Wissahickon’s Jalen Griffin, CB West’s Tyler Sokolis and Abington’s Connor Breslin were the SOL’s top golfers at Monday’s SOL Championships. To view a complete list of the district qualifiers, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/article/content/2013-sol-district-one-qualifiers-0038013. A list of the top finishers for each conference is posted on the GOLF home page, To view photos of the event, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Ben Reese
WARMINSTER – Jalen Griffin was smiling from ear to ear.
The Wissahickon senior was happy about finishing in a tie with Central Bucks West's Tyler Sokolis for the medalist honors at the Suburban One League boys’ golf championship at Five Ponds Golf Club. Both golfers shot even-par 71.
But he was more excited about his Trojan team winning the wild card chase and qualifying to play as a team at the District One championships next week.
Led by Griffin's 71, the Trojans shot a 313 for four golfers. Alex Kim and Noah Harrington each shot 79 and Dan Sunderland shot an 84.
Their total beat Upper Dublin and Council Rock North, both of which totaled 318.
“The team, definitely the team,” Griffin said when asked about his excitement. “That was more important.
“It's more important for me for the team to actually get to districts. That's been the goal since freshman year.
“We've always lost the conference by a couple of shots and then gone to the wild card and it's never worked out.
“I was very nervous for the whole team today because we have two freshmen here and one is like a first-timer at Suburbans. I didn't know how nervous they'd be, but somehow we were able to pull it off.
“It was pretty amazing. Overall, it was just an awesome day for us.”
And that doesn't even get into Griffin’s round.
He made the turn at even par. He bogeyed the second hole and the eighth but birdied Nos. 5 and 6.
And Griffin kept rolling on the back nine. He played par golf through the first six holes on the back.
But then came the 16th, where he ran into some trouble. He took a five on the par-4 hole to go 1-over par.
“The whole day I was around par or 1-under, so I knew I didn't want to go over par again,” he said about his thoughts on No. 16. “That's been my whole thing in the matches.
“I've always been around par or better. I think eight out of 12 matches I played were at par or better.
“During the practice round, I hit the same spot on 16, way on the left side. It wasn't like the biggest bummer, but I knew I had to get it back.”
The 17th hole is a 166-yard par-3 over water. It isn't the perfect hole for a birdie but it was one that could be birdied.
“On 17, I kind of hit it thin and I was just praying it would get over the water,” Griffin said. “Somehow it got over and I was lucky with the lip-in (his putt ran around the hole before dropping in).”
Things still weren't settled when Griffin got to 18. He hit his drive left under a pine tree, leaving him a difficult punch-out from under the branches.
He got the ball back into the fairway and hit a wedge to the far right of the green, eight to 10 feet from the hole. He then rolled in the putt to finish at 71.
“(I went) straight under trees two times but was under trees four times,” he said. “Off the tee wasn't that great today.
“I'll have to work on that a bit. I didn't want to bogey that last hole.”
Griffin was happy with his 71. So was Sokolis.
“I thought even was a good number,” the West senior said. “I didn't know if it would win it because there was a lot of good competition, but I was definitely happy with 71.”
Sokolis was rolling along on the front nine until he got to No. 9. He was 2-under and cruising.
“I played really well on the front and I had a double (bogey) on nine so I got off keel a little bit,” he said. “Then I got it on the back; that's all I could ask for.
“I didn't know what the number was going to be today. I knew if I stayed in the 70s I'd be pretty safe.I'm definitely happy with this number.”
The tie for the top medalist spot gave both Sokolis and Griffin their respective conference championships, Sokolis in the Continental and Griffin in the American.
The day’s biggest surprise was Abington’s Connor Breslin capturing the National Conference title. The Abington junior came out of nowhere to shoot a 2-over 73, playing the back nine in even par.
“I can’t even describe it,” Abington coach Jason Cottone said. “Right now, it’s surreal because it’s such a good score. I’m so happy for him.
“He never let his emotions shine through, but I saw the biggest smile from ear to ear. That made my season right there – seeing him smile like that.”
Last year, as a sophomore, Breslin didn’t advance to the SOL Championships, and he was listed 79th on last week’s SOL handicap differential list.
“I had no expectation of winning this,” Breslin said. “This season was not my best effort. I didn’t play as consistently as I would have liked to.
“I just played well today. I putted really well. I had a practice round yesterday, which helped me, and I spent a good amount of time this morning on the putting green.
“There are so many good players in our conference, and I knew that to get into the cut, I would have to score pretty well, so I just wanted to give myself the best chance I could to make it to districts. It was a great day for me and my team.”
Breslin had four birdies in a stellar outing on Monday.
“He said his goal was just to go out there and have fun and not put a whole lot of pressure on himself,” Cottone said. “I was talking to Bensalem coach Jeff Schluchterer, who was his monitor, and he told me that Connor was playing really well.
“I was thinking he was just several over par, but he told me Connor was sinking every putt, hitting the greens in regulation and he was having the round of his life and nothing could stop him. He was destined to shoot that score.”
Cottone is not sure when Abington last had a conference champion, but it has not been in recent memory.
“Connor has always been that player who has the potential, but things have just never come together for him,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “It’s always been his putting or his driving. It’s always been one aspect of his game each time we played this season. He told me everything came together today.”
Breslin gave a glimpse of that potential last week when he shot a 38 in his team’s match against Bensalem.
“I think that momentum just kept going with him,” Cottone said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled for Connor and for Abington golf. We aim for these high standards for our players, and it’s awesome to see it take form and paying off. Matt Shur shot an 82 today, so we have two players going to districts. I couldn’t be happier.”
One player who had hoped for better was Hatboro-Horsham's Tom Fisher. Fisher finished second in the 2012 championship to CB East's Stewart Rickenbach.
He shot a 9-over 80, finishing third in the Continental Conference and 15th in the overall SOL championship.
“I didn't make any birdies,” Fisher said. “I had trouble making putts; I had two or three 3-putts.
“It was like a lot went wrong. I'm not worried about the way I played today. It's not a big deal.”
Fisher did have one bright spot in his round. On the par-4 16th, he hit his second shot from 133 yards with his pitching wedge toward the green.
It bounced once, nearly straight up in the air, and then fell into the cup for an eagle 2. That helped the score a bit.
“The longest ball I had (ever) holed out was like a 60-yard chip,” Fisher said. “It was a 133-yard wedge and everybody told me it went in. It was pretty cool.
“I was 7-over and then I went back to five and then I went back to seven with a double and then another double (on 18). That's how it goes, I guess.”
All the golfers seemed to agree that, while winning the SOL is important, just as important is moving on to the District One championship.
“My goal since the beginning of the season has been to go to states,” Sokolis said. “This gets me into districts
“It doesn't get me anywhere past. This would have been a pretty good win here (although a tie is good too).”
Fisher was more concerned about advancing to districts.
“(It's more important) to move on,” he said. “If you win (SOLs), you have a big target on your back.
“It would have been nice to win it but it was good playing with Jalen.”
Griffin wanted the win.
“That was a goal for me since freshman year,” he said.
The top ten finishers in each conference received a medal for their efforts. The top 46 players will advance to the District One tournament, which will be held at Turtle Creek Golf Course in Limerick on Monday and Tuesday, October 7 and 8.
While most of the top golfers in the overall listing were the golfers who had played their best during the matches this season, one name stood out as what could be called a surprise. Chris Binet of Springfield shot a 2-over 73, finishing fourth in the overall and third behind Griffin in the National Conference.
Mary Jane Souder also contributed to this article.
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