South Brunswick Girls Win GMC Golf Title

The South Brunswick High School girls golf team is trying to end a good year with a great finish.

South Brunswick was scheduled to compete in its three biggest events of the year in a span of just 11 days.

"Our barometer for how well we are doing is the GMC, the division tournament and the state tournament," South Brunswick Coach Joe Dougherty said.

South Brunswick won the Greater Middlesex Conference Championships for a fifth straight season on May 17 at the Concordia course. South Brunswick won with a score of 184. JP Stevens placed second with a 188.

According to Dougherty, the talent on the team, the poise of the players and getting to play on their home course were all factors in the GMC win.

Each team used six players and counted the top four scores (on 9 holes) to determine the overall team score. Based on the overall great day by the South Brunswick players, the Vikings would have been happy to count all of the scores.

"Everyone shot at -- or near -- their season best," Dougherty noted.

Kathryn Chell placed fourth in the GMC with a round of 43. Julia Bae was fifth with a round of 44. Talia Togno was 9th with a 47. Chell and Togno are both seniors and the captains of the team. Bae is a sophomore.

Victoria Lam (51), Samantha Bishop (54) and Chelsea Anglin (58) also competed for South Brunswick.

"Samantha, Victoria and Chelsea all did their best golfing of the year," Dougherty said. "Our seniors and our younger players all showed a great deal of poise."

South Brunswick placed 8th in the state sectionals on May 14. It needed to place among the top four teams to reach the overall state finals.

"We'd like to improve our play at the state level," Dougherty said.

Dougherty added he hoped the girls on his team would continue to golf over the summer.

"I'll guide them in the things they need to do," Dougherty said. "They can't put the clubs in the closet at the end of the season and pull them out again next March.

"We have a lot of young and talented players. If they play more often, they can improve and become more of a force at the state level."

South Brunswick will take a record of 9-5 into its regular-season finale against West Windsor North on Tuesday.

West Windsor North will also be one of the opponents in the final event of the year -- the Central Jersey Golf League Championships, which will be held at Concordia on Thursday.

"West Windsor South is undefeated in the league and the favorite," Dougherty noted. "Second place is up for grabs among three teams (West Windsor North, Moorestown and South Brunswick)."

South Brunswick will at least be playing on a familiar course.

"The folks at Concordia Golf Club have been fantastic," Dougherty said. "The membership has embraced the girls and has made them feel at home there."