The ending was all smiles for Coach Gerry Lambert ’88 and the varsity golf team, as they claimed a two-stroke victory with a team score of 299 at Worcester Country Club earlier this week. In a year full of adversity, the team overcame the outside distractions of hybrid learning models, socially distanced bus rides, and the rest of the accompaniments spun out of a global pandemic. A Catholic Conference Championship represented a successful, albeit truncated, season for the Hawks. Daniel Brady ’22 summed up the situation: “This being my first year on varsity, I was initially really excited to be able to make a run to win the state championship. When I heard there would be no state championship this year, I was very disappointed. That being said...I knew that roughly three of the top five teams in the state were in the Catholic Conference (Xaverian, St. John’s Prep, and Saint John’s High School), so this tournament would have the best teams in the state either way.”

The competition throughout the conference-only schedule was indeed stiff, with the Hawks splitting their two matches with Saint John’s High School in Shrewsbury, and dropping both matches against St. John’s Prep in narrow fashion. Including a tie breaking card-off which had to go down to the seventh place matchup in order to declare a one-stroke victory in favor of the Eagles. Carrying a 6-3 record into postseason play, the team treated the conference tournament as a chance to win a de-facto state championship. Trevor Connolly ’21 expanded on the team’s mindset saying, “It had that kind of energy. Going back to the last 10 seasons, nine teams from the Catholic Conference had gone on to win States, so we treated it like that.”

Battling through tough wet and cold conditions, Xaverian’s winning effort was paced by senior co-captain Eric Boulger, who scored a 71, while junior co-captain Joey Lenane added a 73. Junior Spencer Dumas carded a 76, and senior Trevor Connolly and sophomore Ryan Scollins chipped in each with 79's. Junior Dan Brady completed the strong team effort with an 80. Athletic Director Ted Currle was effusive in his praise of the team’s effort, saying “any time you can defeat St. John's Prep, Saint John's Shrewsbury, BC High, Catholic Memorial, and Malden Catholic on the same day - you have accomplished something! Congratulations to our coaches and players on a fantastic season; we’re all proud of you.”

Looking forward, the team will have to absorb the losses of Boulger and Connolly as they hope to build on this season’s success. Connolly however, is confident in the culture that the coaches and seniors have established. “When you're coming off a tough hole and you look down at your “X” bag, you just say to yourself I need to bounce back here for the other nine guys I'm playing for because you're not just playing for yourself. That's the culture Coach has created when it comes to the team, and that's been a large part of our success.” With four of their top six golfers returning and a winning tradition in place, the Hawks should be primed for another run at a State Championship in the fall of 2021.

Pictured: Assistant Coach Tom Horne, co-captain Eric Boulger ’21, Trevor Connolly ’21, Spencer Dumas ’22, co-captain Joey Lenane ’22, Ryan Scollins ’23, Dan Brady ’22, Head Coach Gerry Lambert ’88