HAMPDEN – Nobody may maintain tempo with Longmeadow golf’s celebrity, Vanderbilt-commit Ryan Downes, on his strategy to repeating because the Div. 1 state championship medalist with a 4-under 68 on the chilly rolling hills at GreatHorse on Tuesday afternoon.
But after ending as runner-up in final yr’s championship, no particular person on St. John’s of Shrewsbury needed to so as to obtain what they actually needed.
Behind a well-balanced effort that noticed 5 of their prime six golfers shoot underneath 80, the Pioneers fulfilled their quest for his or her first state title since 2012 with a 303 rating. Senior Nic Gebhardt and Ronan Mooney every shot a three-over 75 to cleared the path, comfortably beating out second-place St. John’s Prep (314) and third-place Xaverian (315).
Considering this system’s seven titles earlier than head coach Sean Noonan’s tenure started 10 years in the past, it’s an additional particular feeling to lastly recover from the hump.
“It’s a dream season, really,” Noonan mentioned. “Last year came that close. We’ve had two seconds, two thirds. … I’m super excited for all these guys. This thing will never be taken away, we get to go and put it up in the rafters in the gym.”
“It’s just a surreal feeling, it’s been three years coming,” Gebhardt added. “We got fourth my sophomore year, second last year. We only had one more place to keep going up. We got that done today.”
Playing in the identical group as Downes, it took Gebhardt a resilient effort to complete tied for the third-best rating with Mooney, Wellesley’s Ryan Keyes and Hingham’s Carson Erick.
After a 3rd bogey on the tenth gap put him at 5-over, Gebhardt made par on the following 4 holes, birdied on holes 15 and 16, and shot even on the ultimate two holes.
“It was a lackluster round but it got the job done,” he mentioned. “It’s all about the mental space of staying in it because every shot counts in this.”
It was only one a part of a team-wide effort, as Savar Bhashin shot a 76, whereas Cael Duggan and Curtis McDonald every shot a 77. Veer Bhashin’s 83 even beat out 49 different golfers.
“We’re a deep team,” Noonan mentioned. “There’s 13 kids there, and any one of them could’ve been in the top six. … I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys, really. It’s really cool. It’s really cool what we’ve done as a program.”
Even with a three-putt bogey on the third gap, it was easy crusing per normal for Downes – particularly on his 18th birthday on a course he performs often at.
Only as soon as did he really feel that performed a significant benefit, when on Hole 4h, he used a giant backstop to assist him instantly rebound from the bogey with a birdie. With birdies on 2, 7 and 9 as nicely, he rode momentum right into a 3-under 33 on the entrance 9. Two extra birdies helped him get as little as 5-under by way of 14, finally ending three strokes higher than runner-up Ilan Rashdan (Westford Academy).
“It’s a cool accomplishment, I was kind of happy with how I played today,” Downes mentioned. “I made a couple mistakes, especially one on the 18th coming down the stretch so it got a little close. But I’m definitely happy to be the back-to-back champ.”
Rashdan (one-under 71) didn’t make par or birdie simply as soon as. Terry Manning (76) and Seamus O’Holleran (77) led St. John’s Prep, whereas Connor Walsh (77) led Xaverian. North Andover’s Brendan Burke, Natick’s Kaushal Karupakula and Barnstable’s Chad Tordone every shot a 76 to spherical out the person prime 10.
Source: www.bostonherald.com