was awful [early in the season],” he said. “Everything was pretty good but the putting.”
Thanks to extra time on the greens, the putting came around, and so did DiLeo’s game.
While DiLeo was establishing himself as the district’s best, theHowell-Marlboro duel lived up to expectations.
The Rebels andMustangs have been the area’s two best teams, and they still have a dual meet to play that will determine the Shore Conference A North Division title. They have been right on each other’s heels in championship tournaments throughout the year. It was Tim Hogan’s Rebels that came up with a huge effort, beating Marlboro by 13 strokes, 307-320, for their first district golf title.