Danny Schumacher, Nico Arena and Benjamin Presutti lead Westhampton golfers to Suffolk title
Nico Arena, left, and Daniel Schumacher of Westhampton walk off the tee to prepare for their second shot at the Suffolk boys golf team championship on Monday in Manorville. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Champions at last.
The Westhampton boys golf program has produced multiple stars in recent memory. Zach Berger, the defending New York Federation champion, now plays NCAA Division I golf for Loyola Maryland. Owen Jessop, a 2025 graduate, now plays at Davidson.
Despite the talent the Hurricanes have boasted, they had never won a county title as a team — until Monday.
Fourth-seeded Westhampton dethroned second-seeded Sayville, the defending champions, with a 7-2 victory in the Suffolk tournament finals at Pine Hills Golf and Country Club in Manorville. The semifinals took place earlier in the morning, with Westhampton beating eighth-seeded Huntington, 6-3, and Sayville defeating sixth-seeded Smithtown East, 6-3.
“This is something that others before us didn’t get to do, so we owed it to them,” Westhampton junior Danny Schumacher said. “We’ve been close these past few years, so it felt great to finally get it done.”
The victory clinched Westhampton (15-1) a spot in the Long Island Championship against the Nassau champion on the Bethpage State Park Black Course on June 1. Its opponent will be determined in May.
The Hurricanes rode big bounceback performances from their top three players to beat Sayville (12-2). In the semifinals, Schumacher shot an 8-over-par 45, senior Nico Arena added a 12-over 49 and junior Benjamin Presutti followed with an 11-over 48. Each of them lost their head-to-head matchups against Huntington’s top three by a combined 13 strokes.
However, senior Caden Padavan (9-over 46), freshman Oliver Webb (8-over 45) and eighth-grader Giles Norton (8-over 45) won their matchups by a combined 16 strokes. That won the aggregate strokes total for Westhampton, 278-281, advancing it to the finals.
Schumacher and Arena then faced Sayville seniors Ray Woolsey and Brody Susskind — the top two overall performers from the semifinals. In the finals, Schumacher parred six holes and shot a 4-over 41 to beat Woolsey by three strokes. Arena parred seven holes, registering a 6-over 43 and defeating Susskind by three.
Presutti won the No. 3 matchup over Sayville senior Brayden Foster, 41-46. The 11-stroke advantage that Schumacher, Arena and Presutti built was crucial, as Westhampton narrowly held on to win the aggregate total, 216-220, which scored it the deciding three points.
“Our bottom half really got it done in the semifinals, and all the pressure was relieved off me because I knew I could only do better after putting up a bad score,” Arena said. “It feels amazing, especially after a tough two days at individual counties. I’m going to have a packed spring, and I’m going to love it.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
