In one of the wildest scenes that rarely occurs in the calm, serene and predictable worlds of golf, the Cinnaminson boys’ golf team was named the runner-up in the Central/South Group 1 sectionals on Tuesday night after the play was stopped and it was determined that the rain would prevent people from playing on the make-up days of Wednesday and Thursday.  This victory will mean that it will be the third time in four years that the team will have moved onto the state and Meet of Champions (MOCs) finals.

The day started innocently enough, with the teams scheduled to tee off in a shotgun start format (tournament format in which all groups of players tee off simultaneously from different holes and end 18 holes later) at 1:30 p.m. at Heron Glen Golf Course in Ringoes, NJ.  Shortly after 5 with Cinnaminson on hole 13, the forecasted, dangerous impending weather was close to hitting and all play was called off for the time being and everyone had to leave the course.  All teams were finishing at different places, with some teams having only finished 11 holes.

With bad weather forecasted for the next two days and a monsoon-like thunderstorm opening up, play was called off and everything was cancelled for the next two days.  However, determining the winners would be more tricky because everyone had played different holes at different times and to differing difficulties.  NJSIAA officials on-hand determined that a team’s score would be determined on the first 11 holes each golfer played, using score against par to determine the outcome.

Spotswood was named the Central Jersey champions after scoring a plus-47, but the state championships and Meet of Champions only takes the top two scoring teams from each sectional site.  Cinnaminson scored a plus-28 to Haddonfield’s plus-23, meaning that the Pirates will move on with Haddonfield to states/MOCs next week and not Spotswood.

Cinnaminson coach Bret Jenkins was thrilled at the result and the opportunity to meet Haddonfield again, who had beaten up on the Pirates earlier in the season.

“We did very well, and it is nice to get another crack at Haddonfield at states,” Jenkins said.

Also, senior Zach Howard tied with Haddon Heights’  Luke Farquhar because both had shot a plus-1 through the first 11 holes.  However, Howard had shot one-over on the first hole that Farquhar hit par on, so Farquhar was named the sectional champion without ever winning the title on the golf course itself.

Therefore, Cinnaminson moves on to the NJ State Championships and the Meet of Champions on Monday, May 21 at the Hopewell Valley Golf Club in Hopewell, NJ at 11 a.m.  Representing Cinnaminson will be seniors Zach Howard, Jake Weick, Colin Kravitz and Mike Lutz.  There, the team will get a chance to compete for a trophy and four gold medals to the championship team in each Group and four silver medals to the runner-up team in all of Group 2, while there will also be a trophy and four gold medals to the overall State Championship Team among all teams. Four silver medals to the second place MOC team and four bronze medals to the third place MOC team.  There will also be medalists for the individual state and MOC champions as well.