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Skaneateles, N.Y. – The 2008 Boys champion Gavin Hall defended his title via a 13-stroke victory at the 53rd Junior/Boys Amateur Championship at Skaneateles C.C. on Wednesday. In the Girls field, Bailey Cocca was awarded the coveted Betty Deeley Trophy following a 1-over-par performance and two-day total of 150.
“It’s nice to play well at the Championship and contend,” says Hall modestly. “To be the best in the state at 14-and-under is a great accomplishment and it’s what I always strive for every year.” Hall has done more than contend at the Boys State Championship over the past two years as he became just the third individual to repeat as champion and joins the company of Tommy Nixon (1984 & 1985) and Nick Park (2001 and 2002) who also accomplished the feat.
The red sharpie marker which is used to record scores on the leaderboard for rounds under par was picked up just three times over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday. Gavin Hall’s rounds of 68 and 65 are the reason for two of those instances when the leaderboard bled red ink. Hall, a recent graduate of Barker Road Middle School, entered the final round with a five-shot lead over fellow Pittsford resident Danny Drummond. Hall used a 6-under-par performance on Wednesday to complement his 3-under 68 the day before and run away with the Boys Championship for a second straight year. “I hit the ball not as good as yesterday,” says Hall. “But I started out pretty strong and consistent and was able to hit enough greens where I could rely on my putting. It was just one of those days where you look at the hole and it seems so big.”
“It’s just an honor to win this again,” says Hall. “It’s pretty cool to be back-to-back.” Hall stared down birdie putts all day and was able to convert on seven of them to offset one bogey that came at the par-4 17th. He turned in a front nine score of 33, including the two par-5’s that are stationed at Nos. 2 and 5.
However, Hall wasn’t done there. He picked his ball out of the cup at the par-3 13th and crossed West Lake Road to finish out the remaining five holes where he kicked it up a notch, carding three straight birdies, a bogey on No. 17 and a birdie at the par-5 18th.
On the drive-able par-4 14th, Hall left himself a 30-yard approach from the middle of the fairway as he was able to get up and down for birdie. He then hit a 52-degree wedge on the next hole, a short par-3, and landed his tee shot about seven feet to the right of the pin which he knocked down for another birdie. At the downhill par-5 16th, Hall smoked a driver down the middle of the fairway and hit a 7-iron into the middle of the green on his second shot where he two-putted his way to birdie. “That hole you can make a big number there if you go out of bounds,” says Hall, who named avoiding mistakes as his main goal today.
His lone bogey on the day came at the 17th hole as he missed a birdie putt short from 20 feet below the pin and then lipped out his par attempt. He quickly made amends for his only bogey of the day with a birdie at No. 18. Hall used a driver/3-wood combination to reach the green in two and then two-putted again at the par-5 to post his seventh birdie for a 6-under 65.
Hall still has a few more events on the agenda this summer before entering his freshman year at Pittsford-Mendon High School. In a few weeks, he plans to compete in the Williamson Cup and then will head to his home course, the Country Club of Mendon, which is also the site of next year’s Junior event, and will participate in the club championship there.
Meanwhile, the Girls division encountered an entirely different story for this year’s champion. Bailey Cocca, of Shaker Ridge C.C., didn’t win the Girls title in her first year or even second year of competing like Gavin Hall was able to accomplish in the Boys field. However, Cocca consistently placed near the top-five on the leaderboard over the past two years as she continued to improve until her experience paid dividends today.
“It means a lot to me to win this because I came so close the last two years,” says Cocca. In 2008, Cocca carded a 157 at Oneonta C.C. in the 46th Junior Girls event. She was a sixth place finisher in the 2007 campaign from Mark Twain following a 163 which remained just seven strokes shy of the leader.
Cocca entered the final round trailing by four strokes over Paige Thompson. Yet, the Latham teenager never gave up despite a 3-over-par start on the front nine and a fourth bogey coming at the par-4 11th hole. She finished strong with a birdie-par-birdie-par-birdie close for a six-stroke improvement from the previous day at 1-over par. The rest of the field struggled with handling the course as she remained the only player to break 79 on the day.
The three birdies on Cocca’s scorecard came at the short par-4 14th and the two par 5’s and Nos. 16 and 18. On the 14th, Cocca hit a driver to within 40 yards and then selected a 60-degree wedge which she precisely landed to within two feet for a tap in birdie. The par-5 16th measures 428-yard from the white tees so Cocca lined a drive down the fairway and had 180 yards in as she pushed a 5-wood right into the bunker. “I didn’t hit a great bunker shot and I left myself about twelve feet but I was able to make it,” says Cocca.
“I hit my best shot of the day on 18,” says Cocca, who left herself 175 yards to the flag following that tee shot. She then hit a 4-hybrid to the back of the green to reach in two strokes and used just two strokes to register a birdie before she could shake hands with competitors Brooke Rohrbach, of Winged Foot G.C. and Ariana Gaeta, of Hidden Valley G.C.
Cocca credits her successful round to her ability to stay relaxed and in control out on the course. “I was trying to keep my head together because I let it get away yesterday after hitting the ball out of bounds,” says Cocca. “Today I listened to my dad’s advice coming in and I actually was able to laugh off some of my mistakes. I would get mad at first, but then I just laughed it off.”
This year’s Girls champion still has a busy summer before her sophomore year at Shaker High School. She arrived home last Thursday from Ohio at the PGA Junior event where she fired three rounds of 82-76-76 en route to making the cut in the top-30. Cocca plans to compete in one more AJGA event at the end of August before starting class again in the Fall.
Submitted by Kevin Solan
NYSGA Media Intern
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