LeFante repeats as county champ
CBA is runner-up for
second year in a row
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

JEFF GRANIT staff CBA’s Tim Martin shows off the form that allowed him to shoot a 77 at the Monmouth County Championships at Hominy Hill Country Club in Colts Neck on Thursday.

Defending championships is becoming old hat for Colts Neck’s Eric LeFante.

The junior became a two-time champion of the Monmouth County Tournament on Thursday when his 1-under-par 71 bested his rival, St. Rose’s Pat Fillian (72), by one stroke at Hominy Hill Golf Course in Colts Neck.

LeFante had started the season off beating Fillian, a senior, in a playoff to win the Wall Invitational. Drawing on that experience helped him hold off the St. Rose golfer Thursday.

"It gave me something to think about," he said. "I felt I was a little more focused this time."

As has been the case, LeFante and Fillian pushed each other to perform at the highest level (they were three shots clear of the field).

"We both played well and made some good shots," LeFante remarked. "If we had made some putts, it [the scores] could have been a little better."

LeFante and Fillian are a clash of styles, with LeFante the ultimate course manager who hits fairways and greens, while Fillian the swashbuckler likes to shoot for the flag. They have something in common, however.

"We both want to win badly," LeFante pointed out.

When Fillian carded back-to-back bogeys on the third and fourth holes, LeFante was able to grab a two-stroke lead that he never surrendered. Fillian would not go away, however, and the lead swayed back and forth from one to two strokes. It took a 6-foot putt for par on the 18th hole before LeFante could secure his latest win in this rivalry.

"On 18 I was a little concerned," he pointed out. "I had a 40-footer and needed two putts to win. I knew it would be a slow putt and I left it 6 feet short.

"I felt pretty confident with the 6-footer," he added. "It was dead straight. There was nothing to it if I didn’t push it."

LeFante hit his putt dead straight and when it dropped in the cup, he was now a two-time county champion.

"You always like to win," he said. "When I win a tournament it verifies that I’m one of the best around here and it gives me more confidence for the state tournament."

Wall Township took the team title with a combined score of 319, which was two strokes better than the totals of both CBA and Colts Neck. This marked the third time in the last four years that Wall earned the county championship.

The Colts were awarded second place due to a lower fifth-man score. CBA was led by sophomore Tim Martin’s 77 and sophomore Nick Szem’s 79, but also received solid efforts from junior Michael Brunner, 82, and senior Brett Fodero and sophomore Nick Gliozzo, who each carded an 83.

As only the top seven teams in the county tournament qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament, CBA will be the only local team to take part in that competition. Both Holmdel and Middletown South narrowly missed qualifying, finishing tied for eighth (336) just two strokes behind seventh-place Ocean Township.

However, a number of local golfers qualified as individuals, starting with CBA’s top five guns, Martin, Szem, Brunner, Fodero and Gliozzo.

Holmdel will send two golfers to the May 24 outing at Howell Park in senior Anthony Ursino, who shot a 77 and tied for fifth place on Thursday, and senior Buddy Crisp, whose 82 tied him for 19th.

Middletown South will send sophomore Conor Walsh, who shot an 81 on Thursday, sophomore Matthew Cruz (82), and junior Greg Stockely, who shot an 85.

St. John Vianney, who took 14th as a team with a score of 364, will send freshman Andrew Sabia, who shot an 83 to qualify, while Matawan junior Jonathon Abramson, who shot an 85, also qualified.

The NJSIAA sectionals are May 10 and 12, with the Tournament of Champions on May 17. LeFante was second in the Central/South Jersey sectional last year and fourth at the TOC. The junior’s steady game gives him a chance to win either or both.