Barnegat School District Representatives Bring the Heat to Settler’s Mill

Aug 20, 2023

By David Biggy | on August 30, 2023

ROYAL RUMBLE: Brackman Middle School Principal Josh Toddings (left) and Barnegat High School Athletic Director John Germano indicate their readiness to take on The SandPaper pro at Settler’s Mill Adventure Golf on Aug. 24. (Photos by David Biggy)

As the athletic director for Barnegat High School, John Germano may be a lot of things to a lot of people. But one thing he doesn’t claim to be is a hotshot mini golfer.

“I didn’t think I’d have a chance against you,” Germano said after Week 11 of “Can You Beat Biggy?” on the Falls Course of Settler’s Mill Adventure Golf in Beach Haven on Aug. 24. “You were on ‘Holey Moley.’ You do this every week, and I know that you’re not just playing for this series. It’s also a passion and you play courses all over the state and country.

“Last fall, I remember you were in New England playing a course, so I didn’t think I had a chance. But I compete in anything, so I was ready for the challenge.”

Unfortunately, Barnegat Township School District Superintendent Brian Latwis – Germano’s original pick as a partner – was on vacation, but Germano had somebody else, perhaps a better choice, waiting in the wings: the high school’s original golf coach, Josh Toddings, now the Russell O. Brackman Middle School principal.

“I hadn’t played miniature golf in a while, but I’m confident in my skills,” Toddings said. “I know I’m a pretty good putter, so I was looking to come out, have a good time and compete. I didn’t know about your series beforehand, but I wanted to see what you were made of. I knew you were on ‘Holey Moley,’ and you did great, but I was interested to see if the hype was for real.”

Well, I wasn’t certain the hype was going to be for real on the Falls Course. Typically, it’s the more difficult of the two Settler’s Mill courses and one I didn’t have much success with during previous seasons. In reality, I’ve played this course the least during the past four years – even when playing casually with my wife.

Nonetheless, here we were, ready to duke it out on one of the hardest courses on all of Long Beach Island. Toddings and I got off to great starts, carding four consecutive deuces to start the match, while Germano pretty much took himself out right at the start, carding a 4 on the first hole, followed by a pair of deuces and a 6 during the next three, and immediately falling behind by six strokes.

NAILED IT: John Germano attempts his fourth putt on the 16th hole of the Falls Course at Settler’s Mill Adventure Golf in Beach Haven.

Toddings continued his solid run through the front nine, carding a trio of 3s – on many of the Falls Course’s holes, three putts is reasonable – before dropping a pretty hole-in-one on the ninth hole and registering a 20 at the halfway point. After a 6 on the ninth, Germano was sitting at 31.

Meanwhile, I had dropped behind by two strokes during the fifth and sixth holes, only to climb back to a tie during the seventh and eighth, and on the ninth I carded a deuce to take a 21 into the back nine, where things often get really tough on this course.

The three-tiered 10th hole presented a challenge for me, as I carded my second 4 of the match, but Toddings managed the hole in three strokes to go up by a pair. He maintained the two-stroke lead through the 12th, before the rolling hills of No. 13 provided Toddings with his first real hiccup of the contest and he recorded a 4. My deuce again tied the game with five holes to go.

I just missed a backdoor ace on the 14th hole, so the lead didn’t change hands, but on the dreaded 15th – ranked second in my story of the top 10 most challenging holes to ace on LBI earlier this summer – I grabbed the lead for the first time, carding a 3 to Toddings’ 5. I was up two strokes with three to go, but I knew the lead wasn’t safe. I needed to cushion the gap.

HEARTBREAKER: Josh Toddings takes his fourth putt on the 13th hole of the Falls Course at Settler’s Mill Adventure Golf in Beach Haven.

So much for that – I helped erase that lead on the very next hole. Unfortunately, I didn’t strike my ball enough to the left of center and it banged one of the obstacles and left me with a really long second putt to even get close to the cup. I got it there, but then botched the third putt and settled for a 4. Toddings made the tee shot I wished I had made, stuck his ball 2 feet from the cup and drained it for a deuce.

Each with 3s on the 17th hole, Toddings and I went into the 18th all tied up. Prior to teeing off, I informed Josh that a tie resulted in two options: a three-hole puttoff or take the tie and walk away.

Now, I’ve known Toddings for a long time, and I knew there was no way he was taking the tie. But the pressure was on after I delivered my ball to the dead center of the hole from about 2½ feet in the rough turf off to the right of the cup. Interestingly, Toddings’ tee shot ended up in just about an identical spot.

“For a little while there, it wasn’t looking good for you,” Germano said to me. “But it was awesome. You guys were going putt for putt, and I was out in the back picking up the trash. It was great stuff. But my favorite moment was when Josh took his last shot to tie. You knew, instantaneously, that he missed and your hand was up, with the No. 1 showing, before the ball was anywhere near the cup. That was amazing.”

Sadly, Toddings’ second putt ran over the right edge, lipped off to the left and stuck, about 3 inches from the hole.

“Competition is why we do anything. We all play to win and that’s what we were here to do,” Toddings said. “I took it down, literally, to the last putt of the match and it was pretty exciting. You were up two strokes with three holes to go, and I got back even with you, and then it went down to the last hole, so it was awesome. That was exciting stuff, and it was good because it wasn’t a done deal with three holes left.

GOOD TIMES: John Germano (right) gets a fist bump from Josh Toddings after Germano drained a deuce on the three-tiered 10th hole of the Falls Course at Settler’s Mill Adventure Golf.

“Still, I was a little disappointed I couldn’t make that last putt. I was looking forward to a three-hole puttoff. I had the match in my hands and didn’t get it done.”

While Toddings finished with a solid 47, I managed to score a 46, my lowest round on the Falls Course since the inception of my summer series – my previous low was a 47, which I accomplished during the first and third seasons.

“I didn’t expect a thing. I had nothing to lose,” Germano said. “But I give you a lot of credit, because you come out every week with a target on your back, so you have to bring your game against everybody.”

I’ll definitely have to bring it for the season finale. I’m going up against four-time “Can You Beat Biggy?” winner Aaron Kaminski, O-Street Mini Golf’s president whom I typically play the first week of the season – he opted for the finale because he was in Europe for a tournament when my series started this summer – and Joey DiPrima, who is 2-for-2 against me and recently scored the most points during the O-Street summer league’s regular season.

— David Biggy

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