Golf

CORNELL – Norwich junior, Eric Walling, became the third golfer in head coach Bob Branham’s tenure to qualify for the Section IV state tournament team.

Playing the second round of the Section IV medalist tournament on Saturday at Cornell University Golf Course, Walling had the fourth best round of the day moving up to the sixth spot overall out of 20 golfers. The top nine two-day scores clinched roster spots, and Walling is the first NHS golfer to make the cut since Nick Cupps qualified over a decade ago.

“The weather was good on Saturday, but the course was still unbelievably wet,” Branham said. “Every shot was plugging and you weren’t getting any extra roll. The course played 6,700 yards, and it was a really long 6,700 yards. Eric drove it well and was pretty steady all day. In the second day of this tournament, it comes down to who can stomach the pressure and deal with it. Eric handled the pressure well.”

Walling opened his tournament with an 87 on Thursday, and was three shots out of the ninth-place spot. He managed just a lone birdie on Saturday, but stayed away from the big numbers to shoot an 80.

Walling moves on to the state tournament June 5-6 at Cornell University.

Section IV State Team

Chris Stricek (Windsor) 79-75–154

Doug Fernandez (Ithaca) 80-77–157

Patrick Milkovich (Vestal) 77-81–158

Dan Molter (CF) 81-80–161