April 20, 2005

High school golf in the fall?

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist


The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association is considering a proposal to switch high school golf in the state from a spring sport to a fall sport.

The proposal has a couple more committees to clear before it comes close to approval but it will probably face strong opposition from area coaches.

“I’d love to see it from the competition angle,” said Mainland golf coach Whitey Haak, “but I can’t imagine it happening. The players would be better, coming off a summer on the golf course, and the weather is better. But we’d find it almost impossible to get time on the golf courses.”

Ocean City co-coach Pat Dougherty agrees. “I know we’d be hard-pressed to get Greate Bay,” she said, referring to the Somers Point course her team and Mainland’s team both call home. “It would be much more difficult for area teams to get time on the courses because their members would be playing. There are far more people playing golf around here in September and October than in March and April. And you’ve got to remember that we not only play matches on these great courses, we practice on them, too.”

Another Cape-Atlantic League coach, Vineland’s John Pierantozzi, has a slightly different view. “I think it’s a fantastic idea,” he said. “The season ends on our courses pretty much after Labor Day. I think the courses would love it. But I don’t think we’ll see it. Change comes pretty slow in New Jersey.”

Haak believes the switch might be the first step toward another change. “I’ve heard the idea is to move golf to the fall,” he said, “then to make it boys golf in the fall and add girls golf in the spring.”

Dougherty isn’t sure there is enough interest. “We don’t see that many girls playing on coed teams now,” she said, “and if players go on the course who aren’t really golfers, they could be out there for a long time. It seems like there are only so many Joanna Coes.”

The NJSIAA would probably counter by pointing out that similar arguments might have been made in soccer, tennis and a number of sports where girls teams were added to sports programs after boys teams had become successful.

But the availability of golf courses is a mighty big problem. There are a few high school sports where facilities on campus are unrealistic. Golf is one of them. Others might include crew, ice hockey and bowling. Schools must either rent facilities for those sports or rely on the assistance of their owners. The facilities can benefit, as well. A golf course that lets young high school athletes hit the ball onto its fairways is taking steps to develop future members. A bowling alley can reap the same benefits and the creation of high school ice hockey teams can only stimulate programs at rinks like the Flyers Skate Zone.

But only so many people can play a golf course at one time and members or other paying customers have to have the first shot. During the fall – at least along the Jersey shore – the courses are much busier than in the spring and high school golf teams would struggle to get the amount of time they get now.

It is possible that golf courses in other parts of the state, where people do not vacation, would be able to offer just as much course time in the fall. And maybe that fact could lead to approval of this proposal by the NJSIAA, which must obviously be aware that girls golf is going to come at some point.

But, even if the rest of the state goes to fall golf, we might see the CAL continue to play its matches in the spring. After all, you can’t step up to the tee if somebody’s already standing there.

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The NJSIAA is also considering another proposal, this one from its basketball committee.

That group has suggested high school teams be allowed to schedule a maximum of 25 games in a season, instead of the current 24. The measure will go before the programs committee next month. After they deal with it, we’ll discuss it here.




Read more of Tom Williams' columns