Golf
By: Steve Feitl
For the first time in 14 years, James Csogi will not be coaching Lawrence golfers next spring.
But his last Cardinal squad is making the retiring coach believe he will pass on a truly competitive team to his successor.
Lawrence (9-4) scored another impressive victory Tuesday, beating Steinert, 206-218.
The win over the Spartans was a good warm-up for the Cardinals’ stretch run, which included matches against Mercer County Tournament champion Hopewell Valley Wednesday and Colonial Valley Conference-rival Hightstown today (Thursday).
“We just want to win the next two,” Csogi said. “If we were to knock off Hopewell, it would show people that we’re there and we’re competitive.
“We’ve had some rounds where we fell back by one or two strokes,” Csogi said of the Cardinals’ four losses, “but that was it. We are there.”
Mercer County Tournament individual champion Bob Whartenby led the Cardinals once again in the win over Steinert. He shot a 35.
Ben Husch was right behind Whartenby, shooting a 40, Kevin Malone had a 43.
Steve Smith, Ben Einspahr and Austin Hoggan all came in with 44’s, though Hoggan’s was not counted in the final tally.
“They’re all coming into their own right now,” Csogi said. “All the scores are coming down. Everyone is getting in there.”
Of course, the squad next year will lose its top player (Whartenby) to graduation, as well as Einspahr.
The loss of Whartenby will be difficult for the Cardinals.
“He was premiere for us,” Csogi said of Whartenby. “His average makes him the best player ever to come out of Lawrence High School.”
But even without Whartenby, Csogi — who is retiring from LHS after 38 years in teaching — believes the team will be able to stay competitive in the CVC.
“Malone’s been great and Smith has been getting his scores down,” Csogi said. “Husch shot a 40 (Tuesday), which is great at Mountain View. “On top of that, we’ve got a lot of good freshman and sophomores coming up. The new coach will inherit a good team. They’re going to be there again next year.”