Penfield’s Merkulov wins NYSPHSAA Boys Golf Championship in playoff;
Section V wins Sectional Championship

ITHACA — Under ideal conditions, the second round was played Monday at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course at Cornell University in Ithaca.

Yarik Merkulov (Penfield HS-V) won the individual title by 1 shot over Mike Miller (Brewster HS-I), who had finished in 3rd place the last two years behind Merkulov’s back-to-back 2nd place finishes. This was Merkulov’s fifth and final appearance at the state tournament and will be playing at Duke next year.

Gavin Hall (Pittsford Mendon HS-V) placed third at four-over-par 148 after his round of 75. Austin Nowak (Lancaster HS-VI) came in fourth with a two-day total of 149 and finishing in a tie for fifth were Eric Edmunds (Skaneatles CS-III) and Paul Andrews (Corning HS-IV) after their totals of 152.

Edmunds had the low round of the day with a three-under-par 69, one better than Merkulov’s round of 70 and two better than Nowak’s round of 71.

Section V won the Sectional Championship for the third year in a row, only the second section in tournament history to do so, with a two-day total of 1078, which includes the best seven-out-of-nine scores from both rounds. They finished 22 shots ahead of second place Section IV and 38 shots ahead of third place Section VI.