Article submitted by Mike Cintorino.
It has been quite the run for the Elba/Oakfield-Alabama Lancers Golf Team.
On Thursday, at a blustery Livingston Country Club in Geneseo, the Lancers earned their 4th Section V Class C Boys Golf Championship in the last 6 seasons.
The day started with a semi-final match against the top-seeded Gananda Blue Panthers. The Lancers were led in that match by their stalwarts, CJ Gottler and Brayden Smith who shot 39 and 45 respectively on the par-36 front nine.
Gananda's Carter Lathrop fired a 47, but behind solid efforts from the Lancers' Jake Walczak and Aiden Warner, they were able to defeat the Blue Panthers 194 to 234 in the first of two Class C semi-final matches.
In the second semi-final, the Byron Bergen Bees had a nail-biter against the Geneseo Blue Devils that came down to the final pairing of the match.
Ryan Muscarella, Brendan Pimm, and David Brumstead all fired 50's on the front nine, all lower than the top four golfers for the Blue Devils.
The medalist of the match would come from the third pairing with a Geneseo golfer (name not submitted) who shot the low round of the match with a 48.
However, the steady and consistent rounds of the Bees allowed them to edge out the Blue Devils 202-207.
For the second consecutive season, the Byron Bergen Bees matched up with the Elba/Oakfield-Alabama Lancers in the Section V Class C Boys Golf Finals.
Last year the Lancers defeated the Bees 172-199 at Caledonia Country Club. This year, the conditions, specifically the wind blowing over 20b mph at times, proved for much tougher conditions on a difficult Livingston Country Club back nine.
Although the conditions were different, the results were similar as the Lancers defeated the Bees by a score of 189-206.
CJ Gottler once again medaled in the finals with a round of 41 while teammate Brayden Smith and Byron Bergen's Ryan Muscarella fired a round of 47. The Lancer's Jake Walczak (46) and Kaden Cusmano (55) rounded out the scoring for the Lancers as they successfully defended their Class C title.
The win was the Lancers' 4th Section V Golf Title in the last 6 seasons (2016, 2017, 2021, 2022 - there was no season in 2020).
In 2018 the Lancers finished 2nd.
With the win, the Lancers end the season 13-3 overall while the Bees fall to 12-3.
This was a fantastic season for the Lancers as for the second consecutive year they swept both the team title and individual title (CJ Gottler in 2021 and Brayden Smith in 2022) in Section V Class C Boys Golf.
This group of young men (and women) have grinded all season to live up to the legacy set for them by previous teams.
For Elba/OA Senior, CJ Gottler, he finished his 6th year as a varsity golfer as a 3-time team and 2-time individual Section V Champion, along with back-to-back Genesee Region League Player of the Year honors. Gottler's leadership on and off the course will be sorely missed, and his personality and ability to make not just teammates, but competitors laugh during a round of golf.
Reader-submitted photos.
