Published: 10/16/2022 11:13:40 AM
Talent can win championships but doesn’t guarantee them.
The Northampton boys golf team knows what it takes after capturing its first Western Massachusetts title since 1956 last season at Tekoa Country Club by a single stroke.
A repeat might demand even more from the Blue Devils when they take the course at Franconia in Springfield at 10 am Monday.
“We definitely have the talent,” Northampton junior Galen Fowles said.
Northampton shared the Suburban League East championship with Belchertown this season and lost just one match – to the Orioles.
Galen Fowles and his younger brother Reilly Fowles also won the PVIAC Invitational Two-Ball championship.
They’re two of four Blue Devils that helped raise the trophy last season in addition to Jack Mattison-Gulotta and Ben O’Connor. Northampton’s other two lineup members Jack Carpenter and Gus Fallon will lean on the others’ experience on an unfamiliar course.
“It’s definitely a high nerve situation playing competitive golf. So I can just look at my captains and ask them questions, if I have any of them,” Carpenter.
All of the Blue Devils will have questions about Franconia, a course none of them are familiar with. They played a practice round and took notes over the weekend to not go in blind.
“We’re just gonna get a good scope of the course and prepare ourselves,” Galen Fowles said. “It’s a process of a detailed examination of the course. What are the problems? When there’s a situation where you can get in trouble, you got to write it down so you know a bit about it and just be prepared so that nothing surprises you.”
Amherst’s Piet Hartman will play in the top group with Galen Fowles after qualifying as an individual. The junior went to the state tournament last year and has been a varsity golfer since he was a seventh grader.
DIVISION 2 – Brady Perkins remembers walking to the Belchertown bus at last year’s Western Mass tournament watching Wahconah and Southwick celebrate with the champion and runner up trophies.
“I thought that next year that’s us,” Perkins said.
The Orioles have as strong a chance as anyone at 9 am Tuesday at the Ranch Golf Club in Southwick. They shared the Suburban East championship with Northampton and went undefeated until the final match of the regular season. Most of their lineup played at Berkshire Hills in last year’s sectional tournament.
Belchertown doesn’t have an ace, but its depth makes the Orioles dangerous.
“We have way more depth than almost any team that’s out there,” Perkins said. “We’ve got eight guys on our team that shoot a number under 40 at any given time.”
Hampshire will make an appearance led by last season’s state qualifier Levi Zielinski. South Hadley and Frontier also qualified as teams, and will look to make their mark.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.
.