NEW YORK | Farmingdale State College will be looking to extend its golf dynasty in 2024.  
 
The Skyline Conference doesn’t see any reason why the Rams – winners of four league crowns in a row – shouldn’t be favorites again to repeat. The conference's eight head golf coaches voted in the 2024 outfit of the preseason coaches poll, and four-time defending champion FSC remains the toast of the league.
 
Breakout freshman CJ Merritt powered the perennial powerhouse to another Skyline Conference Championship in golf (below) at Bethpage State Park Blue Course last October. 
 
Merritt matched his 71 in round one with the same score for a total of 142 (-2) on the Blue Course (Par 72, 6,666 Yards). He shot minus-3 on the back nine, including an eagle on hole 16. In the process, Merritt earned medalist honors and was named the Skyline Conference Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year as the Rams topped the field of eight programs.
 
Merritt returns in 2024 and is among on a strong nucleus for FSC as the Rams received a league-best 41 points and five of the eight first-place votes in the poll (Teams could not vote for themselves). Mount Saint Mary College (36) and St. Joseph’s University-Long Island (32) are second and third in the rankings, each receiving a first-place vote, while Yeshiva University registered a first-place vote, despite coming in sixth in the poll (tied with Purchase).
 
2023 runner-up Old Westbury (31) is fourth.
 
Head coach Ryan Williams’ Rams won the Skyline Conference Championship for the 15th time in program history last season and will look to do something very few programs have ever done, and that’s win five straight championships.   

The 2024 Skyline Conference Golf Championship will take place a month earlier this fall. The finale is set for Sept. 29-30 at Bethpage State Park and will be played on the Red Course this time around, with the winner of the 36-hole championship earning the conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship at Midvale Country Club in Penfield, N.Y.
 
2024 Skyline Conference Golf Preseason Coaches Poll
Pl. Team (first-place votes) - Pts.

1. Farmingdale State (5), 41
2. Mount Saint Mary (1), 36  
3. St. Joseph's-Long Island (1), 32
4. Old Westbury, 31
5. Manhattanville, 20 
6t. Yeshiva (1) and Purchase, 18
8. Mount Saint Vincent, 6