Riverhead boys golf eyes first county championship after league title
In 2019, the Riverhead boys golf team won their first league championship. They’ve defended their title ever since.
With their 9-0 victory over Mattituck on Oct. 8, the Blue Waves secured six straight league championships and a record of 58-2 in their last 60 league matches.
“Golf is life,” Riverhead head coach Steve Failla said. “Everyone that comes through this program feels that way. It’s a constant competition in practice. They’re all pushing each other to get better and the results we’ve had are based on that hard work.”
Over the course of the season, Riverhead has dropped three points only once. Most of their victories were clean, 9-0 sweeps. Led by senior Colby Baran, who has been on varsity since his eighth-grade season and is the only Riverhead golfer to ever go to the New York State championships twice, the Blue Waves are looking to bring home their first Suffolk County team championship in school history. They’ve made it to the final four twice.
“Over all the years we’ve come to realize that no matter how badly we beat the teams in our division, there’s very good teams out there across Suffolk County,” Baran said. “We need to prepare for that mentally and bring our best game when the playoffs come around.”
Baran has had an electric career and could very well be the best Riverhead golfer to ever don the blue and white. After the match against Mattituck, Baran put the final stroke on his league resume — a perfect 50-0. The senior lefty never surrendered a point in five years of golf. Through nine holes of play, Baran has averaged a 36 this season. He’s put up a career best 32 at Cherry Creek Golf Links.
“We’ve been blessed with Colby over the last five years,” Failla said. “Not only with his ability to play with the best of the best but the way he leads by example. He puts in the work and that’s why you see the results. He works extremely hard at his craft. His work ethic is unmatched.”
Riverhead has six golfers who average a 41 or better through nine holes, which should set them up for success come playoff time. Other top scorers include Logan Dempsey (39), Mason Sidik (40), Liam Sullivan (41), Max Gajowski (41) and Kyle Hubbard (41).
Last year, Riverhead was knocked out of the playoffs because of the total team score. The individual matches were split, with both teams getting three wins, and the tiebreaker was the total team score.
“That’s why this season we are stressing not to get overwhelmed and try to do too much in the playoffs against the better teams,” Dempsey said. “Sometimes we get all zoned in about winning our individual match and try to make a shot we shouldn’t take and add strokes to our total team count. The pressure definitely gets different once the playoffs start, but we have to think about it as a team, not so much individually.”
The lineup has been changed all season long with Failla choosing to play the hot hand. Though the lineup only features six starters, all 11 players on the team have won an individual match during league play.
“The only way to get better is through competition. There are no free spots on the team,” Failla said. “We put a major emphasis on that for the entire season. That’s why we’ve been able to compete for so many years. We’re used to those competitive atmospheres. We’re in it every day.”
Though Riverhead has fallen short in years past for the Suffolk County team championship, this year brings another opportunity at history. Northport won the Suffolk County championship last year after beating previously unbeaten Westhampton in the semifinals and then knocking off Mt. Sinai to win it all.
“I’ve said it all along: It’s not always the best team that wins,” Failla said. “It’s the team that’s playing the best that day. That’s sports. That’s golf. We just need to stay the course and hopefully things fall our way this year.”
The 24-team playoff starts on Oct. 23.
