High school golf preview -- Palm Beach

By Gary Curreri | Special Correspondent

August 24, 2008

It's tee time for high school golf, the first fall sport to begin its regular season. Here are some players to look for coming out of the clubhouse.

Young and old

St. Andrew's girls' team added three promising freshmen this year in Jaye Marie Green (Spanish River Christian), Chan Chanpalangsri (Thailand) and Kailey Walsh (Pine Crest), who all shoot 74 or better for 18 holes. They will round out a squad that includes eighth-grader Marissa Kay, who is a cousin of LPGA star Morgan Pressel.

Golf is popular in the Green household. Jaye Marie's dad, Donnie, is an assistant golf professional at Broken Sound. Her brother is senior Matt Green, who plays for Boca Raton. The Boca boys' team is hoping to repeat its success of last year where it reached the state tournament for the first time in school history.

Green is one of four starters back from last year's team, which finished seventh in the Class 2A state tournament. The others are Steven Lyons, Michael Burton and Drake Kelso.

"Since we have a bull's-eye on our back, everybody is going to try and beat us," coach Bob Knight said.

Family ties

Madison Pressel (Spanish River) and Chase Koepka (Cardinal Newman) hope to follow their siblings to the state tournament. Madison, a senior, is the younger sister of Morgan Pressel, who won three state titles for St. Andrew's School before turning pro in 2006. Madison placed fourth at last year's Class 2A state tournament and was third the year before.

Koepka, a freshman, is the younger brother of Brooks Koepka, who won a state title in his junior year. Brooks is attending FSU on a golf scholarship.

"Brooks was a heck of a good freshman golfer, and if you look at the scores, in reality, Chase is somewhat ahead of where Brooks was as a freshman," said Cardinal Newman coach Greg Sherman.

Malone motivated

Palm Beach Gardens' Barbara Malone says reaching the state tournament for the first time "would be a great way to finish out the year."

The three-time Sun Sentinel First-Team All-County selection came in sixth at last year's regional tournament. The top four qualify.

"I would like to qualify for states as a team and me possibly winning states as an individual," said Malone, who helped the Palm Beach Junior Golf Association to a second-place finish in the Junior Team championships two weeks ago in Orlando.

Double up

Spanish River boys, who missed going to the state tournament by a stroke last year, have been buoyed by the additions of senior twins, Jordan and Brandon Meltzer, who moved to Boca Raton from Melville, N.Y. Both are top junior players who average 37 for nine holes.

Gary Curreri can be reached at SportsCom5@aol.com