Photo by Ken Chaisson
Senior Tommy Kowalsky laces a drive on the first hole at Walpole Country Club
By Ken Chaisson
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
On Monday October 6, 2025, players from Walpole and Milton battled for the Bay State Conference all-stars at Braintree Municipal Golf Course. The Milton trio edged the Walpole threesome by one stroke, 235-236.
On Tuesday the entire teams battled head-to-head at Milton Hoosic Club with the Wildcats prevailing again by one point, 107-106.
Then on Wednesday, on a seldom seen rainy day at the Walpole Country Club, the two teams wrapped up Milton’s regular season in another tight match. Milton won this time, 98-84.
There is no official Bay State Conference (BSC) team championship tournament. Instead, all of the conference schools submit three players to play in a stroke play tournament to determine who the league all stars will be for the season. Walpole was represented by sophomore Alex Scales, junior Nico Govoni and senior Tommy Kowalsky. The three Timberwolves finished fifth one stroke behind Milton but better than such large school powers such as Brookline, Newton North and Needham. Captain Kowalsky was the best Walpole finisher with a 77 and was awarded all-star status based on his top ten finish. Scales shot 78 and captain Govoni finished with an 81.
Last year, Govoni represented Walpole in the Division 1 Central state championships. He finished tied for third that day shooting a 75 at the Pleasant Valley Country Club, a course where the PGA Tour used to play. Govoni also won the 2025 Junior Club Championship at Walpole Country Club this past summer.
Scales was a BSC all-star in 2024 as a freshman.
Rob Travers is the boys’ head coach. Travers has been successful on a few fronts with the boys’ program. There’s now a booster program in place and a new junior varsity coach, Mike Allen. There were 45 athletes who tried out for golf this fall: twelve made varsity and twelve more made the JV team. The JV won their first ever road match this season against Wellesley. Most BSC schools have JV teams now. The sport of golf continues to grow.
Last year, the boys golf team finished 8th in the D1 Central section leading to a 20th place finish in the state finals.
One confusing thing that is being rectified in the BSC in 2026 is the way boys’ matches are scored. All boys’ matches in 2026 will be stroke play. In the penultimate match with Milton, the modified Stableford format was used. Golfers got one point for a bogey, two for a par, three for a birdie and so on.
Walpole’s record is now 4-8. Walpole was finishing their season on Thursday Oct 9 vs Weymouth at Walpole Country Club. They did not qualify for the sectionals which requires at least a .500 regular season record.
This year’s team is young but improving.
