Cao seals Mounties' bid to R.I. team tournament
MSC outlasts Lincoln, Smithfield in playoff
BURRILLVILLE – According to Mount St. Charles veteran head coach Mike Masterson, he would have preferred if his squad and Cumberland's hadn't tied for second during the Northern Division regular season at 10-4.
Because of the tiebreaker, it was the Clippers who drew the second automatic bid to the R.I. State Team Tournament, slated for May 28-29 at Cranston Country Club. They did so by a mere stroke.
“They beat us by four, we beat them by three, so they earned the second spot (behind league champion Burrillville),” Masterson shrugged, then adding he wished his team had drawn the bye instead of playing in a three-way playoff opposite Lincoln (9-5) and Smithfield (8-6) at Country View Golf Club on Monday afternoon.
“If we had qualified, we wouldn't have to be here stressing about how the kids are doing (out on the links),” he stated with a grin.
This tri-meet to determine the final qualifier for the state team event turned into a “Stress Fest,” especially after the top three athletes from both Mount and Lincoln each totaled 123 strokes. That meant the next best score fired by an individual from either team would propel his team to the tourney.
That person happened to be a “her,” and her name is Daisy Cao.
The petite junior with a mighty powerful swing fired a five-over par 40 on the par-35 front side at Country View to lift her Mounties to a thrilling 163-169 triumph over Lincoln. (Masterson's bunch also defeated the Sentinels, 163-175, to close its dual-match campaign at 12-4).
“We did some math down by the ninth green while waiting for Daisy to come in,” stated Mount's sophomore and top player Alex Dumas after the win was sealed. “We knew it was going to be close; the way we figured it, Lincoln had a one-stroke lead, but that was before Daisy.
“When I heard she had a 40, I wasn't surprised,” he added. “She's a really good golfer.”
The heroine herself mentioned she got off to a horrendous start, bogeying the 309-yard, par-four first, then suffering double-bogeys at the par-three second and par-four third. She, however, rebounded with a birdie at the short, par-four fourth, then bogeyed the fifth. She tacked on a birdie at the 268-yard par-four eighth.
Most impressively, she shot even par over the final six holes.
“I started five-over for the first three holes, so I was a little mad at myself,” she grinned later. “I just told myself to focus on the next shot and just forget everything else. I finished with two birdies, two pars, two double-bogeys and three bogeys, so I wasn't very consistent.
“I'm not thrilled with the round, but it feels good, very good (to qualify for the state team event).”
Cao will be one of very few females to play in both the state girls' tourney, which starts today at Newport Country Club, and the state team tournament later in May. She will tee off at 10 a.m.
“As I said way back when, Daisy is legit; she's very consistent, the girl can play,” Masterson said. “In her last five matches, she had a 45, but she was still getting over an illness; she's been 43 under her last four, and it's because she's so steady.”
For Mount, Dumas went off the first tee with top Lions' junior Tim Cullen, and the latter shot a medalist-winning, three-over 38 while besting Dumas by four strokes. It further chiseled into the deficit when junior Alex Niedzwiadek came in with a five-over 40 and LHS junior Nick Lowrey shot 42, and the two foes knotted at 123 when the third wave of golfers hit the clubhouse.
MSC sophomore Ben Ellis managed a 41 and Lincoln junior Nathan Kumar a 43.
In the interim, Smithfield was out of contention, despite senior Tyler Piekarski's 42 and junior Steve D'Amico's 44.
Masterson and Lions' mentor Nick Maresca began chatting at “The 19th Hole” about – if they did finish in a deadlock after the fourth bets score came in – what the tiebreaker standards were according to R.I. Interscholastic League rules. Maresca looked them up on his cell phone, then began reading them.
“According to Section 5, Part B, if two teams tie for first in the playoff match, both teams will advance to the state (team) championships,” he said. “If all three teams tie, the tiebreaker will go to the (best score) of (each team's) fifth player.”
That news shocked Masterson, who promptly joked, “Let's tie! I hope we do!”
Before learning his squad had clinched the third and final berth, Niedzwiadek, playing in Mount's second spot, admitted he was not pleased with his outing.
“I played like trash,” he shrugged. “I got some unlucky bounces, but I also didn't help myself. I got angry at myself for making some stupid shots.”
Dumas didn't seem as animated as his teammate.
“I didn't play great; I didn't play awful either,” he noted. “It was overall a mediocre day. I've been much better and much worse, but the fact we won these two matches and qualified? I'll take it.”
At that point, junior Andrew Goyette turned to Cao and said only, “Thank you, Daisy, for getting us to states! I'm going to play again this season.”
Maresca indicated he wasn't surprised at all by Cao's fine 40.
“She played well when we faced (Mount) last week, too,” he stated. “We have a pretty solid top five who usually shoot between 40-46, and we tied after the first three golfers came in. I had hoped that my No. 4 or 5 would shoot well enough to tie Daisy, but it didn't happen.
“She's an extremely talented golfer.” Mount St. Charles 163, Lincoln 169, Smithfield 175 Mount St. Charles scores: Alex Niedzwiadek 40, Daisy Cao 40, Ben Ellis 41, Alex Dumas 42. Lincoln scores: Tim Cullen 38, Nick Lowrey 42, Nathan Kumar 43, Brett Bessette 46. Smithfield scores: Tyler Piekarski 42, Steve D'Amico 44, Devin O'Brien 44, Tyler Varin 45.