LYNN — Every team comes into the season hoping to make it into the state tournament, and the Classical golf team reached that milestone Thursday afternoon following a 46-26 win over Northeastern Conference foe Salem at Gannon Golf Club.
“It’s always great to qualify for the state tournament and it’s good that we got it out of the way as soon as possible,” said Classical coach Jack Morrison. “It’s always our first goal every season, so now that we’ve checked it off we can focus on our other goals.”
The Rams got solid performances from up and down the lineup, with wins coming from Kyle McCarthy (5-4), Brady Warren (8 1/2-1/2), Daniel Finnigan (5 1/2-3 1/2), Adam Mariano (7 1/2-1 1/2) and Matt Devin (7-2). TJ Walsh tied his match (4 1/2-4 1/2).
“The guys have really been playing better overall in the past couple of weeks,” Morrison said. “They’ve really been plugging along over the course of the year and everything is starting to come together.”
One of the things that Morrison was pleased with was the fact that the Rams were able to rebound following a tough loss in their previous match.
“We really did not play well at all in our last match, so we needed to rebound in a big way and we did that,” Morrison said. “We all know that golf can be like that sometimes, where you’re playing horrible one day and great the next day, so it was good to see us get back on the good side of things.”
The lone win for Salem came from No. 1 player Ethan Doyle, who won his match 5 1/2-3 1/2. Bobby Jellison and Jon Wasserman both tied their respective matches (4 1/2-4 1/2).
“Our guys played well, and it’s always good to compete against one of the better teams in the NEC,” said Salem coach Tom Doyle. “Unfortunately we didn’t quite have the firepower to come away with a win, but our guys competed hard and had a few close matches.”
Next up for Salem (7-6) is a home match against Somerville at Olde Salem Greens Monday (4).
“We hit some really good shots (Thursday), so there are plenty of positives we can take away from the loss,” said Doyle. “We’ve just got to work on our consistency up and down our lineup if we want to compete against the better programs.”
The win puts Classical in a solid position as the regular season begins to wind down. With just five matches left to play, the Rams stand at 10-5 and have a real chance to take home an NEC title.
Classical will host NEC foe Winthrop Monday afternoon (4) back at Gannon.
“We could be playing for a division title that day, so we’re going to be focused for sure,” Morrison said. “Playing at Gannon can be a big advantage for us when we play teams who are unfamiliar with it, so hopefully we’ll have a little home-course advantage on Monday.”