Wahconah Golfers Top Hoosac Valley
ADAMS, Mass. -- The Wahconah golf team got off to a strong start on Monday with four players carding rounds in the 40s to take a 173-201 win over Hoosac Valley at Forest Park Country Club.
Tim Kaley earned medalist honors with a round of 41 on the par-34 layout.
Teammates Pat McLaughlin and Brady Breitmaier were right behind him at 42, and Kevin Esko carded a 48 to round out Wahconah’s scoring.
“I think we’re looking pretty good this year,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve been starting to play more together, and we’ve been playing well. As the season goes on, I think we’re gonna get better as a team, and I think we can go pretty far.”
Ian Cappiello just missed out on sharing the medalist honors with a 42 for the Hurricanes, who also scored rounds from Zachary Mungeon (50), Mike Szabo (54) and Carson Mills (55).
The teams headed out to start the season under clear skies, but they had to wait out a brief cloudburst with the lead group on the fourth fairway.
The break in the action may have come at just the right time for McLaughlin, who last October took medalist honors at the season-ending Berkshire County Championship at Wyantenuck.
“I started off pretty bad,” he said. “I had a double [bogey] on the first hole, and I had a triple. But after the first few holes, I kind of got my stuff together and made a few pars and a birdie.
“I think [the rain delay] made me relax a little bit and took some of the pressure off. I mean, the first few holes obviously were rough. I just started to get into a little bit of a groove and played better.”
McLaughlin’s highlight came on the par-4 seventh hole, where he recovered after a bad drive, hit his approach to within 8 feet of the cup and sank his putt.
Hoosac Valley, which fielded a team during the Fall 2 season earlier this calendar year, was making its first fall season appearance on the links since winning a Division 2 Western Massachusetts title in October 2019 at the Country Club of Pittsfield.
A lot has changed in Cheshire since that title. It has a new coach, a new co-operative arrangement with Drury and a lot of new faces on the roster.
“We’re still kind of figuring everything out with a young team,” first-year coach and Hoosac Valley alum Chad Alibozek said. “Ian’s a great leader. He’s our team captain. It’s just gonna be working on fundamentals, learning the game and trying to keep everyone having fun.”
Alibozek said he was told to expect maybe four or five players on the roster this fall but was pleasantly surprised to have 12 players on the putting green at Sunday’s practice. On Monday, both Wahconah and Hoosac sent a couple of foursomes out for practice rounds in addition to the three competitive foursomes in the match.
The Salem State graduate said he is excited to be back in Cheshire with the Hurricanes.
“It feels good because I’ve always wanted to get into helping out junior golf in any way I can,” Alibozek said. “Obviously, I didn’t go the route of being a PGA professional, so I have to do it in different ways. And coaching a team I played for for four years and had some of the best memories of my life -- it’s good to be back, and I look forward to building the team.
“We’re young, but I see a lot of potential out here. We’re just going to work off of that.”