Nick Rencis, 17, Within 1 Shot Of His Coach, Brett Jones
Nick Rencis of Ballyowen couldn’t help but notice that his coach, Brett Jones of Mountain Ridge, was leading the 94th State Open with a 5-under-par 67 through Tuesday’s rain-interrupted first round.
The 67 put him in a tie for second place with defending champion Frank Esposito and just a shot behind Jones for the lead at the 6,865-yard Essex County Club in West Orange.
Rencis, 17, managed to play eight holes on Tuesday before play was suspended for the day at 5:40 p.m., and found himself 3-under-par after sinking birdie putts on the first, third and seventh holes.
The rising senior at Blair Academy restarted his first round on Wednesday morning and opened with by sinking an 18-footer for another par on the par-3 ninth hole, putting him four-under at the turn.
He then had roller-coaster back nine, mixing and matching three birdies (11, 13, 17) and bogeys (10, 12, 15), until a draining a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17th hole put him back at four-under par. A par save on the long, uphill 18thhole, with another 20-foot putt, preserved the memorable round.
“Once I saw my coach shot a 66, I saw it as a challenge to do better than him,” Rencis said. “I felt I had to beat him. Brett has been a good coach for me, helping me build up my practice routine and keeping me calm out there.”
In May, Rencis and Blair Academy teammate Will Rand won the Metedeconk Prep Challenge when they shot 64 as a best-ball team. Rencis said he got a shot of confidence last week when he shot 71-75 at the U.S. Amateur qualifier at Black Oak. He missed qualifying by three strokes.
“Shooting 71 was a big confidence builder for me,” Rencis said. “My long iron game has been doing well and gives me faith that I can always have a putt at a par or a birdie. The bigger greens here allow me to make longer putts.”
