St. Augustine golfer stays on even keel

Davis Schaller didn't complain.

As thunder rumbled and heavy rain pounded the tent Thursday at Valleybrook Country Club, other golfers grumbled about the course conditions.

But Schaller, a St. Augustine Prep sophomore, focused on his own faults.

Casual water on downslopes, balls plugging in the roughs, and inconsistent speeds on the greens at the Carl Arena and Al Rifkin Memorial High School Golf Tournament didn't bother the 16-year-old golfer as much as his own missteps.

Still, he had a 71 on the par-72 course with a hole to go at the event, which brings together about 240 of South Jersey's best golfers from 60 high schools.

"I started out bad, 3 over on the first four holes," Schaller said.

The tournament was suspended at 1:05 p.m., when thunder rolled over an already saturated course. Schaller and others from the first flight who had a hole or two to finish will return May 21, which is the tentative date set for a resumption of competition.

The second flight, which never made it onto the course, will start fresh at 9 a.m., and, if it plays under good conditions, some members of the first flight might complain about their scores.

Not Schaller.

"I don't think I'd complain because it's out of my control," Schaller said. "I had a chance to throw up a really good score, like I did at Atlantic City. I blame myself and not anyone else."

At the Atlantic City Country Club on May 5, he shot a 1-under-par 69 to win the Cape-Atlantic League's individual championship.

"Davis has grown up so much physically and mentally between freshman and sophomore year," St. Augustine coach Len Dolson said, adding that at the Seaview Golf Resort in Galloway, Schaller is a member of the Golf Association of Philadelphia team, which travels to other courses.

"He plays with grown men every weekend," Dolson said.

Schaller, who started playing competitively three years ago, honed his skills at Seaview, where his father was the director of golf. His father, Steven, and mother, Amy, are so enamored of golf that they named their second son after Davis Love III.

"I was born in 1992, and he was playing well then," Schaller said of Love. "My parents liked the name and the golfer. I'd like to meet him.

"He and I have a similar build. He has a smooth swing, and I like to think I do, too."

At 6-foot-3, Schaller generates power off the tee, from which he can drive a ball up to 300 yards, he said. And lately his short game has been accurate, too.

The hole the 16-year-old must complete is the par-3 third hole. Schaller shouldn't have a problem making par on the hole, or going 1 under, which could win the event.

However, in the second flight are Middle Township sophomore Alex Hicks, the defending champion, and Mainland junior Jeff LeFevre, who shot a 37 and a 33 in the first flight and has a hole to go.

Hicks defeated Schaller's brother, Devin, last year in sudden-death overtime after they tied at 74.

Schaller, Hicks and LeFevre played as a threesome at Atlantic City the last two years and have a healthy rivalry.

"I'm expecting to shoot a low score," Hicks said. "A 69 was a good score" at Atlantic City. "Davis could have shot less, but on the front nine he hit a couple hazards."

Of course, Schaller didn't complain then, either.