O.B. golf squad shooting for better season in '08 Knights finished with 10-12 mark last season BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA Staff Writer With four seniors heading up its lineup, the Old Bridge High School golf team is looking to improve upon last year's 10-12 record. The Knights battled through an up-anddown campaign but still found a way to make it to the finals of the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament. Old Bridge entered the tourney as the 12th seed and made its way through the preliminary round by downing JFK and Colonia. That set up a meeting with sixthseeded Middlesex, which Old Bridge defeated in an upset, putting the Knights into the final eight again. Coach Nick Renzi's team finished sixth overall as East Brunswick captured the GMC crown. "Somehow we always find a way to get into the GMC final," said Renzi, who enters his 13th season at the Old Bridge helm with a 149-89-2 record. "Last year was tough, but our guys got hot at the right time. We're hoping to carry that momentum over into this season." Vinnie Santorelli anchors the Old Bridge lineup as he enters his fourth varsity campaign. A year ago he averaged +7 and tied for second in the individual portion of the GMC tourney. He ended up in third following a playoff. The senior has a strong long game and has improved his work around the greens. BrendenBernhard,who averaged +8 last spring, is another long hitter who regularly puts himself in position to collect birdies. Bernhard came on strong in the second half last year. John King and Brian Angstadt round out Old Bridge's top four. King owns a good short game andAngstadt has showed steady improvement. Both players averaged +9 last season, and Renzi expects them both to cut down their scores. Sophomore Louis Formica, who showed good form as a freshman in earning a varsity letter, is likely to getmuchmore playing time this spring. Juniors Justin Anderson and James Magliulo along with sophomore Anthony Paolello have also looked good in the early going, the coach noted. "We have a pretty solid group of golfers, and they'll win their share of matches," Renzi said. "The key for themis to come out and play their game and not get caught up in trying to do more than they're capable of doing. Bad shots are going to happen; it's how you react to them that counts." The Knights were slated to open the campaign yesterday against East Brunswick at Tamarack in a GMC Red Division match-up. Renzi said his team expects to contend in what will be a tough battle for the division title with St. Joseph's, South Plainfield and South Brunswick also in contention. "It will be a challenge, but we have our top five golfers back and we expect to be in the mix," said Renzi, whose team will again call the Glenwood Country Club home. "It's early, but I like the way our guys have been coming together."