Team Tesori triumphed over Team Mulherin at the inaugural Tesori/Mulherin Cup, a season-ending competition for Central New York PGA Junior Tour players. The tournament was held Aug. 30 at Bellevue Country Club.
Members of the winning Team Tesori were: Dante Bertoni, Sid Nipanni, Carter Mizro, Jackson Saroney, Cam Arlukiewicz, Dan Young, Isabella Borte and Kam Yerman.
Team Mulherin players included: Punn Chittaratlert, Mitch Riter, Will Chouinard, Owen Jones, Jacob Olearczyk, Connor Stanton, Jessica Ricciardi and Ellie Secor.
Each player wore a custom golf shirt with the Tesori/Mulherin Cup logo. Team Tesori wore red and Team Mulherin wore royal blue. Every player also received a custom ball mark.
The Bellevue Country Club was the perfect backdrop for the first-ever event and the club provided food for the competitors free of charge. The Esther Cannizzo Junior Golf Foundation sponsored the tournament. All shirts had “EC” embroidered in white on the sleeve.
Members of the Cannizzo family, representing the Esther Cannizzo Junior Golf Foundation, attended the tournament. The Foundation covered the cost of the ball marks, golf shirts and the Tesori/Mulherin Cup trophy.
“While the Tesori/Mulherin Cup was a big success, we could not have done it without the generosity of the Cannizzo Foundation and Bellevue Country Club. We appreciate all of their efforts and their support of junior golf,” said CNY PGA Player Development Director Brittany Siechen.
Boys and girls point leaders from the 2021 CNY PGA Junior Tour season and winners from the Junior Tour Championship were eligible to play and were divided up into two teams, Team Tesori and Team Mulherin. Players were notified of their selection to the tournament by Siechen.
This year, each team roster had eight players, six boys and two girls. The tournament format consisted of six holes of foursomes, six holes of fourball and six holes of singles match play.
The concept of the Tesori/Mulherin Cup was a match play team event similar to the Ryder Cup. The event also was established to celebrate the accomplishments of CNY PGA hall of famers Tesori and Mulherin, who have played an integral role in junior golf for many years.
Both Tesori (The Pompey Club) and Mulherin (Drumlins Country Club) served as honorary captains for their respective teams. They were on the course during the competition to support their players and oversee rules.
The gold Tesori/Mulherin Cup trophy will reside at the Pompey Cup until next season.
