White Plains Golf Team Captures Conference Championship
For the second straight year the White Plains Golf Team captured the Conference Two Team Championship. The Tigers defeated Bronxville by two shots and Scarsdale by 13 to claim victory.
Tylyer Stagg was simply the man last Monday. He fired an one-under 34 at Fenway Golf Club to claim medalist honors and put the Tigers in fine shape to win the conference. Its extremely rare that you see a high school golfer shoot under-par.
Stagg who started the season as the Tigers #2 player has worked his way up to being their #1 surpassing reigning Section I champion Sean Trainor who shot a five-over-par 40 in the conference championship. Brendan Trainor finished with a 41, Taiken Nakada 42, Aaron Kreilsheimer 45 and Justin Stagg 46 The Tigers are now 17-1 on the season
Tigers golf coach Joan Behrends believes that this is the most talented team she has ever coached. She has been very impressed by the play of Tyler Stagg this spring.
“Tyler Stagg stepped up and has been playing in the #1 position for most of the season,” said Behrends. “He and defending Section One Champion Sean Trainor play together as 1 & 2 during our season in team play. Tyler has been striking the ball so well. Tyler’s seeded # 2 going into the sections with a Differential of 1.35. He shot under 40, 13 times (this season) and his highest score was a 41. His lowest score this year came in our Conference Championship shooting one under par at Fenway Golf Club.”
This could be a very big week for members of the White Plains golf team. On Thursday they will host the winners of the other conferences Briarcliff, John Jay Cross River and Suffern at Westchester Hills where they will have a nine-hole team tournament to determine the Section I team title.
On Tuesday the Section I individual tournament will begin up north right off the Taconic Parkway at Mohansic. Mohansic is one of Westchester County’s tougher public courses. A total of 63 of the best players in Section I will play 18 holes there on Tuesday with the top 30 players from that field moving on Wednesday to another 18-holes at the prestigious Sleepy Hollow Country Club.
Behrends will send her top five players Tyler Stagg, Sean Trainor, Brendan Trainor, Justin Stagg and Nakada to the individual Section I golf championship.
The difference between Mohansic and Sleepy Hollow is night and day. Sleepy Hollow used to host a Champions Tour Events in the 1990’s and most recently was the site of the Metropolitan Open which is the most important tournament in the tri-state are each golf season.
Sean Trainor is the defending Section I Champion but hasn’t had the best of spring season, but that doesn’t mean he can be counted out to repeat as the champion. The wonderful thing about the Section I Tournament is that it’s 18 holes a day that provides a golfer more opportunity to take it deep if his round is going well.
Pars will be these golfers best friend this week because with the rain coming in early in the week that will make the rough at each golf course will be nasty to contend with. Hitting fairways will be a big premium for the golfer who wants to take home the Section I crown. The top eight golfers after the two rounds at Mohansic and Sleepy Hollow will advance to the state tournament at Cornell University.
Local Golf Notes
Last week the United States Open Local Qualifier was held at Trump National Golf in Briarcliff Manor. The two golfers who finished tied for first are both tremendous stories.
Cameron Young fired a three-under par 69. He is a freshman at Fordham Prep. His dad, David is the head golf teaching professional at Sleepy Hollow. Cameron Young has a shot if he gets through sectional qualifying in New Jersey on June 4th of being the youngest ever to qualify for U.S. Open. This year’s U.S. Open is being held at the Olympic Club right outside of San Francisco.
Mike Miller tied Cameron Young’s three-under par 69 score. Miller who was the 2011 Metropolitan Golf Association Player of the Year is the son of Bob Miller who is the head golf professional at Knollwood Country Club in Elmsford. A few weeks ago Miller had a top five finish in the Irish Amateur. Mike Miller graduated from Brewster High School a couple years ago and is one of the most talented amateur golfers in the area in several years.
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