Seniors ready to relish final round
His trip to Renaissance Golf Club early Tuesday morning for the MIAA Division 1 championship will be the final high school match for Winchester High senior Owen Stesney. But he is staying on point with his preparation.
No changes to his practice regimen.
“The only thing different that I have done is take in the moment a little bit more,” said Stesney. “I don’t want to take this amazing situation I am in for granted, and the more I appreciate the situation the better my mentality will be while I’m playing.
“Practice-wise, I am not doing much different because I know what works for me, it does not make sense for me to change my ways in such an important moment.”
A team captain, Stesney was one of six players to shoot 80 or better for the Red & Black in Monday’s Division 1 North qualifier at The Meadow at Peabody. Collectively, the scores of Carson Muse (3-under-par 69), John Scully (71), Julian Ragosa (71), and Cole Cassidy (76) resulted in a stunning 1-under finish for Winchester.
The players, said Winchester coach Tom Walsh, “were phenomenal.” It was the best team performance submitted at any of the 12 sectionals in Divisions 1-3.
Winchester, making its first trip to the final since winning Division 2 in 2019, is one of 14 teams in the D1 field, including fellow sectional champions St. John’s Shrewsbury (Central), Xaverian (South), and Minnechaug (West).
Like Stesney, Xaverian senior Ryan Scollins will teeing off with his teammates for the final time.
“It’s kind of crazy how fast my high school golf career has gone, so I’m just looking forward to playing with the team one last time,” said Scollins, who was the medalist (3under 68) at Easton CC in the qualifier. “Hopefully I can finish up my capionship reer with a win.”
Committed to working on his game, the Wrentham teenager has improved year over year.
“My game has gradually built up to where it is now and the perfect way to cap off my high school career would be by helping my team win a state title,” Scollins said.
Stesney acknowledges that Tuesday may be his last competitive round. He is committed to playing lacrosse at RPI.
“It’s a little bittersweet, knowing it’s going to be the last time I play on this team, but at the same time I try not to think about that,” said
Stesney.
“Owen is so thrilled about the fact that he’s got one more whack at states,” Walsh added.
Senior Ben Schroeder was part of Dover-Sherborn’s Division 3 state championship team last year. He’d like to close his career with another title at The Ledges GC in South Hadley, site of the D3 final that features fellow sectional champions Weston (North), Martha’s Vineyard (South), and Lenox (West) in a 13-team field.
“Anything less than a state chamwe really think would be an unsuccessful season,” said Schroeder, who carded a 3-over 73 to help D-S win the D3 Central sectional at Blissful Meadows. “Last year our state championship team was really good, but I think we have a better chance at winning it this year.”
It would be a perfect sendoff for Schroeder, who appreciates the mentorship and opportunities the golf team has provided for the past four years.
“I think I’ve had a really successful and just an amazing experience being on this team, and I dedicate that mostly to our coach [Jon Kirby] who’s just been an amazing mentor to me and my family in general,” Schroeder said.
“Every senior’s goal is to end it on a big win and that would just be the cherry on top of graduating.”
Schroeder, said Kirby, is everything one would hope for from a senior captain.
“He’s been a tremendous leader, the team looks up to him, and he’s been a great player,” said Kirby, “I’m very fortunate to have spent four years with Ben Schroeder.”
Hopkinton senior Quinn O’Connor is in a different situation: The Hillers, a perennial contender, did not qualify as a team, but he did as an individual, carding a 4-over 75 at Heritage Country Club in Charlton.
“A lot of my success should be attributed to the team, that’s kind of the main reason I got where I am,” said O’Connor. “I wouldn’t have even been in the position to go as an individual without everybody on the team.”
O’Connor feels like he is in the best place, mentally and physically, to compete at the highest level.
“When I was a freshman on the JV team, we were playing Westborough . . . I remember hitting a lot of bad shots and getting upset, I threw my club and got in trouble with the coaches,” said O’Connor. “Compared to where I am now, when I have a bad shot I can just kind of shrug it off . . . that moment serves as a baseline for how far I’ve come mentally.”
On Tuesday, he’ll have one more chance to display his growth.
“It’s very bittersweet, however my focus is to go out and play the best I can to represent not only my team, but my school,” said O’Connor.
Tee shots
■ There will be 15 teams vying for the Division 2 title at Maplegate in Bellingham, headlined by sectional champions Billerica and Concord-Carlisle, which shared the Central crown, along with Beverly (North), defending champion Bishop Stang (South), and Belchertown (West).
Greg Dowdell, the PGA professional at Maplegate and the D2 tournament director, believes the treelined course layout, which will play at 6,300 yards Tuesday, will provide a fair but challenging test.
“It will have a championship layout that all players who come to the course play,” said Dowdell, who singled out the well-known par-3 115yard eighth hole, which features a waterfall players will have to hit over to reach the green.
■ In leading Chelmsford to its first Merrimack Valley Conference team title at Mt. Pleasant in Lowell Thursday, senior Ryan Lally was the medalist with an even-par 72, punctuated by an eagle on the 280-yard fifth hole, his first as a competitor. “He drove the green, and then had a 5-foot putt,” said Chelmsford coach
Keith Stone. Lally (39-33) was on point on his final nine holes.
■ Per MIAA assistant executive director Phil Napolitano, the golf liaison, the total count is expected to be 270 players at the three championship sites: D1 (92), D2 (87), and D3 (91).