A Good Day

The Martles hosted the visiting Bears on an overall good day for golf at the always welcoming and always gracious Hop Meadow Country Club. The weather was par for the course (pun intended) for April in New England, with sun alternating with clouds, a sprinkle here and there, and a steady breeze from the northwest that occasionally caused a shiver or two. Led by Nick Dowling ‘24 and his steady 40 – Dowling was medalist for the match – the Black and Gold posted a workmanlike 214 to take home the win. Dowling’s only hiccup came on the long 6th, when his wayward second left him blocked by a knarled pine tree; Dowling, channeling his inner Jack Nicklaus (he of the famous, or infamous, “a tree is 90% air”), opted to attempt to play through the tree. This old coach, golf pessimist that he is, knew well that the counterfactual to Nicklaus’s Theorem is that a tree is still 10%, well, tree, and Dowling found that out to his chagrin. To his credit, he righted the ship on the next hole and cruised home with the low score of the day. Also contributing to the win was Julien Kocatas ‘26, with a 41 that included several strong shots – Kocatas had the shot of the day on the same hole Dowling came to grief on when he nailed his second to roughly 10 feet, setting up a tap-in birdie.  Bryan Carey ‘24 and Grant Owen ‘24 each had 44s, and Matteo De Luca ‘24 added a 45 to complete the team score. Connor Murphy ‘25 posted a 47. The team took the requisite victory lap through downtown Simsbury and found our way to Jersey Mike’s for some much needed refueling. Overall, a good result for the golfing Martlets. Next up for the JVs: a tri-match with Loomis and Avon at the always challenging Farmington Woods course. The rematch with Loomis will give the lads a chance to even the score – the Pelicans handed the Martlets their only loss of the season earlier this year. See you on the tee!