As the Fall Sports season begins to wrap up, men’s golf prepared for its biggest tournament of the year; the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship that took place over Columbus Day weekend.
Team captain Elias Sachs discussed how much the team has improved over the season, and how the team chemistry has helped them along the way.
“It’s a players team,” said Sachs in an interview with The Suffolk Journal. “We do a lot of intersquad competition, practice, help and advice. So, it’s a lot of teammate-to-teammate. It’s a really strong bond.”
The road to the GNAC Championship was no cake walk for the Rams. They tied for 13th place of the 16 teams in the Duke Nelson Invitational on Sep. 14, and fifth of 11 in the Blazer’s invitational. In the Blazer’s event, Senior Owen Boggini tied for ninth place with a total score of 153. Senior Andrew Harper placed 20th and Sachs finished tied for 24th.
Despite the underwhelming performances in their two previous matches, the Rams were able to turn the ship around when they headed to Rhode Island to participate in the RIC Homecoming Invitational just one week later on Oct. 4.
Collectively, the team finished with a score of 328, ultimately earning them first place in their final match before the GNAC Championship tournament. Boggini again shot the best of the team, finishing close to par. Harper finished in 12th place, and sophomore Brian Dunleavy came in 14th. Sachs finished fourth with a score of 79.
“Preparation is exactly the same,” said Sachs. “Basically every tournament we prepare the week before. We do a lot of intersquad competition. Playing against your teammates, your boys. Really competitive atmosphere.”
Working with one another to improve their own skills seems to be a recurring theme for the Rams. The amount of time spent with one another over this season as well as past years created a strong bond between the players.
“The chemistry this year is the tightest it’s ever been without a doubt,” said Sachs. “Four seniors at the top playing with each other since freshman year. Staying in hotels, making road trips, practice 3-4 times a week. The bond is pretty unbreakable.”
Over the course of this past weekend, the Rams finished up their season by placing fifth in the GNAC tournament. Although these are not the results they had hoped for, the team still has one last chance to compete with the NEIGA Championships this Saturday.
“All of us on the team are close which is great. Even as a sophomore I don’t feel like I’m any different from any of the seniors on the team,” said Dunleavy in an interview with The Journal. “I’d love to add another ten players after losing five [graduating seniors], but I am definitely optimistic about next season.”
Dunleavy, along with the returning players, look to build off all they have accomplished this season and add to their chemistry with newcomers next season. Overall the future looks bright for men’s golf and rightfully so after finishing up the 2019 season as fifth in the conference.
