Northport's Brodie Douglas fires a 1-under 36 to propel Tigers to Suffolk boys golf championship
Brodie Douglas of Northport plays his second shot on the second hole during the Suffolk boys golf team championship at Pine Hills Golf Course on Monday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Addressing his Northport boys golf team after a county semifinal triumph over top-seeded and previously undefeated Westhampton on Monday, coach Chris Cascone said the accomplishment was “a step up the ladder.”
About 30 minutes later, the Tigers would face Mount Sinai with a championship on the line.
Cascone used the ladder analogy again after beating the Mustangs — seemingly looking ahead to the spring’s Long Island championship — but he and his six golfers were certainly able to appreciate what rungs they climbed in reaching the mountaintop of Suffolk golf.
No. 4 Northport defeated No. 3 Mount Sinai, 8-1, in the Suffolk team championship on the front nine at Pine Hills Golf and Country Club in Manorville to claim its first county crown since the spring of 2017. Paced by senior Brodie Douglas’ 1-under-par 36, the Tigers totaled 199 strokes to Mount Sinai’s 210 in the nine-hole round. Northport advanced to the finals by beating Westhampton, 7-2, in the semis.
“We put in a lot of hard work this offseason and during the year,” said Douglas, a six-year varsity golfer. “To come up short last year was heartbreaking. But we set a goal at the beginning of the year — we wanted to win this. We did it, so it’s a great feeling.”
Northport (13-1), which lost in the county final to Ward Melville last season, will take on the Nassau spring champion for the Long Island title at Bethpage Black on May 27.
“It pays off, all the hard work that the boys have been putting in,” Cascone said. “They’ve never let up. They’ve always pushed. Our goal this year was to win the Suffolk County championship, and we achieved it. I’m proud of them. I really am proud.”
Douglas, an individual state qualifier after finishing fourth in the county individual championship on Oct. 23, sunk three birdies in a championship round that also featured two bogeys and four pars.
“I just tried to hit fairways and greens and then just try and two-putt. I mean, nine pars — even par — I’ll take that," Douglas said. "That’s really what I was trying to do, and to be able to make some birdies too, which really helped.”
Mikey Falasco shot a 2-over 39, Jack Trizzino and Jackson Gribben each shot a 4-over 41, Pat Beyersdorf a 5-over 42 and Casey Triolo a 7-over 44 for the Tigers in the championship. Trizzino’s championship round included an eagle putt on the par-5 second hole.
“I told them that we were looking to just score close to our average,” Cascone said. “I thought that if we could stay near our scoring average for the year, that we would walk away with a victory. And that's exactly what we did.”
Sophomore Jaxon Caruso fired a 2-over-par 39 to lead Mount Sinai, which finished the season 12-2. The Mustangs also upset a previously undefeated team in the semifinals, beating No. 2 Bayport-Blue Point, 6.5-2.5.
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
