Cape finishes 12th in state championships
May 30, 2008
The Cape Henlopen High School golf team finished their 2008 season just about where the state rankings said they would.
The comparative win/loss formula used to determine the sixteen-team field for this year’s state championship, held May 27 and 28 at Wild Quail Golf & Country Club near Wyoming, put the Vikings in the eleventh spot. That was far higher than head coach Claudio Smarrelli thought they’d be, with the Vikings finishing the regular season at 12-4.
In fairly windy conditions, with the course playing faster and harder than the squad experienced in their first match there in March, the Vikings finished with a 348-341-689 total. That was good for twelfth place in the team competition.
Andrew Baldo of A.I. DuPont High School near Wilmington won the individual championship, with a 2-over par 146 for the two-day event.
Caesar Rodney High School was in great shape after the first day’s round, tied for first with a 302. Unfortunately, one of their players signed for an incorrect scorecard on the second day, leading to a team disqualification for the championship.
Tristan Karsnitz played best for the Vikings in the states, with an 85-87-172 total, but he wasn’t happy about it.
“Can you quote me that I hate golf?” he asked. I think he was not entirely kidding around at that point.
“It was pathetic that mine was the best score for us. I shot a 45-40 the first day, and started on the back nine. Then I shot a 47-40 today, and started on the front nine. I played good half the time, and played bad half the time,” Karsnitz said.
Senior Dino Nardo found a way to put a more pleasant ending to his playing career at Cape. His first day was nothing to write home about, as he struggled with his driver for an 86. On the second day, however, he fired an even-par 72, best among the Vikings for both days.
“I got up and down a good number of times, and putted good,” Nardo said. “I chipped in on [hole number] 8 for a 2, and then I made a 25-foot putt for a birdie on 16. I had two bogeys, and the rest were pars.”
Dan Scrutchfield shot an 86 on the first day, lowlighted with a 10 on a par 3. “I put two in the water, and then plugged the next shot into the back bunker. Then I left the next shot in the trap, got out, and then three-putted. If I parred that hole I would have had a 79.”
His adventures in blow-up holes continued the next day. “I had a smooth 9 on the seventh hole [a short dogleg left par four].” That score, in combination with what he described as “lots of bogeys and two doubles,” led to an 88 for his 174 total.
Casey Anderson couldn’t explain his uncharacteristically high scores in his first state championship. The sophomore transfer shot a 91 the first day, and a 94 on the second. “I just couldn’t do anything. After the first hole yesterday, I was done,” he said.
Here’s how Cape fared against the other schools: Salesianum (611), St. Mark’s (629), Newark (647), Concord (649), Charter and A.I. Dupont (650), Sanford (653), Sussex Tech (661), Tatnall (663), Dover (665), Delaware Military (683), Cape (689), Seaford (694), St. Elizabeth’s (698), Wilmington Christian (745), and Caesar Rodney (DQ).
Cape Second in Conference Tournament
On May 22, the Vikings traveled north to Maple Dale Country Club in Dover, and surprised themselves and others with a very good team effort in the Henlopen Conference Tournament.
Karsnitz’s 80 put him in third, a stroke behind the co-medalists, while Anderson and Scrutchfield tied for seventh place with their pair of 82s. Nardo’s 88 finished the team scoring. Zack Murr shot a 93, and Devin Medd scored an even 100. The team took second place overall, just behind Caesar Rodney.
“I’m happy with the way the season turned out,” Smarrelli said. “I was really impressed with their performance at the conference. I’m looking forward to working with the kids next year.”