By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Westwood High School (WHS) varsity golf team had a tremendous season this past fall, ending with a 16-2 overall in-season record. Their hard work and dedication to the game led to a visit to both Sectionals and States that happened last month.
Their only two losses of the season were to non-league Division I Xaverian. Within their league, they went undefeated with an 11-0 record and showcased their exceptional golf skills throughout each of their matches.
When talking with Head Coach Peter Hochman about the team's nearly perfect season, he stated, “We were extremely happy about how we played this year. We really were able to challenge ourselves throughout each match. We went on to beat Duxbury, Dover-Sherborn and Medfield twice which is pretty hard to do.”
Out of the twelve players on their roster, they were very senior laden this year with eight in total. Hochman discussed how these seniors really gave it their all this season and will definitely be missed next year.
Also on this team are two players that are ranked first and second in their league: Senior Lillian Guleserian at number one and Junior Patrick Dalton at number two. Guleserian went on to win league MVP in the large division and will be attending Penn State next year to continue her golfing career. Combined together, Guleserian and Dalton scored an average of 0.8 and 1.16 towards the par for the whole season.
As far as the post-season goes, the WHS Golf team finished in second place at Sectionals out of 14 teams. This allowed them to head to States the following week in which they encountered many first-time experiences. Tying for second place with Nashoba, they had to play a two-team playoff since both of their six scores were exactly the same.
“This is the first time something like this has ever happened,” Hochman stated, “or that I have ever really seen. MIAA had also never seen that before where all six scores were tied. So we went to a playoff hole and they got us by one stroke. We finished third out of 13 teams by the end of States and are so incredibly proud of how we played overall.”
With this groundbreaking season ending, Hochman is hopeful that the team can have another exceptional roster next year. “The underclassmen on the team this year really stepped up,” Hochamn detailed, “in some amazing ways this past season. In terms of next year, I have four underclassmen that should be able to make Varsity, obviously nothing is guaranteed and every year is a new tryout. I do have a building block of two seniors next year, a freshman now and a 10th grader. We also have some JV players that will make their way up I hope. While the eight seniors will truly be missed, I have high hopes that we can continue to play great next season as well.”
