Woodstown’s Smith wins Arena-Rifkin golf tourney in playoff

Woodstown's Tom Smith ended the drama at the Carl Arena and Al Rifkin Memorial golf tournament Thursday at Valleybrook Country Club in Blackwood.

Locked in a three-way tie at the end of regulation, Smith sank a 24-inch putt to birdie the par-five hole and become the first golfer from his school to win the tournament.

Smith, a 6-foot-21/2-inch junior, had shot a 74 in the morning flight of 30 teams, as did Haddonfield's Kyle Raudenbush.

In the 28-team afternoon flight, GCIT's Louis Kelly also finished with a 74 over the par-72 course, forcing a sudden-death playoff.

"I told myself this is the biggest two-footer of your life," said Smith, who eagled the hole earlier in the day. "I knew that I could get on the green in two with a good drive, so I just got up there, took a deep breath, and that's what I did."

On the first putt, "I did not want to hit it past the hole so I tried to snug it up as close as I could. I was struggling most with leaving putts further."

Kelly, the second-place medalist, parred the 530-yard hole he had bogeyed earlier. Raudenbush, the third-place medal winner, bogeyed the hole that he had birdied in the morning.

Williamstown's Amber Smith captured the girls' first-place trophy, shooting an 84 in the afternoon.

"I was aiming for what I shot here Sunday, but I'm happy to be the top girl," said Smith, who recalled shooting a 76 during a practice round.

Considered to be the unofficial South Jersey championship, the tourney included 58 teams in two flights of 232 golfers with shotgun starts at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

In team scoring, Lenape won with 319 points; defending champion St. Augustine placed second with 327, and Haddonfield was third with 328.

Lenape's Garrett Conway shot a 75, Craig Smith a 79, Ed Meagher an 81, and Mike Pisani an 84.

Middle Township junior Alex Hicks, who won the individual title in 2008 after shooting a 74 and winning a 1-hole playoff with St. Augustine senior Devon Schaller, finished with a 78.

Conspicuous by his absence was Mainland's Jeff LeFevre. The senior, who led the individual standings with an average of 35.50 over nine holes, was out with a knee injury.

"He went to Rutgers over the weekend, tripped over a curb, twisted his ankle, and messed up his [right] knee," Mainland coach Dan Reardon said. "He tried to play at the conference championship on Tuesday and reinjured it."

On the girls' leader board after the first flight, Mainland's Kylie Strijek led a field of six with a 93. Her teammate, Heather Petronis, was right behind her with a 94.

Petronis, Mainland's No. 2 golfer elevated to No. 1 by LeFevre's absence, started at the sixth hole and made par, but didn't play well overall afterward.

Raudenbush felt that he could have done better in the morning round.

"I want to do 11 over again," said Raudenbush, who double-bogeyed the par-3 as well as the par-4 No. 3.