Golf: Delbarton holds off the field to claim Morris County Tournament title
MOUNT OLIVE — Delbarton fended off the field to secure another signature win, and Montville senior Eli Kaufman turned in an encore performance, to claim team and individual titles at the Morris County Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Flanders Valley Golf Course.
The Green Wave foursome of John Myles Dziadzio (76), Jake Kurtzman (76), Matthew Lu (78), and Will Kramer (78), shot a collective 308 to edge runner-up Morristown (309) and Montville (309) by one stroke to win their first team county title in recent memory.
“I’m proud of the guys. They gutted out a win. I don’t remember the last time we won a county title, but it was a great team effort,” Delbarton veteran coach Sean Flanagan said. “We gave back a few strokes down the stretch but hung on and did enough to earn the win. A win is a win and it sets us up nicely heading into next week’s sectional tournament.
“Eli [Kaufman] played a great round. He was impressive and fun to watch.”
Kaufman, last year’s winner when he shot a 3-under 69, repeated as champion when he carded a 4-under par 68. He raced to a fast start with four birdies on the Gold front nine and held off the Morristown duo of junior Liam Pasternak (2-under 70) and senior Cormack Meldrum (even par, 72) on the Red back nine.
Scott Sanczyk of Kinnelon, Roger Rice of Chatham, Thomas Cotter of Morristown Beard, and Kyle Maute of Mountain Lakes, tied for fourth place with a 2-over 74.
Delbarton (10-1) entered Wednesday’s tournament on a roll, winning its last eight matches and 10 of its first 11. The Green Wave's lone loss came against St. Joseph-Montvale on April 16. Last Friday the Morris Township school won the Red Devil Invitational at Heron Glen in Ringoes and finished second at the Blue Devil Invitational at Echo Lake.
"We're extremely confident. We're playing well since our last loss and building confidence with each match," Dziadzio, a senior captain said. "It all comes down to the team. We're very deep and we have confidence in every golfer on our team."
On Tuesday, the Green Wave will open play in the highly competitive Non-Public North bracket at Francis Byrne in West Orange.
“The boys have confidence heading into the sectionals. It’s a very difficult field with a lot of good teams and golfers,” Flanagan said. “We’ve played well the last few weeks. Today’s tournament and win was a good tune-up.”
Team results
DELBARTON 308: J.M. Dziadzio 40-36-76; Jake Kurtzman 37-39-76; Matthew Lu 40-38-78; Will Kramer 38-40-78. MONTVILLE 309: Eli Kaufman 32-36-68; Dylan Kaufman 39-38-77; Matt Trifari 37-43-80; Henry White 44-40-84. MORRISTOWN 309: Liam Pasternak 36-34-70; Cormack Meldrum 35-37-72; Caroline Fixter 39-42-81; Daniel Lynch 44-42-86. CHATHAM 312: Dylan Wickham 40-37-77; Will Des Marrais 39-38-77; Roger Rice 35-39-74; Owen Bedell 42-42-84. MOUNTAIN LAKES 312: Ryan Powers 41-35-76; Max Troisi 40-37-77; Kyle Maute 38-36-74; Ryan Lalin 46-39-85. MADISON 319: Alex Patel 40-37-77; Teo Bengtsson 38-40-78; Nathan Tallinder 41-36-77; Quinn Regan 43-44-87. WEST MORRIS 320: Brian Rainforth 41-37-78; Zach McEwen 39-38-77; John Gallup 43-38-81; Layton Cummings 42-42-84. MENDHAM 329: Liam Brandt 39-39-78; Anders Farley 38-44-82; Michael Pschar 44-37-81; Seth Harris 42-46-88. MORRISTOWN BEARD 334: Luke Powers 41-44-85; Alex Levy 42-39-81; Tommy Cotter 37-37-74; Finn Fleming 48-46-94. ROXBURY 334: Jake Morgan 40-36-76; Sean Finnan 42-42-84; Mikey Temple 45-40-85; Michael Nelson 46-43-89. MORRIS TECH 334: TJ Wangchuk 43-41-84; Mike Kratzel 44-39-83; Jake Danish 41-38-79; Cam Purrington 44-44-88. RANDOLPH 334: Riley Brown 43-42-85; Brayden Meditz 43-39-82; Joe Armento 41-47-88; Achal Agnihorti 39-40-79. MORRIS KNOLLS 337: Luke Fetherman 44-40-84; Keith Fitzsimmons 45-42-87; Adam Goldstein 39-39-78; Billy Sobieski 47-41-88. PEQUANNOCK 349: Sef Bajraktarevic 41-45-86; Max Dee 41-42-83; Derek Czepiel 38-44-82; Ethan Karaty 46-52-98. MOUNT OLIVE 370: Tanner Perez 48-51-99; Tyler Bienus 40-38-78; Michael Soriano 48-49-97; Tyler Muscolino 49-47-96. KINNELON 373: Scott Sanczyk 35-39-74; Alex Csigo 41-41-82; Kenneth Klein 52-54-106; Jack Doty 61-50-111. JEFFERSON 383: Zachary Gesie 46-46-92; Lucas Studnick 50-46-96; Michael Baumann 44-48-92; Ryan Saletto 49-54-103. PARK REGIONAL 388: Aiden Markey 37-41-78; Matt McDermott 53-45-98; Collin Mullooly 59-54-113; James Tecza 46-53-99. PARSIPPANY 473: Xavier Ward 64-70-134Thomas Collantoni 55-51-106; Ronin Wani 58-60; Shane Ahn 59-56-115.
Individual medalists
Eli Kaufman (Montville) 68; Liam Pasternak (Morristown) 70; Cormack Meldrum (Morristown) 72; Scott Sanczyk (Kinnelon) 74; Roger Rice (Chatham) 74; Thomas Cotter (Morristown-Beard) 74; Kyle Maute (Mountain Lakes) 74; Ryan Powers (Mountain Lakes) 76; John Myles Dziadzio (Delbarton) 76; Jake Morgan (Roxbury) 76; Jake Kurtzman (Delbarton) 76.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ golf: Delbarton, Montville senior Eli Kaufman claim MCT titles
