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.”