Golf Team Avenges Loss to Gov. Livington

Westfield High School's golf team avenged its only dual meet loss Tuesday, beating Governor Livingston 170-175.

Now the key will be for the Blue Devils to carry the momentum into next Monday's NJSIAA North Jersey Group IV Tournament at the challenging Alpine Country Club in Demarest.

The Blue Devils didn't play particularly well at Suburban Golf Club, but it was good enough to avenge the loss. The loss was the first of the season for Governor Livingston, which had started the season with a12 straight wins. Governor Livingston beat Westfield 156-160 April 20.

"We have been the dominant team in Union County for a long time,'' said Westfield coach John Turnbull. "But Governor Livingston has stepped up. They are a young team and next year could be the best team in Union County. But my concern is this year."

"I think we played better against them the first time and lost,'' he added.

Senior Dave Athenson shot a 40, senior Kevin Russell had a 42 followed by senior and this year's county champion Brandon Molson (43) and senior Mike Fietkiewicz (45). The course has a par 36. The Blue Devils also beat Union 161-208 with Sam Baldwin's 37 leading the way.

"We never had  as much competition in the county as we did and we were shocked to lose the first time,'' said Fietkiewicz, who will golf at Roanoke College next year. "It gave us a wake-up call. It's nice to have had a nice dual meet. We usually don't get that.''

Turnbull said he's looking for a fifth player to improve his game to take some of the pressure off his top four.

"We're struggling to find a fifth player,'' Turnbull said. "We can't go into the states without a solid fifth player. You can't put pressure on four kids and tell them that if one of them plays badly we're in trouble.''

Among the teams Westfield will be playing against Monday will be North Hunterdon and Hunterdon Central, which are ranked in the top 10 in the state.

"It's going to be exciting,'' said Fietkiewicz, adding that the team will be practicing at Echo Lake. "We need to get our games together.''