GREAT BARRINGTON – Pioneer Valley Regional School has one more road trip to take this year — one that was unplanned.

The Panthers, led by Jacob Willis and Sam Kitfield-Vernon, surprised their coach and posted a final team score of 350 to grab the runner-up finish in the Western Massachusetts Division III Golf Championships at chilly, windswept Wyantenuck Country Club.

Hopkins Academy captured its second team title in four seasons with a final total of 348. Defending champion Lee High School placed third at 356.

All 57 golfers braved the awful conditions, which included wind gusts up to 35 miles per hour. It got so bad that only one player in the entire field broke 80 – Caleb Farnham of Hopkins Academy, who shot 79. The Golden Hawks claimed two of the top three individual spots — Farnham was WMass medalist for the second time in three years, while teammate Jack Ter Doest tied for second at 80.

Even though the inflated scores were a product of the conditions, some remarked that they were surprised the scores weren’t even higher because of the swirling winds that made club selection increasingly difficult on most shots.

Pioneer, interestingly, seemed to acclimate best to the less-than-ideal conditions in the southern Berkshire foothills, as three players carded rounds under 90. Willis finished fourth overall with an 81 and Kitfield-Vernon placed sixth with an 84, qualifying both golfers for the State Individuals. Teammate Kyle Maynard posted in 87 to tie for seventh overall, although his score just missed qualifying as an individual (the top 6 qualified for the states).

The Panthers’ only problem, team-wise, was depth. Needing a 95 to win the team title, the best they could do was Garrett Cote’s 98. Pioneer’s performance was still good enough to earn a berth in Tuesday’s MIAA State Championships, which will be held at Shining Rock Golf Club in Northbridge.

Farnham, Ter Doest, Lee’s Tom Fraser (80), Willis, McCann Technical School’s Cole Kratz (82) and Kitfield-Vernon were the individual qualifiers.

Panthers head coach Richard Selva was happy, and even a bit shocked, with his team’s lofty finish.

“You come down with no expectations and you’re just hoping to be respectable,” said Selva, whose team played a practice round in the rain on Friday. “On the way down, we were trying to think about what we needed to accomplish. We were actually thinking more individual because we don’t have quite as much as depth this year. We thought four 88s (352) was what we needed (to qualify for states). At one point it looked like we had a chance to win until they posted Hopkins’ scores. It’s so up and down with the emotions.

“Qualifying for states is a great surprise,” added the eighth-year mentor, whose undefeated 2014 squad captured the WMass crown. “I didn’t expect it all, and the kids are thrilled. It’s terrific.”

Greenfield High School wound up sixth overall with a 378 total. Senior Tyler Boissonneault led the Green Wave with an 88, which was good for ninth overall. George Balis followed with a 95, Christian LaPlante posted a 97 and Hunter Roberts a 98.

“Obviously we didn’t finish as well as we had hoped, but you always have to aim high if you want to achieve anything special, and I feel like we did that,” offered Greenfield head coach Patrick Maddock. “I’m pretty proud with how well we showed up this year, both in WMass and in the regular season.

“I know we may have a tough road ahead,” added Maddock, “losing some important players after the end of this season, but I am definitely excited about our chances next year.”

Maddock was especially impressed with the improvement of Boissonneault — one of four seniors on the team — who went 10-2-2 in regular-season matches.

“He had a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and he performed above and beyond my expectations this season,” said Maddock. “I couldn’t be happier with how well he played. He was hoping to make it to the (state) individuals, but regardless of the playoff outcome, I am so proud of him for all he has accomplished.”

Ware High School’s Alex Gauthier recorded a rare hole-in-one on the 140-yard 11th hole. He finished with a 100.