LUDLOW — Tournament organizers wrote the Frontier Regional golf team’s scores on the board first in black sharpie on cardstock The Red Hawks shot a 347 as a team at the Western Massachusetts Division 2 Golf Championships Monday at Ludlow Country Club. They knew where they stood but didn’t have anything to compare it to.
Then came the wait.
“It was tough, watching them come in,” Frontier Regional coach Bill Fitzpatrick said.
Frontier watched every other team’s individual scores be written and tallied. Only one was better — Hoosac Valley’s 341. The Red Hawks finished second and qualified for the state tournament as a team for the first time since 2013.
“Our depth came through for us today,” Fitzpatrick said.
“This is the ultimate goal for us, to make states,” Fitzpatrick said.
Sophomore Mike Corduff led the way with an 81, which tied him for third as an individual. Hoosac’s Henry Sniezek won with a 78.
“I grinded a lot at the end,” Corduff said. “I had a bad round going and then got up and down a couple times the last five, six holes.”
The conditions did no favors. Frost on the course delayed the tournament’s shotgun start by nearly two hours.
“It was cold, you lost feeling a little bit,” Corduff said. “I wore gloves in between shots.”
Fitzpatrick instructed his team to play conservatively. He didn’t want the Red Hawks taking unnecessary risks.
“Smart plays were going to win this tournament,” Fitzpatrick said. “Last thing I said to them, ‘what would coach do?’”
Frontier followed his advice. Kyle Maynard had an 84, Kalen Evans shot a 90 and seventh-grader Gunnar Moore put up a 92 to round out the scoring. Bryan Baumann (93) and Rowan Blair (98) also competed.
“We weren’t playing our best game out there, but it was a
The Division 2 state tournament is Oct. 30 at Marshfield Country Club scheduled for a 10 a.m. shotgun start. It will be the first trip to that stage for most of Frontier’s young team, which only features one senior, but Corduff his making a return trip. He qualified individually as an eighth grader.
“It’s going to help the team a lot, Mikey has a lot of experience playing with the pressure,” Fitzpatrick said.
Greenfield finished seventh out of seven qualified teams. Ryan Cote had an 86, Hunter Roberst shot a 93, Camden Baird added a 108 and Gabriel LaRouche shot 111. Jake Cote (113) and Daniel Provost (143) also played.