John Jay golfers right at home in win over Fox Lane

By JIM MACLEAN 

Every golfer will tell you that consistency is the key, one bad shot can ruin a hole and one bad hole can ruin a round.

John Jay was consistent top to bottom in the order as the Wolves hosted Fox Lane on their home course at Waccabuc on April 27. The end result was a 198-209 victory for John Jay as the Wolves continue a strong start to the season.

Wally Ryder has been strong all season as the number one golfer for the Wolves, and he led the way against Fox Lane posting the low score for the round with a 36.

He wasn’t the only one posting a good score for John Jay as James Strauss was second with a round of 40, while Asher Barnett and Ollie Yaun were right behind at 41.

John Jay's James Strauss keeps an eye on his shot. JIM MACLEAN PHOTO

Deep and consistent

“We’ve been doing pretty well this year, we have a strong team,” explained John Jay coach Art Blank. “Our guys have been very consistent and we have some depth. Wally had a good day against Fox Lane and led the team with the low score for the match. Ollie was playing only his second varsity match. A great job by Ollie to put up a 41.”

Henry Millhon and Brennan Hodge rounded out the top six to complete the team score for John Jay. The Wolves were missing seniors Charlie Sanz and Gavin Orrill as the team showed its depth top to bottom.

Fox Lane couldn’t match it with their top six, led by senior Jack Yaggi and Calvin Metzger in the first pair, followed by Hank Hearon and Jack Frisbie in the second and Sebastian Getz and Brandon Kirshenbaum in the third pair. Yaggi is a four-year varsity starter for the Foxes who has qualified for the Section 1 tournament twice and hopes to finish strong his senior year. Hearon and Metzger are both three-year varsity starters to provide the Foxes with a solid veteran core.

“We always enjoy playing John Jay, it’s always a fun match,” Fox Lane coach Fabian Videla said of the match at Waccabuc. “We did OK, our three through six were pretty good, but if we shaved off a couple strokes on top it could have been closer. That has been our Achilles heal this year, we need six guys to hit for an ok number on the same day. We’ve been playing some really good teams in John Jay, Horace Greeley and John Jay of East Fishkill, and we’re competing well, but have to put it all together. Frisbie is an eighth grader and he played well and has been putting up consistent numbers, and Kirshenbaum is another eighth grader, that was his first varsity match and he put up a 44 and did well. The kids are great and I couldn’t ask for a better group to coach.”

Blank feels the same way about his team as he enters his 10th season at the helm for John Jay.

“We’ve had some good matches against some really good teams,” added Blank. “John Jay East Fishkill is one of the top teams in the section and we split with them, had a great match at home and put up a 195. 

Top three lead the way

Fox Lane's Sebastien Getz blasts out of a trap. JIM MACLEAN PHOTO

Our top three have been very strong all year, Wally and James have been steady, and Asher is new to the team and he’s doing great. I’m really happy with this team. We have some good skilled players and they’re focused and really dedicated. We’re looking forward to the second half of the season.”

The two teams were set for a rematch in a home and away series as the Foxes were set to host John Jay on Wednesday, April 29, on the Foxes home course at the Bedford Country Club.