eECC golf 

crowns 

Woodstock’s

Garceau and

Killingly’s

Drew Aitken

By Ron P. Coderre

Woodstock Academy junior Roxanne Garceau fired a career- best 38 in nine holes at Quinnatisset Country Club to lead her Lady Centaur teammates to the Eastern Connecticut Conference Golf Championship in the four-team competition.  Garceau’s individual effort earned her medalist honors for the second year in a row.

In winning the individual title, Garceau did it without the benefit of a birdie.  What she did was to play consistent golf from start to finish and avoided “the big numbers.”  She completely outdistanced the field beating her closest competitor Elizabeth Crandall of Stonington by a margin of 11 strokes.

According to Garceau’s coach Earl Semmelrock, her play has been attracting attention from near and far.  A student of the game, who comes from a family of golfers, Garceau can be found working on every aspect of her game when the Lady Centaurs aren’t involved in a match.

Woodstock Academy was as tough as Garceau in the team competition.  The Lady Centaurs were far and away the top team in the field, posting a team score of 203 and easily beating second place finisher Norwich Free Academy, which came in at 225.  Third place went to Stonington with a team score of 234.

In addition to Garceau’s 38, Rachel Byrne and Eva Yu each shot 54 and Caroline Eaton added a 57 for the team total 203.

Killingly’s Drew Aitken, who is headed to Central Connecticut State University on a golf scholarship in September, battled Tourtellotte’s Tom Kingsbury to the 18th hole and the final crucial putt before realizing he was the 2016 Eastern Connecticut Conference golf individual medalist.  His performance led the Redmen to the team title, a feat they’ve accomplished four years in a row.

Kingsbury, who’s only been playing golf for two years, started his round in astounding fashion with an eagle on the par-5, 1st hole.  Kingsbury and Aitken then proceeded to wage a battle right to the final hole.  The pair was tied at the turn.  They both suffered bumps along the way over the final nine holes.  Aitken recorded a double bogey on the par-3, 11th hole and Kingsbury bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes.

Reaching the 18th all knotted, Kingsbury parred the par-5, putting the pressure on Aitken.  The senior playing on his home course, Connecticut National Golf Club, was on the green in three when he trickled a chip to within 10 feet.  He won the match and the medal when he putted a little right-to-left bender safely into the cup for a birdie and the title.

Aitken’s play helped his team to the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship.  He led the way with a two over par 73, while his brother John, Connor Fillmore and Ben Lovrien all recorded identical scores of 75 for a team total of 298.  They easily beat second place finisher Norwich Free Academy, which recorded a 325.  Tourtellotte was third at 333.

Trailing Drew Aitken in the individual competition was Kingsbury at 74, the Killingly trio with 75 and leftie Ryan Black of Woodstock Academy, who also had a 75 in the tightly packed field.  In addition to the Aitken twins, Fillmore will also be playing at Central Connecticut State University in the fall.

ECC Golf All-Stars –

Large Division: First Team - Ryan Black, Jordan Lamothe and Dan Harrington of Woodstock Academy.  Honorable Mention – Jon-Luc Cournoyer of Woodstock Academy.  Sportsmanship – Christian Bombara of Woodstock Academy.

Medium Division: First Team - Drew Aitken, John Aitken, Connor Fillmore and Ben Lovrien of Killingly.  Honorable Mention – Dylan Deotte of Killingly.  Sportsmanship – Ben Lovrien of Killingly and Ethan MacLelland of Plainfield.

Small Division: First Team – Tom Kingsbury, Cole Johnson, Dave Dalpe and Jaren Belanger of Tourtellotte. Sportsmanship – Alex Belinski of Tourtellotte.