Cape golf team goes 2-1 before spring break
April 6, 2012
The Cape Henlopen Vikings golf team followed up its opening day victory over Woodbridge High School with another win, but then stumbled as spring break approached.
The squad easily turned back the team from Sussex Central High School March 29, in a Henlopen Conference match held at Kings Creek Country Club.
James Fenstermaker led the Vikings with his 41. “Kings Creek was nice. I was playing pretty good, but I had one blow-up hole.”
Shane Ghigliotty shot a 46 against Central, but admitted to having troubles with parts of his game on the Kings Creek front nine.
Mike DeStasio wasn’t too happy with his 49 during the match, but Elsa Toletti was even more annoyed at her 50 for the day. “I took a ten on a par five. I hit my ball into a water hazard, and the ball was in really deep. I tried to play it out anyway, but it was not a good idea,” she said.
The Vikings then traveled to Rookery North at Shawnee April 2, and lost a close match against Milford High School’s Buccaneers on the par-36 front nine, 179-182.
Toletti led her squad’s scoring with a 43, beginning her play on the ninth hole. Her only real troubles for the day took place on the first hole, a triple bogey. “I was in a sand trap by the green, and hit out of there and into the water beyond the green. “ She bounced back nicely, however, with pars on the fourth, fifth, and sixth holes, after a nice birdie on the longish par four third hole. “I hit a good drive, and my second shot made it onto the green.”
Toletti estimated her successful birdie putt was from six meters away, which translates to just over 18 feet by the usual American method of measurement.
Fenstermaker had a 45 against Milford, and said that he “wasn’t playing good at all. I had to birdie my last hole [the ninth] just to save it as a bogey round.” His playing partner, Matt Dernoga, said his 51 was simply “embarrassing.” Dernoga admitted to scoring two pars, two “double-pars”, and “others.” F
enstermaker said he had two sevens—one on the par three fourth hole, and one on the par five eighth. “On the eighth, I went from one tree to the next to the next. I just have to do better next time.” DeStasio had a 48 in his first varsity match at Rookery North. “I had a couple holes that hurt my score, and a lot of bogeys.”
Junior Robert Prettyman competed as the sixth golfer in his first varsity match for Cape, and posted a 50 for the round. “I should have done a lot better,” he said. Ghigliotty scored a 49 in his round, and was none too pleased. “My ball striking was great, but I just couldn’t score. I’m putting poorly.”
Viking golf coach Claudio Smarrelli made no effort to disguise his disappointment with the results against Milford. “It looks like we’re spiraling down instead of spiraling up. They have the ability to hit the ball, but they’re just not getting it to the hole. I’m trying new combinations of players during the matches, to see if that makes a difference.”
As for the match at Kings Creek, where the Vikings won but with a much higher score total than the March 27 win over Woodbridge, Smarrelli discussed course management. “There are some kinds of courses where you can’t just pull out your driver. You’ve got to think your way around Kings Creek. It’s a learning process.”
The learning should continue with team practices through April 5. Cape Henlopen then goes on spring break. The Vikings return to competition April 16, with a home match at Rehoboth Beach Country Club against Polytech High School.