Matt Davis has seen some talented golfers in his six years as a coach with Bow golf. That comes with the territory when you have four team titles during that span.
But among that dynasty, junior Hunter Duncan made his mark on Saturday, claiming the Division II individual title, shooting a 5-over par at Beaver Meadow to finish even par 144 through two rounds.
Duncan was tied with Trinity’s Samuel Maurice for the lead at 5-under through Thursday’s first round at Ridgewood Country Club (leading the Falcons to their ninth team title in the last 11 years), but finished four strokes ahead of the runner-up – Windham’s Nate Crowley – after Saturday’s second round.
“I have never seen a golfer as dialed in as Hunter was on Thursday,” said Davis, noting that Duncan had eight birdies and made the green on all 18 holes at Ridgewood.
Saturday’s round presented some challenges for Duncan on a couple of holes – including missing the green on the 15th hole halfway through his round, as he started on the sixth hole for the shotgun start. The name of the game for round two was mental toughness.
Duncan was tied for the lead through 14 holes, then hit “one of the most unbelievable shots I’ve seen,” according to Davis, on the fourth hole to put him back on top late in the round.
“There were some really great moments today, battling with that mental toughness,” Davis said. “(Hunter and teammate Cam Evans) played the course long. They really had to stay mentally engaged the whole time. When you play a championship round, it’s always going to be a little bit slower. Both guys battled really well.”
“I was really excited coming into this round,” Duncan said. “I was tied for first and knew I had a good shot at (the individual title). I wanted to keep my composure through it all… I missed the green on the 15th hole, but I knew that it was far from over, so I kept battling.”
Duncan is Bow’s first individual champion since Doug Champagne won back-to-back titles in 2015 and ’16.
Elsewhere in D-II, Merrimack Valley’s Andrew Surprenant tied for fourth at 6-over 150, Evans tied for seventh (10-over 154), and Pembroke’s Landon Pearson (tied 13th, 165) and Andy Chiavaras (15th, 171) also made the cut.
In Division I, Concord junior Gavin Richardson entered Saturday in ninth, but advanced into a tie for sixth at 156, 12 strokes behind champion Connor Allard from Exeter. Fellow Tide golfers Carl Sirriann (163) and Keller Ramshaw (169), finished 13th and 16th, respectively.
Hopkinton senior Evan Fairneny was fifth in D-IV (171), followed by Concord Christian’s Owen Carney (173) and Hillsboro-Deering’s Gavin Ford (174) in seventh and eighth, respectively. Hopkinton’s Zach Hopper was 14th (187).
Coe-Brown’s Alex Myslinsky and Jack Smith finished ninth and 11th, respectively, in D-III.
Dover’s Cary Fennessy claimed the girls’ title by nine strokes.
Thursday was the third time Concord had played at Bretwood Golf Course this season, but by far this outing was the toughest.
Exeter wrapped up a perfect season as a team, with the five Blue Hawk scorers carding a combined 383 to claim the Division I golf championship on Thursday at Bretwood in Keene, while Concord finished fourth at 411.
Defending champions Bedford (391) and Keene (402) finished second and third.
“We didn’t play to our scoring average which was disappointing, but we faced some strong teams today,” Crimson Tide head coach Mark McDonough said. “We had a respectable fourth-place finish, not surprisingly behind the only three teams that handed us a loss in our regular season (21-3). Exeter, Bedford and Keene all have some really great players and coaches.”
Ramshaw, who McDonough described as having “a career day,” shot 5-over 77. That score was good for eighth place, while Richardson, medalist in seven of nine regular season matches, placed ninth with a 6-over 78. Sirrianna claimed the 16th and final spot above the cut to advance to Saturday’s second round.
Sirrianna was on the bubble with Dover’s Jon Dumais and Hanover’s Dylan Jopp (all tied at 81) with only two remaining spots up for grabs, but Sirrianna shot well when it mattered most to advance out of the playoff hole.
Jack Shoemaker (86) and Alex Pelletier (89) were Concord’s other scorers, while David Bourgeois (90), Read Merrill (91) and Brett McDonough (92) competed for the Tide.
Despite finishing second in the regular season – only behind 27-0 Exeter – fourth place is still an accomplishment considering the high turnover within the squad from last season, when Concord finished third.
Richardson, Merrill and Shoemaker are the only three who competed at the DI championship last year.
“Having just graduated five seniors, I am really pleased with how this team stepped up and played so well this year,” McDonough said. “Many of these players will be returning next season and hope for even more success. I’m really proud of the season we had.”
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