Boys' golf team tees off season with two victories

Every stroke matters.

That certainly was crucial for the Bridgewater-Raritan High School boys’ golf team that has opened the 2023 season with two victories in two matches.

The second triumph of the spring occurred on Thursday, March 30, when Bridgewater-Raritan edged host Hillsborough High School, 167-169, at the Royce Brook Golf Club in Hillsborough. 

That match was two days after Bridgewater-Raritan launched its golf season with a 169-170 victory over Ridge High School at the Basking Ridge Country Club.

The matches—according to NJSIAA rules– -consist of nine holes and each team is represented by six golfers, who factor in each team’s four best scores.

Against Hillsborough, junior Andrew Garcia shot a two-over-par 38 to lead all golfers. Panther teammates, seniors Jacob DeJesus and Aiden Torres, finished with scores of 40 and 44, respectively, while sophomore Anish Parikh posted a 43 to round out Bridgewater-Raritan's victorious outing. For Hillsborough, Alex Marchetti led the Raiders with a three-over-par 39.

DeJesus posted a three-over score of 39 to lead Bridgewater-Raritan to its victory over Ridge.Also contributing to that victory for the Panthers were Garcia, who shot a 41, senior Zach Shaw, who finished with a 44, and Parikh, who posted a 45..

The Panthers already have had two matches decided by two strokes or fewer in 2023 after having three matches decided by a similar margin throughout the entire 2022 season. 

Next up for Bridgewater-Raritan is four straight matches at its home course—Raritan Valley Country Club, Bridgewater—all against Skyland Conference Delaware Division teams.

All of these matches will tee off at 3 p.m., starting with the home opener against Montgomery High School on Tuesday April 4 and then a match against The Pingry School on Wednesday April 5.