WW-P South wins team title behind senior’s great day
By: Bob Nuse
Even when the season started slowly, Russell Wray knew he had a group of golfers capable of winning the Mercer County Tournament.
"I did think we were capable of this," Wray said after his West Windsor-Plainsboro South golf team shot a 305, the best score in the last 15 years of the event, to win the MCT title Thursday at Mercer Oaks. "And that’s why in the beginning of the season, I was a little disappointed that we weren’t clicking as quickly as I had hoped.
"They were very confident. They’re in the proverbial zone right now. They feel like they’re one of the elite teams in the area and they just go out there and do it."
Since that slow start, the Pirates have been clicking on all cylinders. Led by a 72 from senior Ryan Phelan and a 73 from sophomore Anthony Aloi, South topped defending champion Princeton by three shots to claim its first MCT crown since 1997.
That 1997 team, led by Sean Davidson, Mark Urbanek and Michael Mao, shot a 307 at Mountain View. This year’s team was led by Phelan and Aloi, while Mike March shot a 78, Brad Schutzer had a 79 and Dan Kim finished with an 80.
Phelan tied for the best score of the day with Princeton’s Jordan Gibbs, then won the individual title on the second playoff hole.
"I’m glad the team won," Phelan said. "We knew we had a chance and it felt good to beat Princeton. They were the favorites coming in, but we felt like we had a good shot."
Phelan’s play has been a big reason for the Pirates’ success this season. The No. 4 player on the team a year ago, he has joined Aloi and March at the top of the leaderboard for the Pirates this season.
"Ryan stepped it up," said Wray, who was part of the Pirates’ 1993 championship team. "Last year he was playing the fourth or fifth spot. He was inconsistent and mentally he didn’t always keep it together. He’d be under par and not be able to finish under par because he’s have a bogey or two. But now he’s been in that situation and he’s comfortable being in that situation.
"With a senior, you never really know where they are going to be. A lot of times they’ll step up and want to play in college and want to do better. Other times, they get to be a senior and there other things going on with getting ready for college, the prom, senior trip, graduation. All these things are affecting you and sometimes golf gets pushed to the side because it’s not the biggest thing in your life. With Ryan, he stepped it up. He wants to golf in college and he knew he had to step it up."
Phelan and Gibbs each shot par on the first playoff hole, then Phelan shot a par on the second hole to win it, nearly sinking a putt from the fringe for a birdie.
"I was trying to focus on what I was doing and not worry about the people around me and the people who were watching," Phelan said. "That putt lipped out. I almost made it. I thought I had a shot to win, but my game the past couple days hasn’t been as good as it had been. I shot 43 and 40 my last two matches. I just had some bad things in my swing. But I got it figured out yesterday. I hit some good shots today and was consistent. I didn’t make too many mistakes. I had one double and two bogeys."
Now the Pirates can add an MCT title to their Cherry Valley Invitational title of earlier this month. And they did it with a solid effort from the whole lineup. In fact, it was a pretty interesting competition just to see who the fifth player would be on Thursday.
"We had a three-kid playoff for that spot," Wray said. "Greg Quinton, Evan McGrain and Brad were all battling it out. We have a lot of young talent. Brad came out and shot a 79 today, which was a great round at the right time."
But nobody had a better day that Phelan, who shook off an early week slump to become the first Pirate to win the title since Matt Davidson in 1999.
"He jumped up," Wray said. "He was starting to hit the ball with a little draw on it. But he worked it out and wasn’t frustrated by it when he started playing poorly. And his mental game, especially on the playoff holes, couldn’t have been any better."