Freshman Joby Bernstein wasn't even sure if he was going to make the Mamaroneck golf team. Now he's providing some of the biggest highlights from the first half of the season.
The rest of team had already finished playing when on the par-5 ninth hole at Bonnie Briar earlier later week, hitting downhill and with a tough pin placement, Bernstein drained a putt and pumped his fist to the cheers of his teammates.
"He's the spark for the whole team," coach Adam Rizzuti said of the 4-foot-11 freshman. "Everybody roots for him. He's been putting up some legitimate scores. He showed up on our top five and is pushing seniors out of the way."
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Bernstein is one of a handful of Tigers who has turned heads this spring.
Junior Jeff Myers played baseball last year and has never been on the golf team before. He started the season as an alternate, but now the Bonnie Briar member is a very consistent No. 3 player. Myers' baseball teammate last year, Eric Strumwasser, tried out for the golf team on the last day and is now putting up some good scores as well.
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Of course the top player, as expected, is Hayden Novikoff, who has consistently shot in the high 30's.
About six years ago Novikoff headed out to Cherry Lawn Golf Range on Weaver Street.
"Out of nowhere I decided to try it out and I fell in love with hitting the ball," Novikoff said. "My father was really accommodating to it, and we joined Bonnie Briar."
After two to three years he was breaking 80.
"People told me that was amazing after only three years of experience, and they were encouraging me to play competitively," Novikoff said.
So he started playing varsity golf in eighth grade. After being used to playing with adults at Bonnie Briar, Novikoff was excited for the camaraderie and the team aspect of golf at Mamaroneck and has played ever since.
Novikoff will be playing club golf at Richmond next year, but first he must guide a turnaround in the second half of the season. Mamaroneck is 2-5 so far, with wins against Pelham and Bronxville but losses against a tough league schedule that includes White Plains, Scarsdale and Edgemont.
"The team has a lot of potential and we still have eight more matches left," Rizzuti said. "They're very capable if they all put it together. They've shown at times they can be a team that can be over .500 in the league, but we're just not all putting it together at the right time."
