Category:

Golf

Golf ends season on winning streak, six Tigers move on to State Sectionals

by Blake Krantz

Golf, 10-3, won its final six matches, the “highlight of the season” according to senior Owen Boucher, a captain with senior Geoff Cole.

The team will compete in the State Sectionals Monday, the last portion of what has been a very successful season, according to Cole.

The Tigers’ top six golfers will compete in Sectionals, consisting of Boucher, Cole, seniors Alex Greenberg and T.J Melendez, and juniors Dan Kurson and Matt Levinson, a group that, as Cole said, “are in great condition and have been putting up really strong numbers.”

Cole elaborated on the Tigers’ success, saying that “our whole team finished very strong and we achieved pretty much everything we set out to achieve this year. I’m very proud of the team and I think we are as strong and competitive as we had hoped to be.”

In the coming week, Cole added that the Tigers will be “ready to take on the best in the area,” and that the team is “excited to show everyone” its ability.

Additionally, according to Boucher,“positive thinking on the golf course,” may be one potential key to success for Monday and beyond for the team.

Boucher also explained that if someone has a bad hole he “needs to recover because the next three holes are even more important,” another aspect of this “positive thinking” mindset.

The team has “come very far from last year’s disappointments,” as Cole put it, and as long as the Tigers are able to “keep their heads down and not take anything for granted going into states,” they have lots of potential.

October 21, 2015 0 comment

Fall Golf Sports

Golf finishes sixth at State Sectionals, lauds successful season

written by Blake Krantz

by Blake Krantz

Golf, 10-3, finished 6th out of 11 teams at State Sectionals Monday, with junior Dan Kurson shooting a 73, qualifying him to move on individually to States at the Haven Country Club next week.

Senior Owen Boucher shot a 79 and Junior Matt Levinson shot an 85 for the team at Sectionals, among the main “highlights” from the match according to Boucher, a captain with senior Geoffrey Cole.

Cole and seniors Alex Greenberg and T.J Melendez also competed for the Tigers Monday.

Boucher credited the team’s accomplishments throughout much of this season to “depth and experience,” with different players picking each other up in various matches.

Physical education teacher Bob MacDougall, the coach, also emphasized the importance of this “team depth,” and added that “lots of things change in the off-season, with graduation and new players coming in,” but that he was “impressed with the time and work that the players put in” before this season.

According to MacDougall, the benefits of this hard work could be seen throughout the year, and could be evident next year as well.

“It allowed us to beat teams that we struggled with last season. I hope this season gave the players the confidence to compete at higher levels,” said MacDougall.

The season is now over for the majority of the Tigers, and Cole mentioned that this year contained “a lot of positive growth from a lot of underclassmen” for the team, who also “thrived from consistency” from its top players throughout the year.

According to Boucher, it has been a long time since the Tigers have had 10 wins in a season, just one aspect of the “very successful season.”

Looking forward, Boucher explained that “graduating seven seniors will be tough” for the team, but there is definitely still “a lot of young talent for next year.”

MacDougall had a similarly positive outlook for next season, stating that “a lot of kids found success this year, and hopefully they take the same steps that they did last off-season.”

Finally, Cole hopes that the team will be able to follow up what he labeled a “fun and good season overall” in the coming years.

October 21, 2015 0 comment

Fall Golf Sports

Golf wins first four before dropping two, hopes to return to top form

written by Blake Krantz

by Blake Krantz

Golf, 4-2, started the season off with four straight wins, a strong start which senior Geoff Cole, a captain with senior Owen Boucher, said was largely due to an early chemistry that the team was able to establish.

“Once the varsity team was set we quickly became a group of friends from freshman to seniors and all involved.”

Cole added that it is “hard to back up that fast of a start consistently,” and the team has “lost a little bit of focus” once school and schoolwork began to increase.

Physical Education teacher Bob MacDougall, the coach, said that the Tigers will be “trying to maintain their focus to the end of the season and in matches, getting as many points as possible,” in the coming weeks.

The Tigers have games Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week, against Braintree, Framingham, Wellesley, and Norwood.

According to MacDougall, the team has gotten “solid contributions from a lot of players” thus far, such as Boucher, Cole, senior T.J. Melendez, and junior Dan Kurson.

In addition to these key contributors, MacDougall explained that the Tigers’ “team depth has been one of [their] strengths this season.”

Cole cited both individual and group improvement as goals, “finding” their swings and “staying strong as a group” in order to “get back to the low scores” the team was shooting in its first four games.

Boucher said that the team needs to improve on “playing well on away courses, and salvaging as many points as we can,” especially as the Tigers approach State Sectionals.

Much like last year, in which the team qualified for States, Macdougall emphasized that qualifying again is one of the team’s primary goals for this season, in addition to “competing for the Bay State title.”

Similarly, Cole believes that if the Tigers can achieve their potential, these goals should be in sight in the coming weeks.

“If we can get even halfway back to where we started the season we’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

September 28, 2015 0 comment

Fall Golf Sports

Golf finishes season well at North Regional Tournament

written by The Newtonite

Junior Owen Boucher swings during a home match Oct. 9 against Needham and Brookline. Photo by Robin Donohoe.

By Adam Rabinowitz

Golf recently finished its season at the North Sectional Tournament, finishing in 8th place out of 15 teams.

According to coach Bob MacDougall, the course was rough, and there were high scores all around. “We weren’t the only ones struggling. However, we just didn’t have enough to make it,” he said.

According to junior Owen Boucher, a captain with senior Ethan Plotkin, it was an amazing experience for the team.

“Before Monday, I was the only one who had played in a State Tournament atmosphere. We had one senior, three juniors, and two sophomores participating. Considering how young we are as a team, I thought we did pretty well,” he said.

MacDougall added that considering the rough start to the season, he was impressed with how the Tigers ended the season.

“Starting a season 0-3, and then qualifying for the State Tournament, now that’s making a statement!” he said.

Boucher said that he credits the team’s capability to turn the season around to a few players stepping it up. “A lot of guys stepped this year like juniors Geoffrey Cole, Jonathan Wang, and sophomores Dan Kurson and Pat Mullowney. This team was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to make another run for the tournament next year!” he said.

Overall, Boucher said the Tigers could get better at playing under pressure.

“As a team we could improve on playing in stroke play tournaments in the offseason. It is very important to feel comfortable in that kind of pressure,” he said.

The Tigers were also represented by Boucher at the Individual State Meet Monday, where the best golfers in Massachusetts compete for the individual champ

According to Boucher, he had a great time, even though he didn’t play his best.

“I was playing pretty well and then I blew up on a hole and never really recovered. However, it was a great experience. The kids that I faced were the best, so it’s still nice to be considered one of them,” he said.

Boucher also added that if the team practices hard in the offseason, he expects them to do very well next year.

“The players should play more golf in the offseason. They should play more stroke play tournaments, so that we are ready when the season comes along. We have a lot of rising seniors, and we should be a force in the Bay State.”

October 29, 2014 0 comment

Fall Featured Golf Sports

Golf playing better after slow start

written by The Newtonite

by Adam Rabinowitz

Golf, 3-4-1, has had a difficult start to season thus far, but the team is optimistic it can perform better as the season goes on, according to senior Ethan Plotkin, a captain with junior Owen Boucher.

Plotkin also added that the team is playing much better lately following a slow start.

“The season has been pretty up and down. We’ve had some really exciting wins recently but also a tie, which was hard to stomach. But we are picking it up recently though,” he said.

Coach Bob MacDougall said he is hopeful the Tigers can still meet their season goal of making it to the state tournament.

“Although we had a tough start, we are showing improvement. I believe that if we keep this up, we can qualify for the state tournament,” he said.

Plotkin also said he thinks the Tigers can make the tournament, but stressed the importance of consistency if the team wants to do well.

“The players are lacking a bit of consistency, but, being only half way through the year, we are confident that will come in the next weeks. It’s exciting seeing the chemistry build,” he said.

MacDougall also said that consistency is key to the Tigers’ success this season.

“Consistency is very big at this point. Playing well throughout and winning more than we lose is very important,” he said.

Plotkin added that transitioning from last year’s team to this year’s was very hard.

“Losing Charlie Goldberg, the captain for the past three years, was difficult, but we understood that losing one player wasn’t going to make or break a season. We went in with the attitude that somebody would inevitably take on his role. Still, losing a leader and player like Charlie takes a toll on any team,” he said.

According to Plotkin, the new players have been great so far.

“The new players have been very impressive. A few of them, namely junior Jonathan Wang, have quickly taken on starting roles which is cool to see,” he said.

The Tigers next faces Norwood at home today, as they try to continue their push towards making the state tournament.

September 30, 2014 0 comment

Fall Golf Sports

Golf falls short at States

written by The Newtonite

by Ryan Condon

Golf ended its season Monday, Oct. 22 with a tough day at the State Tournament, falling short of qualifying for the finals due to a variety of factors, according to coach Bob MacDougall.

“We played well overall, but needed more in order to qualify,” he said. “I’m sure every player would like another chance to prove themselves, but it doesn’t work that way in the tournament.”

There were a number of factors that made qualifying difficult, according to MacDougall. “It was a format we don’t play during the season, the course was unfamiliar and there were some very strong teams in our section,” he said. “It was going to take some outstanding efforts from all of the guys to have a chance.”

Junior Charlie Goldberg, a captain with seniors Brendan Ryan and Mark Vrahas, said “Possibly some of our guys just didn’t have enough experience in tournament play to really compete at a very high level, which might have thrown us off a little,” he said.

Goldberg and senior Robert Anderson both came close to qualifying individually for the State Championship with scores of 78 and 79 respectively, according to Goldberg. The qualifying score was 77.

The team accomplished its season goal of qualifying for the State Tournament, according to Goldberg. “Some of the older players on the team will not have that chance again, so we really put the whole season on making it to that point,” he said.

The team’s goals for next season include making it to the State Tournament again, according to MacDougall. “To do that, we will have some big shoes to fill, as seven seniors will be leaving us due to graduation,” he said.

“It is important that the returning varsity players improve and bring along the new members and get them acclimated to the grind that is varsity golf. If that happens, then I think we reach those goals and look at what we can do next.”

November 5, 2012 0 comment

Newer Posts

Older Posts