Weather can’t take down Xaverian at Cape Cod golf tourney
BREWSTER – As the wind swirled around the course, it became hard to hear at points. The heavy rainfall? An additional obstacle.
Yet, when you have a golf program as talented as Xaverian, a trip to the course often reaps rewards, and the long bus trip back was one to celebrate this time around.
Quinn Dumas paced his team with a score of 76 (4 over par), as Xaverian captured its first-ever Cape Cod National Golf Club High School Invitational title at the Brewster-based course Sunday.
“I’m proud of the guys,” said Xaverian coach Gerry Lambert. “It was not an easy day to play. The wind was up, there were a few rain squalls. Most importantly, this is what the postseason is, in terms of the feel, in terms of the adversity. In terms of all the other talented players around. I’ve always considered this to be a wonderful warm up for a month from now, and this year is no exception. The fact that we wound up with the lowest score today is a nice happenstance, and credit to all the guys for that. But most importantly, to me, is that this is a good stepping stone on our way, hopefully, toward the job we hope to accomplish in a month.”
The Hawks’ team play carried the day as each competitor carded a score of less than 80. In addition to Dumas, Xaverian also had great contributions from Michael McCormack (5-over-par), Thomas Constantine (6-over-par) and Connor Walsh (7-over-par). When the final results were tallied, the Hawks had bested runner-up and Catholic Conference rival St. John’s Prep by five strokes in the standings.
“Today with the wind, it was all pars really,” said Dumas. “Just make as many pars as you can. If you have a bad swing, it is (emphasized) with the wind. I had a couple of bad swings, where I just sent it like 10 yards over the green. Had one double out there, salvaged for a couple of bogeys… but mainly, I think I had 14 pars.”
As he made his way to the final hole on 18, Concord-Carlisle’s Will Spring knew he was in the running for tournament medalist. His father, who had been following him from one green to the next for support, was asked what he had to do to seal things.
“He was like: ‘You just got to two-putt it,’” Spring recalled.
The golf star did just that, finishing with an even score of 72. After some reshuffling of the leaderboard in the clubhouse, he was thrilled to find out that he had been crowned a champion, edging out Hingham standout Drew Golden by one stroke for the individual honor.
“I think if I can just be a good captain and help my team (the sky is the limit),” said Spring. “(Just have) to stay mentally focused. When I made a double on the par-5, that was a big momentum shifter for me. But I just kept my head in it, and said to myself: ‘Just finish these last holes out, and play for pars.’ That’s it.”