WESTFIELD — The Franklin Tech golf displayed its depth in a 164-175 win over Westfield Tech at Shaker Farms Country Club in Bi-County East play on Thursday.
The Eagles’ top four all had impressive rounds with Brady Wood carding the lowest round with a 40, earning medalist honors on the par 37. Not too many teams have the depth of Franklin Tech.
“It’s nice to know that going into a match one of them cannot have a great day,” Franklin Tech coach Michael Duclos said. “But I have a feeling they are going to feed off each other. We are going to see a lot of good golf from those four.”
Grady Deery of Franklin Tech lets go of a chip against Westfield Tech, Thursday in Westfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
Braeden Talbot and Brady Wood of Franklin Tech celebrate after completing their round against Westfield Tech, Thursday in Westfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
Brady Wood of Franklin Tech chips from the fringe against Westfield Tech, Thursday in Westfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
Braeden Talbot of Franklin Tech watches a shot against Westfield Tech, Thursday in Westfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo
There were some mistakes here and there, but a focus for the Eagles is to persevere and continue on to the next hole. Slow greens at Shaker Farms led to some putting issues for Franklin Tech.
“They’ve grown up,” Duclos said. “They fought through the bad holes. The greens were awful today. From practice to today, they seemed more focused…it was good to see.”
Wood birdied the first hole but ran into issues on the greens.
“The putting was tough,” Wood said. “Overall, I played all right. Chipping and up-and-downs were big today. I didn’t hit a lot of greens today, but I still made a lot of pars.”
Jack Day and Braeden Talbot both shot a 41 for the Eagles. For Day, it wasn’t his best performance. Similar to his teammates, there were issues with putting.
“Not the best,” Day said. “I didn’t play as I should. Practice has been going a lot better than today. I couldn’t putt on these greens. But we all shoot pretty good and have the confidence to shoot good.”
The expectations are high for the Eagles. But there is a lot of golf to play until the postseason. Moving players around the lineup card should create motivation.
“I just don’t want them to get complacent,” Duclos said. “Thinking it’s going to be an easy walk. I think by moving them around they are going to battle each other. It’s good to have that. It’s going to be a fun year.”
In the second pairing, Grady Deery shot a 42. Wayde Bardwell had himself a nice round with a 44 for the Eagles. Franklin Tech hosts Mohawk at Thomas Memorial on Friday. Chris Pedersen shot a 40 for the Hornets, earning medalist honors.
Ludlow 156, Frontier 181 — Christian Powell and Teddy McCarthy both shot a 43, but the Redhawks lost to the Lions at Ludlow Country Club in a Suburban League match up. Jamie McCarthy added a 46 for Frontier (1-2, 0-2). Ludlow’s Jake Carvalho and Mario Campora shared medalist honors with a 38.
McCann Tech 166, Mohawk 183 — The Warriors couldn’t stay with the Hornets in a Bi-County East match up at the Country Club of Greenfield. Conner Bergeron shot a 38 for Mohawk (0-1). Gabe Thomas of McCann Tech earned medalist honors with a 36.
