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Sports

Driving Toward a 3-Peat?

The Kings Park boys golf team looks to defend their two-time Suffolk County championship.

When the Kings Park boys golf team defeated Middle Country last week, a collective yawn could have been heard on fairways across Suffolk County. With a 29-match winning streak going into that match, anything less than a win would have raised eyebrows.

Coming into the 2011 season, coach James Pappas knows that while other school in League II may consider his team the favorite, “Every year changes,” he said. “Each year to the next, depending on who comes out for the team and who you lose to graduation.”

Kingsmen’s Top Golfers

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From his 2010 championship team that went 14-0 for the second-straight year, only one senior was lost, AJ Rapp. Of the 11 roster spots, none are new to varsity, including fifth-year senior Frank Amicizia. Amicizia is the defending Suffolk County champion in individual play.

Right behind Amicizia is Steve Wibben, a third-year junior who was among four Kingsmen winning their matches against Middle Country, shooting a 38 (third-ranked Joe Orlando [39], Matt Hyne [47] and Corey Birkel [49] also won their matches; top-seeded Amicizia tied his match with an even-par 36).

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“I happen to be very lucky in that I have very good golfers,” Pappas said.

Building A Program Starts Early

The Kingsmen play their home matches at Smithtown Landing Country Club. “When I was their age, golf wasn’t a ‘cool’ sport,” Pappas said. “Today, we have top athletes competing, who can play golf for free. It’s thanks to the goodness of the school board and our taxpayers that we can have a golf team.”

Pappas—in his 10th  year as varsity coach and 31st year as a Kings Park High School math teacher—didn’t start playing golf until he was in his mid 20s. But many of his players started in elementary school.  “Their parents drove them to golf courses when they were young, and some played golf with their kids,” Pappas said, also noting the important role Smithtown Landing’s youth program has played in his golfers’ development, as well as Kings Park’s junior varsity. “That’s another reason why we’re so successful,” he said.

A host of juniors round out the Kingsmen roster: Christian Cardillo, Nick Ephraim, Mike Fletcher, Dan Gunther, Nick Hein and James Lombardo. Collectively, this group will be looked at all season as the team to beat.

“Golf is such a mental game. I try and keep them confident, not cocky.”

That might be Pappas’ biggest challenge on a team used to winning. All the time.

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