MARBLEHEAD — The Swampscott golf team put together a solid showing despite a limited roster on Tuesday, but in the end the Big Blue didn’t quite have enough firepower and fell to Northeastern Conference foe Danvers by a score of 49 1/2-29 1/2 at Tedesco Country Club.
“It was a beautiful day and the course was in immaculate condition, but we had the deck stacked against us a bit (Tuesday),” said Swampscott coach Jason Knowles. “We had a guy out sick and had to move some of our younger guys up in the lineup, and that made some of the matchups a little tough. I liked the way our guys kept battling, but we just didn’t have enough to get over the finish line.”
The Big Blue came away with several wins on the day, starting with No. 1 player Lou Spellios taking his match 6-3. Jason Bouffard, Ben O’Brien and Nate Maercklein each won their respective matches 5-4.
And while it was the younger part of Swampscott’s lineup that came up short on Tuesday, Knowles sees a lot of potential for improvement in the group.
“I see a lot of our younger guys really getting better from this,” said Knowles. “They’re working hard in practice every day, but a lot of them haven’t seen much competition at the varsity level yet. As they gain a little more experience, I think we’re going to start seeing big strides forward from them.”
Knowles also sees the benefit in going up against talented teams like Danvers this early in the season, as it will prepare his squad for the rigors of playing in a tough Northeastern Conference.
“When the guys are used to playing against good teams day in and day out, it’s naturally going to make them better players,” said Knowles. “Especially for our younger guys, the key for us is just getting in reps against these good teams on these great courses.”
The current schedule has Swampscott (0-1) scheduled to take on Winthrop Thursday (4) at Winthrop Golf Club, but the remnants of Hurricane Ida will likely make that match a washout. The next scheduled match for the Big Blue after that is Thursday, Sept. 9 on the road at Salem.
“We’ll hit the course for practice (Wednesday) and just keep working,” said Knowles. “With rain likely canceling things on Thursday, we’ll use that time to go over the mental approach to the game and things like that. We still have plenty of room to grow and it’s early in the season.”