The Masco Golf Team finished the regular season with a phenomenal 11-3 record and competed at Sectionals in mid-October.
Even with an 11-3 record on the season, Coach Hector Longo will be the first to say it wasn’t handed to them but earned.
“Our 11-3 record is a direct result of our players accepting the challenge to improve off their 2023 seasons,” said Longo.
Junior Brendan Sheehan, who holds the second-place spot for the Chieftains, has shown why practice makes perfect again and again.
“At No. 2, Brendan Sheehan has been sensational with an 11-2 match record. In my eyes, he’s the best No. 2 in the Northeast Conference,” said Longo.
Sheehan’s road to the number 2 spot had many bumps along the way but ultimately motivated him to get better.
“I just constantly put hours of hard work in, day by day, in the off-season. Golf is such a mental game because you can grind hours every day and feel like you’re not getting anywhere, but no matter how the day goes it’s not the end of the world and the next shot, round, or even practice session might be better than the last,” said Sheehan.
Junior captain Cole Velardo has also been a brilliant player on the course and has also taken strides in improving his skill over the off-season. His incredible driving capabilities are the highlight of his game.
“He has set the tone, improving his game from the No. 2 spot last year to take over at No.1 for [now college freshman] Tyler Feldberg, who graduated and is now playing at Saint Anselm,” said Longo.
Velardo is the only captain of the team this season, which is a challenging task, especially being a junior.
“As the only captain and being a junior, I used the past captains as role models to follow after. [College sophomore] Jack Mertz and Feldberg were both positive guys and that’s a part of being a captain for me,” said Velardo.
While the team has had a bunch of success, they have also faced setbacks including losing teammate Dylan Brothers, who sustained a major concussion during a fall league hockey game.
“The team is playing for their fallen mate, senior Dylan Brothers, who was at either No. 2 or 3 earlier in the year when he suffered a serious concussion on the hockey rink back in September. Losing him hurt us a ton as a team, but our players really stepped up to honor Dylan, who is just a fantastic player and teammate,” said Longo.
The team contributed in all aspects of the game, closing the season on a three-game win streak.
“In our last three matches, we focused on building confidence and boosting the morale of the team and that’s ultimately what we accomplished. Week in and week out we all saw major improvements and everyone has been trending in the right direction, which is exactly what we need going forward at sectionals,” said junior Blake Ditchfield.
Wrapping up the regular season on a three-game winning streak, the Chieftains capitalized on this momentum at sectionals and placed third as a team.