Week of May 6: Rawson and Sousa lead Centaurs to a good week
It just depends on how one looks at it.
The Woodstock Academy boys golf team finished either fourth or sixth overall in the Wildcat Invitational, the first 18-hole tournament for high school boys of the season, held annually at the Norwich Golf Course.
Immediately following the tournament, the Centaurs were tied for sixth with RHAM with a 334 total and were the second Eastern Connecticut Conference team, two strokes back of East Lyme.
But the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference has a new rule this year that allows teams to participate in two tournaments a year that do not count toward the amount of matches played.
So, the day after the Wildcat was played, East Lyme, Bacon Academy and Fitch were pulled from the leaderboard as all three schools and four other non-ECC schools opted to list the Wildcat as an exhibition match.
That raised the Centaurs, who are using it as an official date, into a fourth-place tie with RHAM.
Portland came out on top as a team with a 312 total.
It did not change the individual places as Woodstock Academy senior Donny Sousa tied for second overall with a 2-over par 74.
Junior teammate Logan Rawson tied for fifth with a 76.
Cameron St. Pierre of Shelton was the individual winner with an even par 72.
“I believe that Donny’s second-place tie at the Wildcat and the team’s finish overall was a true testament to the hard work they have been putting in, away from our team practices,” said Woodstock Academy coach Rich Garceau. “We didn’t get onto a golf course until nearly 3 weeks into the season so to some extent we are still kicking off some of the winter rust from our swings, but I am really seeing Donny and Logan developing into a force to be reckoned with.”
Not only are they delivering on their own, they are also bringing along the younger Centaurs behind them.
“We have a relatively young group that has consistently been playing at the varsity level and Donny and Logan’s leadership is really helping those kids grow, which makes me very excited for the end of the season’s progress,” Garceau added.
But the success was not limited to just the Wildcat.
Woodstock Academy raised its record to 9-2 with two victories over the course of the week.
The Centaurs downed Fitch in Groton at the Shennecossett Golf Course, 7-0.
Rawson and Sousa were again at the head of the class with a pair of 39 totals.
Freshman Brady Hebert carded a 44.
Woodstock Academy finally returned home the Quinnatisset Country Club on Thursday where it posted a 6-1 victory over Bacon Academy.
Bacon Academy's Alex Gallardo and John Ceruti both had to feel good about themselves as they came into the clubhouse with 1-under par 35 totals.
Unfortunately for the Bobcats, that would net them a half-point.
Rawson posted a 3-under 33 while Sousa tied Ceruti with a 35.
“Logan and Donny had a great week this week. The thing that I noticed about both of them during their rounds at the Wildcat and on Thursday when we hosted Bacon Academy is that they are having fun. They seem to be reaching that maturity where an athlete, regardless of the sport, can put a bad shot or play behind them and move forward, “Garceau said. “Both Donny and Logan have not been playing perfect golf over the past week, but what they have been able to do is maintain their focus and recover from a bad shot. I could say that when they were younger golfers, a bad shot or hole could have easily ruined the rest of their round, but now, bad shots or a bad hole seems to bring them to another level of focus which is great to see in young athletes and that is what I am seeing in both of those two young men.”
Golf is the one sport that still has some time left prior to tournament play.
The Centaurs have five matches left prior to the ECC Championship on May 30.
It means they still have time to work on some things.
“We are still a bit inconsistent around the greens. Earlier in the year, our tee box mantra was ‘Make it a Fairway Finder’ and that seems to be working, our drives haven’t got us into too much trouble but our wedges seem to be the issue so that is going to be the focus of any practice days we have ahead of us, going into the ECC Tournament,” Garceau said.