Berkeley Heights Boys Golf Measure Success in Union County Conference Championship

In any team competition that the Governor Livingston boys golf team competes where Westfield is a participant, there is always a sense of rivalry in their minds.

"I would have liked to beaten Westfield outright but you can't have everything," said Joe Iorio after he and three team mates competed in the Union County Conference Championship at the Suburban Golf Club in Union.

The Highlanders turned in a somewhat respectable team score of 336, which was on par with a very competitive Watchung Division which included New

Providence, Scotch Plains, A.L. Johnson, Oratory, Jonathan Dayton, Cranford and of course, Westfield, which also shot a 336 as a team.

On the individual side, Iorio shot a 10-over-81, Scott Preston shot a 12-over-83, Sean Keane shot a 13-over-84 and Xander Max shot a 17-over-88.

"I think some of our players are slightly disappointed because some of the scores are lower, but overall its a very solid showing for us, said co-ed coach Sharon Leahy. "We came in fourth in the state sectionals and I think this is low for us, but overall there were no big surprises."

Although somewhat of picturesque day in the 70s with low humidity, there was a strong gusty wind that added to the pressure of playing "tight" course on in which game management through correct club usage was a factor.

"It's really windy outside today, the greens were rolling really fast an this is a tight golf course," Iorio said after completing the competition. "The rough is really thick. I cannot tell you which hole was the toughest - you can get in trouble on every hole here."

The structure of the competition involved four players, each from different high schools, out with a coach. This meant that team members were scattered on different teams and each started at different hole in this 18-hole competition. 

The game, of course is about individual play as much as it is team play, and to that extent, all players started anxious to outperform anyone with a club.

" On a scale if 1-10, I would say that my performance was about an eight." Iorio said. "I wanted to be below 80, and I could have been, but I played the last six holes in seven over par. If that has not been the case, I may have been in the seventies."

Team Scotch Plains-Fanwood won the Watchung Division with a team score of 328, which was aided by a two-over-74 shot by Scoth Plains-Fanwood's Steven Pederson