Today I was fortunate enough to cover a fantastic match between Scarsdale and Clarkstown North. The Red Raiders had been struggling a little of late, but that was not the case at all in this match.

David Spiro led the way with a 4-under-par 32 at Scarsdale Golf Club. As a team, the Raiders posted a 191 total, the lowest in Section 1 this season, to beat the Rams 191-199.

Spiro was on fire from the start, birdieing the first two holes. He nearly made several more birdies before making two in a row on the 7th and 8th holes. No. 8 was truly special as he knocked a blind, downhill approach shot from 165 yards to 8 feet after pulling his drive in the left rough.

Meanwhile, Chris Scialo was nearly as good, carding a 34. On most days, this would be the story of the day, but even the University of Delaware bound player was overshadowed on this day.

Clarkstown North also got great play from flashy freshman Derrick Kim (36), Jared Greenspan (39) and Mike Kapnick. All three are on the borderline of that 6.0 differential needed to qualify for sectionals so today certainly helped.

The Raiders were balanced as always, despite not having three of their regular players. Coach Andy Verboys told me after that they have an outside shot of having 9 or 10 players qualify for sectionals!!! If that happens, it would probably double the next closest team.

Robert Gelber (39), David Schutzbank (40), Peter Friedman (40) and Jake Nathan (40) also scored for the Raiders (13-3), who ended North’s 8-match winning streak.

All around, some great golf was played. The first group would have shot 8-under if it was playing best ball. Not too shabby.

Neither was Scialo’s prodigious drive on the final hole. The 302-yard par 4 has water down the left, but the senior pulled driver and gave it a rip. From the tee, it looked like it almost hit the pin… we weren’t mistaking. His ball mark was about 3 feet right of the hole … from 302 yards. He nearly made his 30-foot eagle putt, but settled for a tap-in birdie.

I had my own little highlight in there as well. After a player, who shall remain nameless, left a club on the second hole, there was a short waiting period while he went to retrieve it. That allowed me to drop down the Pro V1 I had just found, grab another player’s wedge, and take a crack at the 100-yard par 3 fifth hole. With the pressure of elite junior golfers watching me, I calmly knocked it onto the left side of the green. I guess the four rounds of golf I’ve already played this week is starting to pay off…