Trumansburg golf enjoys dominant regular season

When it comes to golf in Tompkins County, Lansing has typically been the dominant force as evidenced by their IAC Championship title just last year. This time around, Trumansburg has emerged as the team to beat.

The Blue Raiders have won their first 12 matches of the season. This included a victory on May 7 over the Bobcats, who were also undefeated heading into the match. Head coach Jason Hodge credited the team’s hard work and a major acquisition by the school that has resulted in such a dominant campaign thus far.

“A couple years ago, we got a golf simulator here at the school, and that has really driven the interest level,” Hodge said. “We have some kids on the team that haven’t played golf before that have joined the team. And then we’ve got those top-tier guys like Nico Potenza and Lucas Hunter who love the game of golf and are able to come in after school, get some more golf simulator in and do it. As soon as we finish matches, the guys are going right back out to play more golf. It’s been a whole lot of fun with this crew.”

Potenza is coming off a strong 2023 campaign where he was the match medalist at the IAC Large School championship and finished in third place at sectionals. This year, the senior has already racked up 10 medalist honors out of a possible 12 matches. With this amount of success, it might come as a surprise that he only picked up the sport two years ago.

“He just loves the sport,” Hodge said. “Every weekend, he’s playing holes every day,” Hodge said. “He watches hours of videos on how to correct little flaws in his swing. The big thing this year is more of a mental game for him and Lucas. They’re really focusing on how they carry themselves, how they react to certain situations and trying to make the best of it.”

Hunter is another senior who has impressed all season long. He earned medalist honors three times this season, including the big win over Lansing.

“Lucas is definitely hitting the ball a lot more consistently this year,” Hodge said. “In the past, he hasn’t been really long. Last year, he gained some length. Lucas has been on the team since seventh grade. He’s been playing for a while now, and he loves the game, as well.”

Rounding out the top five golfers are junior Jack Linskens, freshman Teo Tielens, and junior Eli Parker. Along with Potenza and Hunter, the quintet all play soccer together in the fall and are also coached by Hodge. While there are zero issues in terms of team chemistry and recruiting, there are unique challenges the sport of golf brings to both newcomers and veterans.

“For match days, we can’t coach once they tee off on that first hole,” Hodge said. “We can’t provide them any guidance as to how they’re playing. We can help them if they have an interpretation of a rule. But it’s not like soccer where I could pull somebody aside and say, ‘Hey, I need you to be able to fix this.’ It’s a lot more pressure on them because they have to have all of the knowledge. A big part of the preseason is being able to explain all the rules of the game—especially for these new guys—and being able to make sure that they understand what the penalties are and what you’re allowed to do.”

Another key that works in Trumansburg’s favor is having the Trumansburg Golf Course a few miles away from the school. It isn’t lost on Hodge and the Blue Raiders how valuable an asset having a first-rate course so close to them.

“The Trumansburg Golf Club is great for us,” Hodge said. “They allow us to do everything we need, and to have such a gem in our backyard is phenomenal. It is one of the nicest courses in the area, for sure. Damon Reed and his staff are keeping this place top-notch. I told the guys how lucky they were to be playing some of the courses that we’re playing because in my high school career, we played on a bunch of cow pastures.”

The Blue Raiders hope their dominant regular season can translate to the postseason. Last time out, they were runners-up in the IAC championship and finished in seventh place at the Section IV Class C tournament. Hodge knows that it will take a complete team effort to make this campaign an even more memorable one.

“I think our success this year is not only Nico and Lucas getting better, but Jack stepping up. Teo playing golf for the first time, Eli, Ryder [McLennan],” Hodge said. “All those guys are just putting in the time to make it happen. If we look at our numbers from last year, Lucas and Nico were high 30s, low 40s, but then our next-best guy would be [in the] low 50s. Now we’ve got Jack and Teo who are consistently shooting in the upper 40s, which is great.”