Maccabi Games 2008 Record Round Detroit Maccabi golfer blows away the field. Matt Felsenfeld of West Bloomfield shot one under par for 36 holes at Knollwood and Tam. Steve Stein Special to The Jewish News M att Lester thought he'd seen it all in his 20 or so years of coaching the Detroit Maccabi golf team and running the golf competi- tion at JCC Maccabi Games across the country. That is, until this year. Matt Felsenfeld of Detroit shot 1- under par 71-71-142 at Tam O'Shanter and Knollwood country clubs in West Bloomfield last week, easily winning the Detroit Games gold medal. The 16-year- old from West Bloomfield was 1-under at Tam O'Shanter and even par at Knollwood. Lester, the golf chair for the Detroit Games, is 100 percent certain that no Maccabi golfer has ever finished with an under-par score. "I've seen a lot of great players, and the competition has improved tremendously through the years, but nobody has ever done what Matt did;' Lester said. Felsenfeld is one of the country's top junior golfers. He's in his second year of attending the prestigious David Leadbetter Junior Golf Academy in Bradenton, Fla., a A20 August 28 • 2008 3N school that offers full-time boarding and an academic program in addition to rigor- ous golf instruction. Mike Zausmer of West Bloomfield (son of Detroit Maccabi golf coach Mark Zausmer) became good friends with Felsenfeld this summer after making contact with him via FaceBook when he found out Felsenfeld was going to be on the Detroit Maccabi golf team. They played several rounds together and worked on their short games in the pitching area in the back of the Zausmer home. "Matt is my role model when it comes to golf;' Zausmer said. "His short game is amazing. Every time he's near the green, he gets up and down!' Zausmer, 15, isn't too shabby a golfer himself. One of the top players on the Detroit Country Day School boys golf team, he earned a silver medal at the Maccabi Games. And he raved about his first Maccabi experience. "I couldn't think of a better way to spend a week or end the summer," he said. "I met so many people from other states, even other countries. One of the kids I met is from Orange County [California]. I may go out to his house next February and play some golf there!" Normally upbeat, Zausmer admitted he felt a touch of sadness when the Maccabi Games ended. "The week went by so quickly' he said. "It feels like I was just at my computer, telling everyone how excited I was that the Maccabi Games were starting!' Forty-eight teens participated in the Detroit Games golf competition, which wrapped up with a scramble round at Franklin Hills Country Club. Golfers were paired with players from other cities in the just-for-fun Wednesday event. Zausmer (80-74-154) and Baltimore's Sam Oshrine, age 16 (78-76-154) tied for the silver medal. "Those would have been gold medal scores in any other year:' Lester said. Jay Sapperstein, 16, from Baltimore won the bronze medal with 81-75-156. Silver For Soccer The Detroit 15-16 boys soccer team won just three of seven games, but it earned a silver medal at the JCC Maccabi Games. Venezuela beat Detroit 6-3 in the gold medal game for the Blue Division, essen- tially a "B" division based on the results of preliminary games in the 19-team field. Detroit fell 4-2 to Orange County, 10- 1 to Toronto and 6-1 to Manhattan in addition to defeating Providence 3-1 in prelims. A 7-3 victory over Delaware/Detroit/ Albany-Schenectady/Youngstown/Virginia Beach sent Detroit into the Blue Division medal round. Detroit beat Providence 2-1 to set up the gold medal game against Venezuela. "We'd have preferred to play for the gold in the White rAl Division, but we ran into some quality teams in the prelims;' said Detroit assistant coach Bryant Frank "The Maccabi Games were a great experience for the players and coaches on our team, and I can't say enough about our coach [Scott Kirsch]!' There weren't enough players for Detroit to field two 15-16 boys teams, so three boys joined the hyphenated squad with players from four other delegations. There were two Detroit 13-14 boys soccer teams. El Maccabi coaches have been asked to submit their results to sports@thejewishnews.com . More Maccabi coverage: jnonline.us , click on JCC Maccabi Games button.