By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The current crop of Montgomery High School golfers has waited for their chance to move to the forefront and this week they took advantage of the opportunity.
On the boys side, the Cougars strung together four solid rounds to capture the Central/South Group IV championship on Tuesday at the Linwood Country Club on Tuesday.
On the girls side, junior Rosey Li shot a 68 to capture the individual title at the Section2 tournament at Bey Lea Golf Course in Toms River, helping the Cougars to a second-place team finish.
“We went into it thinking we had a shot as far as the sectional,” Montgomery boys coach Andrew Carfley said. “It is a very competitive sectional and we thought if get in and make it through our Skyland Conference schedule once you get to the sectionals you feel like everyone has a shot.
“Our team is very consistent. It’s a cliché but it was really a team win. No one shot real well but we had three guys between 79 and 81 and that really helped to pull it together without anyone going real low. It was a great team win.”
The Cougars shot a 327 to finish five shots ahead of Clearview and six shots ahead of Shawnee. The win qualified Montgomery for the Tournament of Champions on Monday at the Hopewell Country Club.
Andrew Kotler shot a 79 to lead the Cougars, while Andrew Hong shot an 80 and Mehul Singh shot an 81. Jake McCarthy shot an 87 to round out the top four, while Kyle Foxx shot an 88.
“It is actually cool with this team because this is one of those teams where the guys were sitting and waiting behind a talented senior class,” Carfley said. “The class last year was full of good golfers. To some out this year with a ‘rebuilding’ year and do what they have done has been great. They have played as well as any team I have been a part of at Montgomery.”
On the girls side, Li shot 4-under to win by two strokes. She helped Montgomery to a second-place finish behind Red Bank Catholic, qualifying the Cougars for the Tournament of Champions at Forsgate Country Club.
“Rosey shot really well,” Montgomery coach Jen Jones said. “She shot probably one of the best rounds she has had at Bea Ley. She has always been in the shadows of upperclassmen and now she is the upperclassman leading a young team. We have just a few juniors and no seniors.”
Li’s 68 led the Cougars, while Joy Cao shot an 83 and Jessica Zheng shot an 89.
“They did very well,” Jones said. “Jessica Zheng is a sophomore and she came in third on the team. Joy Cao is a freshman and was second. She did fantastic. Everybody came out with their best round of the year and possibly best round ever. Zayna Patel (93) and Abinitha Gourabithina (99) also played well.”
Li and Madeline Jin had already qualified for the TOC, but now the whole team has qualified. West Windsor-Plainsboro North finished third and also advanced to the TOC. WW-P South’s Olivia Ling shot an 80 to finish 10th.
