The Hopkins Academy golf team is geared up for another shot at the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament championship.
The tournament will be held at Wyantenuck Country Club in Great Barrington, with a 10 a.m. shotgun start on Tuesday.
Hopkins (14-2, 11-1 Bi-County East) enters as the league champion for the second straight year. It will be joined at the tournament by Granby (8-5, 8-5) and Smith Academy (8-7, 6-6).
The Golden Hawks are led by their first pairing, senior Caleb Farnham and junior Jack Ter Doest.
This will be Farnham’s sixth tournament since his first at Hopkins in seventh grade.
“It’s great to play with him because I can feed off his energy. I appreciate playing with him,” said Ter Doest.
Farnham enters the postseason average 41.0 strokes per nine holes. He hoped to do better in the tournament.
“Sub-80 for me and ideally around 76, that’s what I shot sophomore year when I won it. But the team, if we could shoot around 338 I think that’d put us in a great spot heading into states,” said Farnham.
That team goal of 338 was set by coach Mark Krodel. To reach that, the top four players must average 84.5 strokes.
“We have a number, 338, that’s what we want to shoot for Western Mass.,” Krodel said. “As you see in golf, anything can happen, but that’s a reachable goal for this team, at least for our four of the six.”
The Golden Hawks are confident and a lot of that stems from Farnham, their team leader.
“The win would be nice, I’ve done it before so there’s no reason why I can’t do it again,” he said. “But I’m looking to head to states, ideally with the team but if it comes to it, individual.”