WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- An uneven round for Wahconah's Tim Kaley ended in an even par score and a Western Mass title in the Division 2 Championshps at Taconic Golf Club.
Kaley overcame a rough second half to his day by finishing par, birdie on the 18th and 1st holes to card a 71 and edge Pope Francis' Michael McGrath for medalist honors.
McGrath (1-over 72) led four Cardinals in the top 10 as Pope Francis ran away with the team title.
Kaley, meanwhile, led 2023 sectional champ Wahconah to a second-place finish and a berth in next week's D2 State Championships at Berkshire Hills.
The reigning Berkshire Classic champion started his day on fire.
After teeing off on No. 2 in the shotgun start, Kaley birdied the par-4 third hole and par-4 sixth. He then made a big par putt on No. 9 and birdied the par-5 10th hole to make the turn at 3-under for the day.
But after that hot start, Kaley hit a patch where he was as cold as the mid-October Tuesday afternoon.
"I was hitting the ball well," Kaley said of his first nine holes. "And then I was struggling a little bit. It was different stuff. Got a bad break, mis-clubbed on a whole, three-putted another hole. It was just lttle stuff, but, you know, on such a high-caliber course, it's tough."
Three straight bogeys on 13, 14 and 15 brought Kaley back to par, and another bogey on the par-3 17th hole left him at 1-over with two holes to play.
On No. 18, Kaley's second shot found a sand trap at the front of the green.
He chipped up onto the green in two and then sank a 15-foot par putt, eliciting a cheer from his gallery and a fist pump from Kaley.
"I needed it, because I was falling," Kaley said. "I was four over through my last seven or eight [holes]. Yeah, that was huge."
Even bigger things were to come.
But even the title-clinching hole, the 470-yard, par-5 first hole, had a tough start.
"To be in the fescue after two shots -- to get up and down out, kind of short-sighted, out of the fescue was ... that's pretty cool," Kaley said. "That's probably my best up-and-down I've ever had."
Kaley said he hit a great drive on No. 1 but just pulled his second shot to land in the rough.
"I actually had a good lie, which, thank God I got a good lie in the fescue," he said. "And then, I'm like: You've got to barely land this over the rough, run it through the fairway over the ridge and try to get it to stop on the green.
"And it stopped, 15 feet by, super tough, and I made it."
Kaley's coach was not surprised that the Wahconah star was able to put away the title with his putter.
"You've never seen a guy close down our putting green after every practice like this guy," Pete Terpak said. "It took a lot of confidence to pull that off in the cold and make putts like that at this speed and undulation.
"I'm super proud of Tim."
And while the rest of the Wahconah team posted scores a little higher than the ones that earned the squad an undefeated season in the Berkshire County League this fall, there was still plenty to be proud of.
Four Wahconah players -- Kaley, Sam McLaughlin, Carter Drake and Kessler Anello -- finished in the top 20 in the 79-player field.
McLaughlin carded an 81 to tie for 11th place with a round that stood out to Terpak.
"Sammy had a tremendous comeback with a 36 on the back nine," Terpak said. "That back nine is probably the toughest we play. I played here in high school, and I've had 35-50, and he went the other way. For him to shoot 81 and come back with 36 and three birdies on the back? Wow."
Wahconah was joined in the 12-team field by Berkshire County rival Mount Greylock, which tied for ninth place.
The Mounties also had a highlight on the back nine with ninth-grader Jacob Hillman in the last group to finish.
Hillman, who started in the second foursome off the first tee on Tuesday morning, birdied the par-5 18th hole to finish at 11-over 82, tied for 15th place.
Team Scores
1. Pope Francis 309
2. Wahconah 320 (Tim Kaley 71; Sam McLaughlin 81; Carter Drake 83; Kesler Anello 85; Logan Aitken 87; Dom Marcella 106)
3. Tantasqua 330
4. South Hadley 344
5. Hampshire Regional 348
6. Frontier 356
7. Quabbin 362
t-8. Mount Greylock 363 (Jacob Hillman 82; Will Svrluga 88; Kai Nafziger 94; Max Wied 99; Max Easton 101; Dan Tetrault 118)
t-8. Westfield Tech 363
10. Mohawk Trail 386
11. Leicester 404
12. Smith Vocational 408
