Summit Golf Finishes Season Sub-.500

The Summit varsity golf team finished their 2010 campaign with a 6-8 record. Head coach Richard Keating thought the team could have done a little better record-wise in the new conference.

"I'm a little disappointed in our record," Keating said. "But we ran into some very strong teams in the new conference."

Senior captain Matt Wholey agreed.

"The season didn't go as expected," he said. "We thought we could have had a little better record."

The team, led by Wholey and Andrew D'Alberti, started the season 2-0. The team was off to a promising start as it defeated Elizabeth and Union by a combined 88 strokes.

The squad was also comprised of senior Alex Celona, junior captain Griffin Cooper, and juniors Clayton Johnson and Tom Garvey. The alternate was freshman Ian Drummond.

After the two-match winning streak, Summit dropped their next four matches. Three of the four matches were tightly contested, though, with Summit losing by an average of less than five strokes. This four-match losing streak included a one-stroke loss to Governor Livingston.

Summit bounced back and won their next two, defeating Plainfield and Cranford. But Summit dropped their next two, this time to Westfield and Cranford. After smothering Elizabeth for a second time, Summit lost to Governor Livingston for a second time, dropping their record to 5-7.

Summit then lost their second to last game of the season against Scotch Plains, this time by one stroke. This one-stroke loss combined with the one-stroke loss to Governor Livingston earlier in the year proved to be tough losses for Summit.

"I'm very proud of the team," Keating said about the two close losses. "Both teams had very good records, but I was little disappointed because we were so close."

Wholey and D'Alberti also brought up the two matches.

"I'm more disappointed, I wanted to win," Wholey said. "It's tough because you always think what could have been done a little better in a close match. They were really good matches, but we could have stayed a little more focused."

"Everybody played their best, although they were tough losses," D'Alberti added. "We played two really great teams. But overall the team did really well. If we would have won a few close matches, we would have made the state tournament."

Summit bounced back in their final game, picking up their sixth victory easily over Plainfield. Summit also finished sixth in the Union County Tournament.

Cooper led the team with a 39-stroke average over nine holes and fellow-returnee Johnson was second on the team, averaging a 44. The solid play of these juniors plus other factors has Keating excited for the 2011 season.

"I am very optimistic for next year," Keating said. "There are a couple of very good eighth graders coming up. Plus our two best players will be back next year and we are only losing three seniors."

Summit, who will be entering their second year in the conference, returns Cooper, Johnson, Garvey, and Drummond. Summit will look to a few others as well as it enters the new campaign.