Golf is typically not a sport that dominates conversations at most high schools. However, the Golf team’s season as well as their tournament run has wrapped up before Walpole’s other fall sports even begin their playoffs.
The 2015 Walpole Golf team finished up the season with the best result in their state tournament history. After the season, senior captain Tim Bender said, “We’re the best golf team in Walpole history and that’s not too bad.”
The Rebels finished in 2nd place in the Division II South Sectional tournament. Their placement qualified them for the Division II state tournament, where they finished in 3rd place. The finish was the first time in the program’s history that the Rebels qualified as a team instead of as individuals.
Walpole Golf opened up the season on September 8, with a home match against Newton North. With the heat index in the 90s, the Rebels lost by a score of 98-83. Since that day the Rebels have not looked back, going 11-1 for the rest of the season. Their regular season wins included a victory over traditional golf powerhouses like Natick and Wellesley. However, all of their regular season success meant nothing as they approached the sectional tournament. The top eight teams in the Division II South met at Easton Country Club—a par 71 course located in South Easton—where only the two top scorers would continue on to the state finals.
The tournament was expected to begin at ten in the morning with a shotgun start, but an unexpected frost caused a delay and according to the players, the frost affected the way the golfers played in their round.
“It definitely was harder to go low at first when the ground was so hard, but we definitely played better when the grass softened up,” said senior Griffin Corcoran, who shot an 80 on the day.
Overall, Walpole finished the match with a score of 309—in the sectional and state tournament the top four scores are added up and whichever two teams have the lowest are the winners.
For Walpole, sophomore Matt Conti (75), senior Tim Bender (76), junior Andrew Boush (78) and senior Griffin Corcoran (80) shot the lowest four rounds in the match, which brought them to 309.
At the end of sectionals, Walpole was bested by just one stroke to Bishop Feehan, but won over Westwood by two strokes. With their 2nd place finish, Walpole qualified for the Division II state finals at Crumpin-Fox Golf Course in Bernardston, MA.
Crumpin-Fox represented a far more formidable challenge for the high school golfers than most of the other courses they had played on. Designed to “accommodate a Pine Valley type golf course,” according to the course’s website, the golf course has thin fairways and tight greens all across the field. In other words, golfers must be incredibly precise with their shots in order to get top low-scores.
Bender and Boush tied for the low round for the team on that day, both shooting 81. Senior Charlie Harrington’s 82 and senior Cory Cisternelli’s 84 on the day rounded out the 328. Walpole was beaten by North Andover’s score of 323, while Bishop Feehan blew the rest of the field away with a remarkable 308.
“After that first game we were dominating and we kept that momentum into the tournament,” said Bender.
Walpole’s successful season came to an end at Crumpin-Fox, where the Rebels shot 328 and finished in 3rd place out of the 12 teams. Although Walpole did not end up with a state championship, the score represents the best finish ever for the Walpole golf team, and they capped off a memorable season.
