North Jersey golf highlights: All the winners from Friday's Big North, NJIC championships

ROCKLEIGH – St. Joseph continues as North Jersey’s No. 1 golf team, and Ramapo’s Harry Cohen has climbed into the chase to repeat as North Jersey Golfer of the Year.

St. Joseph won the overall title at Friday’s Big North Conference Championship Bergen Bracket at Rockleigh Golf Course. The Knights carded a shoot-five, count-four score of 303 that was five strokes better than the shocking runner-up, Demarest.

“Throughout the season, we’re getting better and better, and they’re learning how to close these tournaments out, and our results show that,” coach Kevin Rooney said after the Green Knights’ third 18-hole title of the season. "This team is together, the camaraderie is great, they’re all rooting for each other, and it just shows on the course.”

Cohen won the individual title by carding a birdie on the first playoff hole after he and St. Joseph junior Liam Moloney finished 18 holes tied at 2-under-par 70.

In the playoff, Cohen reached the green on the short par-4 10 ^th hole with a 275-yard drive into the wind and two-putted for birdie. Moloney parred after pulling his drive to the right, chipping onto the green and two-putting.

“At the beginning of the year, the putting was really rough,” said Cohen, who last year led the Green Raiders to the State Group 3 title. “Now I’m starting to swing well and the putting is decent, so I just have to keep practicing and getting better.”

Cohen led Ramapo to the Freedom Division title with 312, and that was fourth overall, one shot behind Don Bosco’s 311.

St. Joseph had a quartet shoot 81 or better. In addition to Moloney’s 70, sophomore Michael Asselta – who has the inside track on Golfer of the Year with three titles and a hole-in-one to his credit – shot 74 to tie for sixth. Freshman CJ Antifonario shot 78 and sophomore Darren Coyle 81.

Demarest won the National Division title and two freshmen led the way. Freshman Jake Aronson shot 73 and tied for third overall with Old Tappan senior Jun Chun and Northern Highlands junior Ryan Klarreich. Norsemen freshman Vince Parlamis shot 74 to finish in a five-way tie for sixth.

River Dell claimed the Patriot Division title with 343, and senor Alex Na led the way with 78. Fort Lee claimed the small-school American Division crown with 379, behind an 86 from sophomore Cyrus Chin.

Big North Bergen Bracket

At Rockleigh GC

Par: 72

TEAM SCORES

United Division

St. Joseph 303

Don Bosco 311

Bergen Catholic 327

Paramus Catholic 374

DePaul 390

Freedom Division

Ramapo 312

Northern Highlands 316

Ridgewood 317

Indian Hills 384

Paramus 414

National Division

Demarest 308

Tenafly 332

Old Tappan 335

Pascack Valley 381

Bergenfield 475

Patriot Division

River Dell 343

Ramsey 346

Pascack Hills 364

Westwood 371

Mahwah 389

American Division

Fort Lee 379

Fair Lawn 402

Dwight Morrow 449

Dumont 457

INDIVIDUALS

Harry Cohen, Ramapo 70*

Liam Moloney, St. Joseph 70

Jake Aronson, Demarest 73

Jun Chun, Old Tappan 73

Ryan Klarreich, Northern Highlands 73

Vince Parlamis, Demarest 74

Eric Kim, Tenafly 74

Michael Asselta, St. Joseph 74

Stephen Viray, Don Bosco 74

Aarush Malmandi, Don Bosco 74

Braden Bhalla, Ridgewood 75

Cassandre Mayer, Paramus Catholic 76

CJ Antifonario, St. Joseph 78

Ryder Hodgson, Bergen Catholic 78

Alex Na, River Dell 78

Jackson Chudnoff, Ramapo 78

Jack Sposa, Ramapo 78

Parker Rollins, Ridgewood 79

Michael Ledlow, Ramsey 79

Noah Rubach, Tenafly 79

*-Cohen won on first playoff hole

Dwight-Englewood big winner at NJIC Championship

RIVER VALE – Dwight-Englewood had added motivation after not qualifying for the State sectionals in the heavyweight North Non-Public A.

The Bulldogs won the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference Meadowlands Division title Friday and shot the overall low score at par-70 Valley Brook GC.

Senior Danny Lax shot 3-over-par 73, sophomore teammate Jaden Aroesty was runner-up with 76 and Dwight-Englewood carded a shoot-four score of 314 that was 26 strokes ahead of the next-best team, Leonia.

“I told my guys, ‘Let’s make a statement’ since we didn’t make the state tournament,” Bulldogs coach Dan Farinola said, “and try our best in the league and the county. And we came out firing.”

Lax finished strong to win the shotgun event. He birdied his final hole, the par-4 eighth, by hitting a pitching wedge from 129 yards to set up a 2-foot putt. On the par-3 seventh, he maintained a one-shot lead by sinking a 12-footer to save par.

Glen Rock won the Colonial Division title with 348 and had the top two finishers. Sophomore Brendan Burkhardt shot 78 and junior William Casper 80. Cresskill won the Patriot Division crown and sophomore Gavin Kim led and was low individual with 85.

NJIC Championship

TEAM SCORES

Colonial Division

Team scores

Glen Rock 348

Eastern Christian 400

Butler 419

Garfield 465

Meadowlands Division

Team scores

Dwight-Englewood 314

Leonia 340

Hasbrouck Heights 384

Palisades Park 404

North Arlington 476

Patriot Division

Cresskill 356

Saddle River Day 373

Waldwick 408

Park Ridge/Emerson 447

INDIVIDUALS

Danny Lax, Dwight-Englewood 73-m

Jaden Aroesty, Dwight-Englewood 76

Aaron Koo, Leonia 77

Brendan Burkhardt, Glen Rock 78-c

Taiyoung cha, Leonia 80

William Casper, Glen Rock 80

Zachary Wolpov, Dwight-Englewood 81

Stacy Han, Leonia 82

Adam Avery, Butler 83

Todd Merson, Dwight-Englewood 84

Gavin Kim, Cresskill 85-p

m-Lax won Meadowlands title

c-Burkhardt won Colonial title

p-Kim won Patriot title

EMERSON – Holy Angels is playing golf as well as any team is playing any spring sport in North Jersey.

The Angels, with no seniors in the lineup, three-peated at Wednesday’s Bergen County Girls Golf Championship, placing four players in the top five at Soldier Hill Golf Course.

“They’re playing really, really well, and you’ve just got to hope that they continue playing well,” said coach Pat Dunne, whose team is defending NJSIAA State champion.

Junior Angelina Kim repeated as individual champion with an even-par 71, and the Angels carded an impressive shoot-five, count-four score of 292. Bergen Tech was runner-up with 328 and Immaculate Heart was third with 333 - and last year this trio posted a 1-2-3 finish at the State Championship.

“Today the biggest part of my game was to stay patient,” Kim said. “I had a lot of putts just slipping by the cup, and I was able to hit my driver well and my irons fine.”

Holy Angels sophomore Olivia Lee was runner-up with 72, just missing a 20-foot birdie putt on her final hole. Junior Inha Jun was fourth with 74, and freshman teammate Eleanor Lim was fifth with 75.

Immaculate Heart senior Marisa Flores finished third after a stellar back nine and 74 gave her third over Jun via a match of cards. Bergen Tech junior Bella Crespo was sixth with 76, and sophomore teammate Olivia Pak was the seventh and final player to break 80 after shooting 79.

With Big North Conference and Bergen County titles in hand, Holy Angels’ next focus is Monday’s North sectional at Great Gorge in Vernon. The State Championship is May 14 at Raritan Valley in Bridgewater.

“They just go out very disciplined, play their game, and they all trust each other, and they all know that each of them is going to contribute,” Dunne said.

Bergen County Girls Championship

At Soldier Hill GC, Emerson

Par: 71; Yardage: 5,260

Team scores

Holy Angels 292

Bergen Tech 328

Immaculate Heart 333

Ridgewood 350

Ramapo 351

Demarest 374

Northern Highlands 385

Old Tappan 408

Individuals

Angelina Kim, Holy Angels 71

Olivia Lee, Holy Angels 73

Marisa Flores, Immaculate Heart 74

Inha Jun, Holy Angels 74

Eleanor Lim, Holy Angels 75

Bella Crespo, Bergen Tech 76

Olivia Pak, Bergen Tech 79

Cassandre Mayer, Paramus Catholic 80

Alana Flores, Immaculate Heart 81

Aubrey Lee, Bergen Tech 82

Skylar Lee, Ramapo 82

Taiyoung Cha, Leonia 82

Reese Fishman, Ramapo 83

Ava Heins, Northern Highlands 83

Emma Bang, Holy Angels 83

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: North Jersey golf highlights: All the winners from Friday's Big North, NJIC championships