The countdown has begun.
Even as he was coming off the Raritan Valley Country Club golf course after birdieing the first playoff hole to win his second straight state title on May 11, Rory Asselta already knew the talk had started about doing something no one has done since the NJSIAA started crowning state high school golfers in 1934: winning three state titles.
“It was the first question people asked when I finished my round,” said Asselta, the North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week, presented by HSS. “I already knew that no one had ever won three and I have two more chances at it.”
The second state championship was harder than the first and repeating as the team champion was harder than it was last year when the Green Knights rolled undefeated through their schedule, capping the season with a 15-shot win over Delbarton. This time, the Knights escaped with a two-shot win over Mainland.
“We had a lot of new freshman on the team and everybody played less on the varsity and our matches may have been spaced out more,” said Asselta, whose team lost the opening tournament of the year in April and even suffered two dual meet losses. “It was shocking to lose that first tournament because Justin (Peck) and I had never lost a high school tournament before in New Jersey.”
But the early loss seemed to provide even more motivation for Rory, who didn’t want his last high school season with older brother Michael to end up short either in Bergen County and state play.
“I knew that sophomore year might be the hardest year of all because of the success we had last year,” Rory said. “But Michael kept telling us the goal was the same.”
The brothers did a lot more physical training together preparing for the season, with Michael set to play his college golf at Loyola (Maryland) next fall.
“It was great for him to finish his career with back-to-back state and county championships,” Rory said. “I’m really going to miss him next year.”
As Rory looks to his junior year, the first question that must be asked is if he will actually defend his title. The last New Jersey underclassman to win two titles was Ramapo sophomore Morgan Hoffmann, who won in 2005 and 2006 and then moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina to attend the International Junior Golf Academy. Hoffmann went on to compete on the PGA Tour for five years.
“I have two more years at St. Joseph and I’m going to graduate from here and play two more years,” Asselta said without hesitation. “I don’t see the point of moving down there now.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean he won’t continue his out-of-state travel now that the high school season is over. He’ll be in Florida over Memorial Day weekend, playing in the Team TaylorMade Invitational, where he placed 40th last year. This year’s tournament will be held at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida and will include the defending champion, Tiger Woods’ son Charlie.
Asselta then will return to play in qualifying for the most important junior tournament of the year, the U.S. Junior Amateur, this year at the Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. But first he has to finish in the top four qualifying at Sunningdale Country Club in Scarsdale, New York. Whether he or any of his teammates qualify will determine whether he will return to Pinehurst in North Carolina to defend his PGA High School National Invitational title.
“If none of us makes Juniors, we’ll probably go back there,” said Asselta, whose team was fifth overall in last year’s competition. “Our family goes there almost every year and the tournament is so much fun.”
He’s already looking forward to competing for an unprecedented third state title.
“Next year I’ll be able to play the state course even better,” he said.
Everyone knows the question that will follow that third victory if it comes.
Rory Asselta
Sport: Golf
School: St. Joseph
Class: Sophomore Age: 16
Accomplishment: Asselta ecame just the second golfer to win the New Jersey state title in both his freshman and sophomore seasons and added his second straight Bergen County championship
Also nominated: Dante Benvenuti of Passaic Valley, Christian Garzon of Leonia and Kyle Wenckus of Pascack Hills for baseball; Youseff Rehab of Cliffside Park, Brendan McNamara of Old Tappan, Seven Garcia of Hackensack, Brendan Alef of Demarest and Luke Johnson of New Milford for track and field; and Nick Blanchard of Old Tappan for lacrosse.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Record Male Athlete of the Week: Rory Asselta, St. Joseph