Division 2 golf champion Matt Iczkowski named Gazette Player of Year

"Golf is a humbling game," Matt Iczkowski said. The Holyoke Catholic junior, who plays for Granby through a cooperative program, has always known this, but he faced it firsthand this past season. Iczkowski went undefeated through the regular season until the final match, when his lost to Zack Adams of Mahar. Iczkowski didn't dwell on the loss. He turned it around and led the Rams to the Western Massachusetts Division 2 Golf Championship, winning top individual honors. For his performance, Iczkowski has been named the Daily Hampshire Gazette Player of the Year for golf.

Matt Iczkowski ties for fifth in state golf tournament

NORTHBOROUGH - The best golfers don't allow one bad hole to ruin an entire round. Granby High junior Matt Iczkowski knows that firsthand.

Iczkowski didn't let a double bogey get him down and he carded a 3-over 73 Monday at the Riverside Course at Juniper Hill Golf Course to tie for fifth in the State Division 2 Tournament.

Belchertown, Granby play for Division 2 state golf championship

The Granby and Belchertown golf teams will have to shake off some rust when the State Division 2 Golf Tournament starts today.

Both teams were unable to practice last week due to the devastating snowstorm. Each attempted to squeeze in a practice round over the weekend at Juniper Hill Golf Course in Northborough, the new site of the championship.

Power outages wreak havoc with high school tourney schedules

With power down in communities throughout western Massachusetts, the first week of high school tournament action will likely need at least another day to get sorted out.

The seeds for the Western Massachusetts Division 1 & 2 Field Hockey Tournaments were scheduled to be released Monday, but the meeting at Northampton High School was postponed to today at 1 p.m.

Matt Iczkowski leads Granby as both win sectional Division 2 golf championships

SPRINGFIELD - The two F-16s could not have picked a better time to fly over Franconia Golf Course on Tuesday. The fighter planes screamed by just as the final scores were posted on the leaderboard and Granby, behind Matt Iczkowski's medalist performance, started celebrating its first sectional championship since 1976. Iczkowski, a Holyoke Catholic junior who plays for Granby via a co-op program, claimed his first outright championship at any level with a 2-over-par 73 to win the Western Massachusetts Division 2 title. Iczkowski was four shots better than Max Bock of Belchertown and Sean Folan of Wahconah.

South Hadley sixth, Northampton 10th at Division 1 golf tournament

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.

Hopkins, Smith Academy take lessons from Division 3 golf tournament

PITTSFIELD - The players in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 golf tournament get the opportunity take a day off from school in order to compete. For two of the youngest teams that came to the Berkshire Hills Country Club, the 18 holes proved to be another classroom.

Gateway girls cross country splits tri-meet

Katie Clark and Ashley Yost finished in the top 10 overall as the Gateway Regional girls cross country team earned a split with Westfield and Chicopee Comp Thursday.

Gateway beat Chicopee Comp 17-41 but fell to Westfield 22-39, at Stanley Park in Westfield.

Clark was second on the 3.1-mile course in 21 minutes, 54 seconds. Yost was fourth in 23:02.

Max Bock leads Belchertown golf into postseason

BELCHERTOWN - Senior Max Bock was wearing his lucky orange Titleist hat, hanging out by the clubhouse at Mill Valley Golf Links with a club in his hand, waiting for the rest of his Belchertown teammates to finish the match.

Ludlow edges Amherst Regional, hands boys cross country team first loss

In a battle of cross country unbeatens Tuesday, the Amherst Regional boys fell one place short in a 28-29 loss to Ludlow.

"It was an incredibly exciting and intense race," Hurricanes coach Chris Gould said. "We were pretty upset with the outcome, but Ludlow's a great team."

Hampshire Regional golf team defeats Easthampton

Sean Ryan shot an even-par 36 as the Hampshire Regional golf team cruised past Easthampton 22½-1½ at Beaver Brook Golf Club in Haydenville Thursday.

The Raiders (12-0-2, 10-0-2 Bi-County West) remained unbeaten with the win. The Eagles are 3-9-1 overall, 2-9-1 in the league.

Jake Antosz helps keep Hampshire Regional golf unbeaten

The Hampshire Regional golf team remained unbeaten with a narrow 13-11 victory over Southwick at Edgewood Golf Club in Southwick Wednesday.

Trailing 11-9, Jake Antosz shot a 42 and swept Kyle Manley 4-0 at No. 6 to seal the Raiders' victory.

Codie LaPlante beat Jake Hough 3-1 at No. 4 to pull Hampshire (10-0-2) within one, 8½-7½.

Granby golf team wins first league crown

Since joining the fall golf season in 2009, Granby has worked its way up the Bi-County East standings. With their victory over Ware Tuesday, the Rams finally reached the top.

Granby's 20½-3½ win at The Ledges clinched the program's first league title under sixth-year coach Tom Burke. They remain perfect in league play at 9-0 with an overall mark of 10-2.

Shane Hollenbeck paces Granby golf

Matt Iczkowski had earned medalist honors in each of the Granby golf team's first 10 matches.

Not Friday.

Teammate Shane Hollenbeck broke par for the first time, shooting a 1-under 35 at The Ledges in South Hadley as the Rams beat Pathfinder 17½-6½.

Iczkowski shot 36 for Granby (9-2), which moved to 8-0 in the Bi-County East.

Imelio sisters lead Granby cross country

The Imelio sisters placed first and second to pace the Granby girls cross country team to a 23-32 victory over Gateway Regional Thursday.

Abigail Imelio was first in 21 minutes, 53 seconds on Granby's 3.1-mile course. Casey Imelio was second in 22:21.

Northampton golf wins league title

Nate Ogulewicz, Ian King and Austin McCreary each shot 3-over 39s as the Northampton golf team defeated Chicopee Comp 252-273 at Chicopee Country Club Wednesday.

The Blue Devils (9-2, 7-0 Valley League) clinched the league championship outright with the victory.

Jeff Bond had a 43, Jared Murphy a 44 and Ben O'Connor a 48 in the win.

Golf

Northampton 252,

Staci Rezendes wins sixth straight race for Holyoke Catholic

Staci Rezendes has picked up right where the regular season ended last year. Hopefully, that means a better postseason.

The Holyoke Catholic senior, who went undefeated during the 2010 season, won her sixth straight race Tuesday at Whiting Reservoir in Holyoke.

Belchertown golf defeats Amherst Regional

Max Bock and Eli Young each shot even-par 36s as the Belchertown golf team defeated Amherst Regional 238-296 at Mill Valley Golf Links in Belchertown Monday.

Shawn Lebeau added a 37 for the Orioles (9-2, 7-0 Suburban).

Asher Young fired a 4-over 40 while Django Ellenhorn added a 41 for the Hurricanes (2-8, 2-6).

Garbacik keys South Hadley golf team

Kevin Garbacik shot even-par 36 and Devin Hoagland added a 37 as the South Hadley golf team beat Westfield 247-251 at The Ledges in South Hadley Wednesday.

Matt Iczkowski fires 30 to pace Granby golf

Matt Iczkowski had a round to remember Tuesday.

Iczkowski, who is a junior at Holyoke Catholic, shot a 6-under 30 to lead the Granby golf team to an 18½-5½ victory over Hopkins Academy at The Ledges in South Hadley.

"I hadn't heard that one too often," Granby coach Tom Burke said. "I don't remember one."