The new John Cahill Memorial Scholar-ship Fund announced a series of new initiatives designed to support students throughout the area.
The new fund which is supported by The Ted Classic golf tournament at Inlet Golf Club is a partner with the Town of Webb Community Scholarship Fund.
Rob Budetti, one of the organizers of The Ted Classic, recently awarded the John Cahill Memorial Scholarship to Nicole Redpath, a 2015 graduate of Town of Webb, at Thendara Golf Club. Continue reading
The Thendara Golf Club will host a 90th Anniversary Golf Exhibition on Saturday, June 18 featuring PGA Touring Professional, Barry Cheesman.
According to George Hilte-brant, president of the club’s board of directors, Cheesman, aka “The Big Cheese,” will be joined in the exhibition by Thendara Golf Pro Richard Chapman and Damon Kull and Colin Criss, the two top players of the Town of Webb School’s golf team.
Hiltebrant said that the club hasn’t hosted a PGA Touring Professional since the early ’70s.
He recalls that the first two pros invited were Arnold Palmer and Sammy Snead, but over the years the club had played host to a number of other pros, including Lee Trevino.
“If it works out well this year, we’re hoping that Barry will come back again and bring another pro with him-and we can start building on more exhibitions,” he said.
The Cheesman visit was arranged by Club Pro Chapman, who got to know him during a Florida visit.
“I went to see him about my game and we worked together a little and played quite a bit,” said Chapman.
“Then last year I thought it would be a good idea to try to get him to come up here to do an exhibition. He was really interested-especially after telling him about Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and all the other big boys that have played Thendara.”
Tim Foley, a member of the board of directors, thought the revival of the golf exhibitions was a great idea and a fitting way to celebrate the club’s 90th anniversary-especially because most of the older club members have fond memories of the pro outings.
The Thendara Golf Club was established in 1921 by the Town’s forefathers who believed it would become a tourist attraction and would give people another reason to visit the area, according to Foley.
“That’s why the club will always be open to the public. Those early exhibitions were also promoted to bring tourists to the area to support all of our businesses. That’s another reason why it’s important to bring them back. It’s another great tourist attraction for our great community,” Foley said.
Exhibition organizers are anxious to see what kind of score Cheesman will post next week as he is known to be one of the longest drivers on tour.
Cheesman is consistently in the top ten in driving distance. He has qualified for the final round in 82 PGA tournaments, with seven finishes in the top ten.
On the Nationwide Tour, he qualified for the final round 94 times, with 18 top ten finishes.
“He could probably drive holes #3, #6 and #7 which are all par 4, and he could possibly drive #11, and #15 depending on the wind’s direction. It will be fun for people to see that,” Chapman said.
Chapman is also looking forward to seeing young golfers Colin Criss and Damon Kull play along with the pro.
“I don’t think people truly understand what we have done with the junior golfers at our club. This is the smallest school out there and they’ve won their first sectional championship ever. It’s a great accomplishment,” he said.
The event is free to all spectators. It will begin at 11 a.m. with a clinic for spectators, followed by a noon Meet and Greet session with Barry Cheesman. Lunch will be available.
The 18-hole exhibition will begin at 1 p.m.
A complimentary party with hors d’oeuvres with a cash bar starts at 6 p.m.
More information is available by calling the Thendara Golf Club at (315) 369-3136.
As you all know, Old Forge is home to one of the smallest Class D schools around-and that’s not a bad thing. There are countless advantages to the environment our kids enjoy when they step off the bus ever morning.
To be fair, however, it can create some challenges when assembling teams. Not only is there a smaller talent pool from which these squads must be formed, but many of the student-athletes participate in two sports.
That reality makes this year’s accomplishments in Varsity Golf as well as Boys and Girls Track and Field all the more impressive.
In fact, be prepared to be blown away by the unprecedented success of these three teams.
Varsity Golf
Coming off last week’s CSC Northern Division Championship, all eyes were on these guys. After all, if they could continue swinging the clubs as they had been, there was a pretty good chance that they could make some noise at Sectionals.
Sure enough, that’s exactly what they did, although I’m not sure anyone expected things to play out quite so favorably.
On Monday, May 23, New York Mills’ Twin Ponds Country Club played host to the Section III Championships. Entrants would face a full eighteen holes on this challenging course, testing both stamina and consistency.
Apparently, they were more than up for it, as they posted a tremendous four-player team score of 338, as follows: Damon Kull (79); Colin Criss (82); Ben Hannah (86); and Devin Daiker (91).
And what did that get them for their efforts? Only the school’s first-ever Section III Championship!
Yes, it’s true. The team brought home the gold and finished their season in style, to say the least. I don’t know if a simple “congratulations” will suffice, but I hope they know how much this means to all of their fans and the town in general.
Nice work, team. Ya’ did yourselves proud. Not to mention that Hannah, Criss, and Kull are all moving on to the State Qualifiers on May 26th and 28th at Seven Oaks Country Club in Hamilton. Best of luck to you three as well.
That’s not all, though. Read on and find out what might possibly be the best Spring sports season of all time looks like.
Boys and Girls Varsity
Track and Field
New York Mills will be remembered as a particularly friendly place for local athletes as both track teams would compete in the Center State Conference Division III Championship Meet on Thursday, May 19, only a few days prior to their club-toting pals.
Competing against Remsen, Hamilton, New York Mills, Oriskany, Poland, and Owen D. Young, the girls had their work cut out for them. Suffice it to say, they never flinched.
The points rolled in from team leaders Caitlyn Bailey and Maddie Phaneuf to be sure. There were also some pleasant surprises from numerous members who all contributed mightily to the final outcome.
Bailey finished first in the high hurdles and second in the intermediates. Pheneuf had a strong showing with a second in the 1500 and a fourth in the 800.
Lauren Holt’s outing was also key, as she pointed in the triple jump (2nd), high jump (2nd), and pole vault (3rd).
Jessica Hannah earned a fourth place ribbon in the high hurdles along with a sixth place finish in the intermediates and was joined by Sarah Branch (4th-100 meters), Ada Rannels (4th-shot put), and Elizabeth Getty ( 6th-long jump; 6th-triple jump) to round out the scoring.
At the end of the day, they compiled enough points to finish in second place overall, which is the strongest showing for our girls in recent memory. Remsen, who has been a frontrunner all season, won the meet.
As for the guys… well, what can you say? Their run of excellence just rolls on and on. I’d like to use the word dominating to describe their day, but it doesn’t really do them justice.
Hitting on all cylinders, their top four scorers amassed enough points (144) to win the thing all by themselves. That was hardly the case, though, as they managed a team total of 232, enough to exactly double that of their closest competitor, New York Mills, who finished with 116 points.
As has been the case all year, Connor Rockhill and Ethan Kress were superb. They won three events each, including the high hurdles, intermediates, and pole vault (Rockhill) and the triple jump, high jump, and discus (Kress).
Not to be outdone, Trevor Godemann came in first in the 400, 800, and long jump. When you add in Ryan Queen’s win in the 1600, the team’s jaw-dropping ways are clear, with ten first-place finishes out of the fourteen individual events.
And those are just the winning ribbons-there’s a whole lot more to report.
Other points came from Kevin Kress (2nd-high jump, high hurdles, 200 meter dash, pole vault); Queen (2nd-3200); Godemann (2nd-triple jump); Ethan Kress (2nd-long jump); Lance Frymire (2nd-100 ; 3rd-200; 4th-400); Rex Rimato (3rd-800, triple jump); Rockhill (3rd-triple jump); Pat Venetz ( 3rd-discus, 4th-shot put); Dane Daiker (4th-pole vault); Ken Pastore (5th-3200); John Landl (5th-400); Will Johnson (6th-3200); Hanson Schmid (6th-intermediates).
Despite the unbelievable result, the celebration was short-lived. This team and their coach, Tim Leach, know that there is a bigger fish in the pond, just waiting to be hooked, cleaned and wolfed down.
On Wednesday, May 25, right at deadline, this squad will be in Remsen as they attempt to Three-Peat as Section III Champs. Now that would make for a tasty supper! More on their exploits next week.