Great Neck golfers make mark in state, county contests

Janelle Clausen
Great Neck's Lady Rebels celebrated several victories this year, including at this year's Long Island Championship. (Photo courtesy of Leigh Gresalfi)
Great Neck's Lady Rebels celebrated several victories this year, including at this year's Long Island Championship. (Photo courtesy of Leigh Gresalfi)

The Great Neck Lady Rebels golf team at Great Neck South High School capped off a strong season with a third place win at a state tournament last weekend, following historic victories in the county and Long Island contests.

The girls were undefeated during their regular season, with a record of 13-0, and won their conference for the third year in a row. All six girls from the starting lineup had also qualified individually for the county tournament and as a team.

“This group of young ladies worked hard throughout the year,” Matthew Corrigan, the coach of the girls’ golf team, said last Friday. “Following the team’s 2018 Conference Championship, they bonded even more in 2019, resulting in this historic season.”

After two rounds at the Eisenhower Park White and Red Courses May 20 and 21, respectively, the Lady Rebels won the Nassau County Championship for the first time in Great Neck’s history.

The following week, they competed against Sayville High School’s golf team for the Long Island Championship and won, making them one of only two varsity teams in Great Neck high school history to have captured the Long Island Championship.

The team went on to win third place in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s high school girls’ golf tournament, which took place June 1-2.

Two Great Neck players – junior Keena Yin and freshman Andrea Zhou – also represented the Section VIII girls team, which took home second place among 11 section teams that were ranked.

Yin finished just outside the top 10, with an 11th place finish individually.

Meanwhile, three members of the Great Neck boys’ golf team coached by James Millevoi qualified to participate in the Nassau County tournament May 21. They included seventh-grader Luke Huang, sophomore Dylan Solomon and senior Raymond Gresalfi, who competed against 105 other golfers.

Raymond Gresalfi went on to represent Great Neck South High School on the Section VIII boys high school team in the state tournament. (Photo courtesy of Leigh Gresalfi)
Raymond Gresalfi went on to represent Great Neck South High School on the Section VIII boys’ high school team in the state tournament. (Photo courtesy of Leigh Gresalfi)

The top 30 boys advancing to the second day included Gresalfi, Jacob Fein from Port Washington, Manhasset’s Adam Xaio and Syosset’s Ryan Mellevoi, who then battled it out on the Eisenhower Red Course for one of the eight spots in the state tournament and a chance to represent the Section VIII team.

Gresalfi found himself fighting for a chance to go back to States for the third time after making it his freshman and junior years. After a clutch putt to par the second playoff hole on 18, Gresalfi became one of the eight players to represent Section VIII in Ithaca.

Gresalfi finished 22nd in the state tournament with a two-day total of 157. The Section VIII team finished in fifth place overall.

Share this Article