Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK's CJ Merritt places second at Federation championship

CJ Merritt ended his time as a member of the Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK boys golf team in style.

The senior shot 3-over-par 74 to place second at the 24-player Federation championship Sunday at Bethpage Black.

Waterville’s Gabe Williams won the tournament with a 72.

“CJ sets such a good example for the rest of the kids in our program,” Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK coach Mike Ambury said. “I’m happy he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves. He’s been such a solid player for a long time.”

Merritt also finished second in the state public school tournament last weekend in Elmira.

The top players from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, Catholic High School Athletic Association, Public Schools Athletic League and New York State Association of Independent Schools tournaments qualified for Sunday’s event.

“I felt like I was hitting it well, I just had a couple of bad breaks early on,” Merritt said. “I just tried to stay patient and stick with what I was doing.”

The already challenging course took on rain for most of the day and that made it even tougher on the players.

Merritt bogeyed three of the first five holes but found a groove, and made 13 consecutive pars to finish the day. He totaled 15 in the round.

“I made a bunch of pars and there’s nothing wrong with that on a day like today,” Merritt said. “A par is a good score out here and you just try to hit the shots you need to hit. I feel like I executed pretty well today.”

Chaminade’s Mike McConie and Dean Muratore of St. Anthony’s each shot a 76. According to the tournament rules, “Ties are broken by scorecard comparison of ranked holes.”

Since McConie shot better on the more difficult holes, he was awarded third place and Muratore finished fourth.

McConie birdied three holes, including two on his even-par 36 front nine. The junior took first in the CHSAA state tournament last Monday.

“I just started playing well at the right time and have had some good results at the end of the year,” McConie said.

Like Merritt, Muratore didn’t make a birdie, but relied on his 13 pars to stay near the top of the leaderboard.

“It was very strange not making a birdie, but five bogeys on a course like this isn’t something to get mad at,” said Muratore, a sophomore. “I could have been better with my putting, but other than that, I feel like I played to the best of my abilities.”

Locust Valley’s Thomas Finn was fifth with a 77 and Kegan Frain (St. Anthony’s) and Mark Vitels (Garden City) shot an 84 and an 85, respectively.