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Senior Day
Woodstock Academy golfers, Eli Child, left, and Jack Gelhaus during Senior Day at the Quinnatisset Country Club last week. Photo courtesy of Rich Garceau.
Woodstock Academy boys’ golf coach Rich Garceau remembered the first time that junior Mason Stewart stepped on to the golf course in a match this spring.
“He shot a 52 at (the) Raceway (golf course),” Garceau said. Those days are gone.
“He’s now consistently in the upper 30s and low 40s. I get so much out of doing this every year, because it just shows how hard these boys work toward a goal, whether it’s a team goal or a personal objective to get to a certain playing ability,” Garceau said.
The Centaurs may have eclipsed some of those goals this season.
Stewart finished among the top five at the Eastern Connecticut Conference open golf championship May 31 at the Quinnatisset Country Club in Thompson.
Stewart finished with an eight-over par 80, two strokes back of his teammate Jack Gelhaus, who placed third overall with a 78, to lead the Centaurs to a third-place finish as a team.
Killingly won its sixth consecutive league title with a 314 stroke total. East Lyme was second with 332, followed by the Centaurs at 344.
The Centaurs played in the Division II state championship (Tuesday — too late for this edition) and the team or just individual players could also qualify for the first-ever State Open championship and, possibly, the New England championship.
“It’s not easy to lose those players. That’s the worst thing about doing this job- graduation,” Garceau said.
Gelhaus just started playing the game two years ago according to Garceau. Child played earlier than that in a developmental program at the Vineyard Valley Golf Club in Pomfret.
The team celebrated the achievements of Gelhaus and Child May 30 on Senior Day prior to the final regular season match, a 7-0 win over Montville.It concluded its season at 14-7 overall and 7-3 in Division II of the Eastern Connecticut Conference.
That league mark was good enough to pull them into a second-place tie with Stonington in the Division.
The backside at Quinnatisset, as it was with most golfers May 31, was not kind to Gelhaus. He lost three more strokes by the time he was through 15, but he was still within range of the leaders after he was able to par the 16th hole.
That changed on the par-4, 17th.
“There was not much I could have played differently. I got a bad bounce on the green. It hopped over a bunker and I was in the woods,” Gelhaus said.
He scrambled for a six which left him three strokes back of co-medalists Dylan Deotte of Killingly and Sam Gaboury of Montville.
“I was really happy with Jack’s performance,” Garceau said. “He struggled a little on the closing holes. I think he learned a lot (Thursday), especially trying to close with a really good number. With the state tournament next week, I think what it took (Thursday) and really what it took all season, he will be able to put to good use and probably be able to put up a really good number, maybe getting to the New England tournament later in June.”
Stewart was happy with his total in the ECC championship, but like most golfers, thought it could be better. He was equal with Gelhaus at the turn with a 37 but also fell victim to the backside where he finished with a 43.
Child hit a tree root early in the match and injured his wrist. He fought his way through the 18 holes and finished with a 98. Owen Borski carded a 91 while Robert Maheu finished with a 95.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director