Golf: Pingry's Mayer, North Hunterdon win Skyland titles

HILLSBOROUGH - For three years, the Skyland Conference Boys Golf Tournament title was just out of reach for the Pingry School's Jake Mayer.

Last year, Mayer fell short by just one stroke, which had been a thorn in the senior's side, but this season, coming off his third-straight Somerset County Tournament title, Mayer found a way to win.

Mayer won the Skyland Conference Tournament crown on Wednesday for the first time with a 71, and North Hunterdon won the team title by one stroke ahead of Ridge, 327-328.

"It feels really good because that’s one of tournaments I haven’t won in high school," Mayer said. "I won the county for the third time this year, but I’ve always come up short in the Skyland, which was a bummer. If I had a goal for high school it was to win the conference, it’s good to achieve that goal."

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Montgomery's Andrew Kolter, Ridge's Michael DelGrande and Watchung Hills' Clemet Shao all tied for second with a 76.

Pingry finished as team tied for fifth with Montgomery with a 336.

Having come so close before helped Mayer on the course on Wednesday as he said he stayed patient and used his knowledge of Royce Brook County Club in Hillsborough, which is where the county and conference tournaments are held, in order to hold on for the win, although the windy conditions were a bit of a nuisance.

"It was one of the hardest conditions in high school golf that I’ve had at this point," Mayer said. "I stayed patient and made a lot of birdies out of the gate. I shot a 32 on the front nine, I was 4-under and then struggled and fought back at the end."

For Mayer, who started playing golf at the age of seven and has been playing competitively since he was 13, it's the lure of improvement and the social aspect of the sport that keeps him playing the game.

"Being out there with good people for four hours, meeting new people every time and getting to play with my dad and family and friends, they’re attractive things that get me out to practice, and once I’m there and the better I get, the more I want to play," he said. "Just the drive to get better, it’s unique to golf because you can see your improvement right off the bat the more you practice."

Mayer, who will continue his golf career at Princeton University next year, is excited to see what comes next after finally getting over the Skyland Conference Tournament hurdle. The NJSIAA Tournament, which starts May 16, is looming, and Mayer is hoping that Pingry can advance to the Tournament of Champions as a team.

"This was the capstone to my high school career, I had won the county my sophomore year, which was a huge accomplishment for me, and last year I won the sectional and this year the only thing was the conference, so to round that out was really cool," Mayer said. "In terms of confidence, it’s good to win. My swing feels really good now and I hope I can keep that up and keep playing well for the rest of the season."

For North Hunterdon, it was the first time the Lions had won the Skyland Conference Tournament since 2010. Erik Stevens and Brendan Zappal each shot 81, Mike Kochanowski shot a 82 and Brian Cardace finished with an 83.

"Our team goal was to shoot at worst 480, so we weren’t putting any pressure on one individual, it was a tough day with the wind and pin placement, and we kept it as close as we could to 80 and that was enough," North Huntedon coach Kirk Hissner said. "It feels great, the kids wanted to shoot 80 or better, but I had to let them know that the conditions and the pin placement were tough, and there are some pretty good kids in the Skyland Conference and we only have three kids shooting 70, so it was definitely playing tough."

North Hunterdon, which is 12-1  this season, played two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman on Wednesday, and didn't realize how close the scores were until the end.

"We knew it could be tight, since we were over our goal there was definitely a chance that another team could steal it," Hissner said. "But it’s exciting for our future, we still have the Tri-County Tournament and states to prove ourselves."

TEAM SCORES: 1. North Hunterdon 327; 2. Ridge 328; 3. Watchung Hills 331; 5. Montgomery 336; 5. Pingry 336; 7. Hunterdon Central 345; 8. Bridgewater-Raritan 365; 9. Somerville 370; 10. Bernards 371; 11. Gill St. Bernard's 378; 12. Voorhees 382; 13. Warren Hills, 411.

INDIVIDUAL SCORES: 1. Jake Mayer (Pingry) 71; 2. Andrew Kolter (Montgomery) 76; 2. Michael DelGrande (Ridge) 76; 2. Clemet Shao (Watchung Hills) 76; 5. Derek Li (Hillsborough) 80; 6. Brad Pinho (Watchung Hills) 81; 6. Eric Stevens (North Hunterdon) 81; 6. Brendan Zappala (North Hunterdon) 81; 9. Thomas Kirby (Ridge) 82; 9. Mike Kochanowski (North Hunterdon) 82; 9. Robert Motzel (Hunterdon Central) 82; 9. Mark Herwig (Rutgers Prep) 82; 13. Joseph Lostumbo (Hunterdon Central) 83; 13. Jeffrey Li (Ridge) 83, 13. Brian Cardace (North Hunterdon) 83.

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego