SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP — If anything, Riverside was vulnerable Monday at the Star Beacon Invitational.

That’s a bad sign for anyone hoping to stay within striking distance of the Beavers.

Riverside teed off on the 2008 high school golf season without their lone senior, Grant Furr, but still cruised to victory at Maple Ridge Golf Course thanks to the strong efforts of Nick Popely and Shane Kallay. Popely turned in the day’s best round with an even par 71 and Kallay turned in a 78 from Riverside’s No. 6 spot as the Beavers turned in a combined score of 312, 18 strokes better than their nearest competitor.

Lakeside took second with a combined score of 330, while three teams — Geneva, Madison and Perry — tied for third, one stroke behind the Dragons.

“I’m just really happy how they came together,” first-year coach Steve Siko said. “We’re really maturing as a team.”

And at 14 years old, Popely’s game sure looked mature for his age Monday as a sophomore (he skipped a year), especially when he faced his one bit of adversity for the day.

Starting on the No. 8 hole as part of the Invitational’s shotgun start, Popely spent most of the day below par before running into trouble on the fifth, when his drive sent him into the woods, leading to an eventual double bogey.

“I had one bad hole,” Popely said.

But he didn’t lose his composure, coming right back with a birdie on No. 6.

“I hit a good drive into like three feet and made the putt.” Popely said. “Nick played one really solid round of golf,” Siko said. “I was proud of him for hanging in there, because they were all leaking oil (at the end).”

The Beavers were hardly the only ones struggling to adjust to changing conditions on the course. After heavy rains Sunday night left the course damp and slow as players teed off, a constant sun changed things considerably by the time players hit their final nine.

But the changing conditions didn’t seem to bother Kallay, as the junior turned in the same score (39) on both the front and back nine.

“Seventy-eight was a good round for me,” Kallay, who took a birdie on the par-five first hole, said. “I was hitting greens, making my up-and-downs. I wasn’t hitting my driver very well, but I was able to sit my irons onto the greens.”

So was Geneva’s Michael Schubert, who turned in the day’s second best effort with a 3-over 75.

“All my shots were sticking on the green,” he said.