Week 2 got underway Tuesday night with teams continuing to position for the promotions and demotions that loom at the end of the season. It is still wide open, but it is never too early to have a big win or big loss, and each match has significance, especially the 3-2 victories in the possible scenario where two teams are tied at the end of the season and a tie breaker is needed. If two teams are tied for first or worst in their respective divisions, the tie break is determined by the head to head competition of the two teams. Week 2 results and all the other good stats can be found here.
Division 1
New York Athletic Club continued their winning ways with a 3-2 victory over Bronxville Village 1, and is alone atop the divison for the second half. The second semester scores dictate promotions and demotions. However, the division winner for the year takes the first half points divides by 2, then adds the second half points for a total year end score. So for D1, the divison leader is actually Greenburgh with 17.5 points. Obviously, in D1, there are no promotions so this point is moot, but in D2 last year Scarsdale Golf won the divison for the year, yet did not move up, because Larchmont Yacht Club got the most points in the second half and they were promoted.
A question for another column might be why do wins in lower divisions in first semester get weighted the same after promotion? Now that I have lost half the readership with this explanation, I will again just direct you to the WPTL scoreboard for more stats.
The 1 spot was a marathon with NYAC prevailing 6-4 in the third. Manursing won 3-2 over Flint Park, while WCC beat Orienta Beach Club 4-1. The schedule shows WCC was the home team, but where that is these days is anyone’s guess, as WCC is playing all their matches away. My Rye spy has reported that construction of a paddle court has begun on the roof of the Town Dock in Rye, which is to serve as the new home to WCC. Apparently, the team does not like commuting, so this way, all they will have to do is walk upstairs for the games. In the last match in D1, Greenburgh beat D1 newcomer Fox Meadow 4-1. This match featured a generational battle at the 1 spot, with veterans Mike Gillespie and Bob Conklin besting the toddlers, Cole Barris and Mike Montalbano, 6-4, 7-5.
Division 2
Pelham Country Club and Bronxville Village 3 are locked in a first place tie in D2, after both notching 3-2 victories, following their first week sweeps. PCC beat D2 newcomer Scarsdale Village and BV3 beat D2 newcomer Larchmont Yacht Club. In other action, Bronxville Village 2 bounced back from last week with a 3-2 victory over Wykagyl, and Sleepy Hollow Village did the same with a 3-2 victory of their own over Scarsdale Golf Club.
Division 3
Siwanoy Country Club, who suffered a demotion from D2 last semester, sits alone atop D3 with 8 points. SCC swept Greenburgh 2, and is intent on getting back to D2. In second place is Shenorock, who lost to New York Athletic Club 2 by a score of 3-2. I may be wrong here, but I believe this is the first loss Shenorock has since they formed their new team in the fall. A quick shout out to Enrique Catter, the new director of rackets at Shenorock, who is on a mission to get Shenorock from D4 to d1 in the shortest time period ever. In other action, Orienta Beach Club 2 beat Larchmont Yacht club 2, 3-2 and Century Country Club beat Pelham Country Club 2, also 3-2. There appears to be a lot of parity in this division with 4 of the teams having 4 points and everyone bunched in the middle, with the exception of SCC.
Division 4
Unlike Divison 3, D4 seems to be a case of the haves and the have nots. At the top are Larchmont Shore Club andWhite Plains, each with 8 points. Each team enjoyed a sweep this week, with LSC sweeping New York Athletic Club 3, and WP doing the same to Wykagyl 2. Elsewhere, Ardsley Country Club also swept Bronxville Village 4, and Beach point swept Bronxville field club. Not sure what the exact odds are of every match in a given week in one division being a sweep, but I am sure it is not high.
My predictions are looking pretty good at this point, but it is still very early.
