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Anthony Delisanti chips on to the 18th green at Tan Tara Golf Club. Delisanti, sophomore, will be the No. 1 in the lineup for the Falcons. (All photos by David Yarger)
Anthony Delisanti chips on to the 18th green at Tan Tara Golf Club. Delisanti, sophomore, will be the No. 1 in the lineup for the Falcons. (All photos by David Yarger)

Niagara-Wheatfield golf looking to continue success

by yarger
Fri, Aug 17th 2018 11:00 am
Falcons possess heavy winning streak to start season
By David Yarger
Tribune Editor
Year in and year out, the Niagara-Wheatfield High School golf team always seems to find themselves at the top of the Niagara Frontier League standings. Although, Coach Tim Codd lost four key seniors - Nick Peters, Nick Clouden, Jacob Sillett and Peter Buffone - he still has talent at the top in 2018.
The Falcons are coming off their fourth straight NFL title and a 23-0 season. While Codd tries not to mention it, the team is quietly on a 68 match-winning streak, and are 88-1 the last four years. He said the team really doesn't think much about it either.
"They don't talk about it," Codd said. "I don't talk about, and I don't even know if they really pay any attention to it. They just come out and play golf and enjoy what they're doing."
Getting back to the lineup, sophomore Anthony Delisanti will be the No. 1 for the Falcons. As a freshman, Delisanti medaled at the NFL tournament with a 3-under 69, a feat Codd was truly impressed by. Also, Delisanti qualified for the Section VI Sectional Tournament, as well as the New York State High School Golf Tournament.
Delisanti has played all summer in Junior PGA tournaments and has landed at the top of the leaderboard in several. Codd has noticed the summer results, but said how Delisanti practices, is most impressive.
"He's been playing really solid golf, but he always puts a lot of time into practice. Just from being around him for this many years, he just really wants to play well, and the way you play well is you have to put in a lot of practice outside of just playing in matches and tournaments," said Codd.
Codd has also seen Delisanti take a leadership role for the season, and said, "It's not so much what he does on the course, but it's the way he carries himself and the way he projects himself to the younger guys on the team who have not been able to play in a lot of matches, because we've been so deep for the last couple years. I know he's going to put up good numbers, but I like the way he gets the other kids to watch what he does and what he does well, and hopefully that'll carry over."
With so many accolades accredited to his name, Delisanti just tries to take it one shot at a time and doesn't let pressure get to him.
"I just don't really think about it," Delisanti said. "I just try to have fun out there and just keep the pressure off."
Also at the top of the lineup is senior Nolan Codd and junior Adam Liberti. Both players qualified for the Section VI Golf Tournament last season.
Adam Liberti (top) putts on the 18th green at Tan Tara Golf Club. Nolan Codd (bottom) chips on to the 18th green at Tan Tara Golf Club.
Codd's main focus for Nolan, Liberti and Delisanti is, "They're consistent with the way they act and project themselves to everyone else on the team."
Nolan and Delisanti said this year they want to keep the legacy rolling and be role models to the rest of the team.
"Just try to set a good example for the guys that are coming up and just play good golf," Delisanti said.
Nolan also praised the previous year's seniors.
"The seniors definitely helped last year. We just need to make sure that we stay confident and we don't miss too many shots and put some good rounds together," Nolan said.
Nolan also claimed his competitiveness with Delisanti and how the two help each other get better.
"I gotta try to beat Anthony here and there," Nolan said, as Delisanti laughed. "Just try to practice more and get out there, try to have more fun and try not to make any mistakes."
Also on the roster is Delisanti's little brother, RJ, who is in seventh grade. RJ may be one of the smaller players in the league, but Codd praised his game and expects him to be a big player for the Falcons, not only this year, but for years to come.
RJ Delisanti on the 18th tee at Tan Tara Golf Club.
Overall, Codd's goal for the season is to just get better with every practice and every match.
"I just want to try to improve," he said. "They're going to put up the scores that they should be putting up. They've played so much golf together that I know they're going to do well," Codd said.
In high school golf, teams send out eight golfers to play nine holes. At the end of the round, the six lowest scores are taken and added up. In year's past, the Falcons have been eight golfers deep, but this year Codd was intrigued to see how the bottom half of the lineup would play out.
"My goal is to get that backside of the lineup to play more consistent golf, so in turn, we can continue to put wins up on the board, because the wins come from the end of the lineup.
"There are more spots at the end of the lineup for guys to try and play in this year than in years past. Between Anthony, Nolan and Adam, that's three out of the eight starting spots that are pretty much spoken for, but it's been a little while since we've had five spots for guys to play in day in and day out. So, there's more chances for the guys that haven't had to play much to try to play in the matches," Codd said.
The Falcons will look to preserve their streak and start their trek towards a fifth straight NFL title at Deerwood Golf Course versus North Tonawanda at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

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