South Hadley sixth, Northampton 10th at Division 1 golf tournament
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LUDLOW - The South Hadley and Northampton golf teams both had solid seasons with relatively young squads.
At the Western Massachusetts Division 1 tournament Monday, the Tigers and Blue Devils showed their inexperience, but exhibited hope for bright futures.
South Hadley placed sixth overall as a team with a score of 334, while Northampton (358) struggled to a 10th place showing.
"Overall I'm happy with the guys," Tigers first-year coach Frank Miele said. "We had a great season considering how young and inexperienced our team is. We made it here to western Mass., which was our main goal, and had a very respectable showing."
Said Northampton coach Jim Casagrande, "It was windy and cold, not ideal scoring conditions, but nobody was real happy with how they played today. For some, this is their first time at a tournament like this. I think the pressure got to us a little bit."
Longmeadow won the team title and boasted the individual champion as well. The Lancers dominated with a score of 302, putting them 21 strokes ahead of runner-up East Longmeadow (323). Pittsfield (326) was the third and final team to qualify for the state tournament next Monday in Bolton.
Billy Walthouse fired a 1-over-par 73 to take the individual championship. He parred every hole but one, which he bogeyed.
Following a 9-9 regular season, South Hadley came within eight shots of qualifying as a team for states.
Devin Hoagland, Tom Dowd and Joe Ciolek all carded an 82 to lead the Tigers. The three were the top local finishers and among nine players to tie for 15th place.
Kevin Garbacik shot an 88 and was the last player who scored in the best four-out-of-six format. Michael Miele and Brian Bak finished at 91.
"Our goal for today was 320," Frank Miele said. "We thought that if we could get that low, we'd have a good shot to sneak out of here with third."
All six of Monday's competitors for South Hadley are set to return next season. Garbacik and Dowd will be the only seniors next season.
"We're building something here, and a lot of our kids hadn't seen many of the courses we play," Miele said. "Now they have that experience under their belt, which will help us go on the attack next year."
For the Blue Devils, sophomore Austin McCreary had the best day, coming in tied for 25th with an 84. Jared Murphy (85), Theo Viola (92) and Jeff Bond (97) all accounted for the team score.
Seniors Murphy, Ogulewicz and King played their final round for Hamp. The other three players will return next season.
The seniors "have been phenomenal," Casagrande said. "They helped me out being a rookie coach. They were great leaders as tri-captains, and they made the transition really easy, as did former coach Dennis Sullivan."
The Blue Devils went 10-6 during the regular season, and their 7-1 mark was tops in the Valley League.
"We had a good season, but golf is a game that can kick you when you're down," Casagrande said. "Today wasn't our day."
The pro at Northampton Country Club thoroughly enjoyed his first season as a high school coach.
"I was excited to start at the beginning of the year, and it was more than I expected," he said. "I anticipated I'd have a lot of fun, and it was better than I thought. I'm excited for next year with a good group coming back."
Michael Wilkinson can be reached at mwilkinson@gazettenet.com.
