Hampshire County sends three golfers to state tournament

PITTSFIELD — Four teams from Hampshire County competed in the MIAA Division 2 Western Regional golf tournament Monday at Berkshire Hills Country Club. Twelve teams and 75 players walked onto the course hoping to qualify for the state tournament.

While no local teams placed in the top three to qualify, three players from the area finished among the top eight to extend their golf season for another week.

Easthampton’s Tanner Kmetz and Hampshire’s Brayden Fennessy tied for third place after each shooting a 79 for 18 holes, marking the low score among the local golfers. While the pair finished four strokes behind Mt. Greylock’s Rodric Rustay for the title, the two seniors enjoyed being paired up with a familiar face to calm the nerves.

“It’s nice to have someone you know,” Fennessy said. “You can joke with them, get your mind off golf. It’s not bad to be focused for the entire round, but when you’re walking down the fairway it’s good to have a nice chat with somebody you relatively know.”

After walking 18 holes in the top group of the day, Kmetz and Fennessy will share the ice this coming winter as part of the Easthampton and Hampshire co-op hockey team.

Fennessy was steadily in the top three throughout the day. A double bogey on the 17th hole pushed him out of second. A tee shot into the trees on Hole 18 put him in danger of falling further. His third shot on the par five went into the bunker in front of the green.

After going through a day with plenty of fast greens, Fennessy hit possibly his best shot of the day. His chip onto the green had enough spin to stop close to the hole for a makeable par putt.

“I took a breath and was like ‘OK, I can make that,'” he said. “I’m normally a pretty good green reader, but these I kind of struggled a little bit. I thought they rolled beautifully. I had no problems with it. Could have made some better strokes here and there.”

After missing the end of last golf season due to a broken collarbone, Fennessy earned top-three in his first regional tournament. He now heads to his first state tournament with one thing on his mind.

“I mean, win it,” Fennessy said. “That’s what you want to do when you go out, try and win it. If I hit them all good and make some putts, probably will be in the running.”

Hampshire came the closest to making the podium as a team. The Raiders finished fifth, shooting a combined +51 over par. They finished six shots behind third-place Saint Bernard’s. Tantasqua won the tournament at +36.

“I’m super proud of my guys. Every time I saw them, they worked hard, they took their time, and they gave it everything they had,” said Hampshire coach Dan Korpita.

Wes Adamski (85), Cole Boissonneault (86), and Nico Johnson (89) all broke 90 for Hampshire. The Raiders ended the regular season 17-3.

“We were 12 guys deep,” Korpita said. “We could put a lot of people out there that, on any given day, could be one of our top four scorers; we had a lot of depth.”

While Easthampton finished further down at tenth, it was nevertheless a successful season that saw the Eagles go 15-0 in the regular season.

“Everyone came together and played well throughout the year,” Kmetz said. “There were a couple time where we were playing some tough courses and people had to step up. Definitely had some depth to help us out.”

Belchertown golfer qualifies for states

In just his second year playing golf, Belchertown’s Andrew Wright shot an 8-over-par (80) to advance to the state tournament. After making a birdie on his final hole, the senior assumed he just played his final hole of high school golf.

“I fought real hard to save the last couple holes,” Wright said. “I was thinking it was my last putt in my high school career, so make it a good one, and I made it.”

That birdie proved to be crucial for Wright. Since the top 10 percent of individuals, plus ties, advance to states, Wright’s final hole tied him for sixth place. Good enough to make the cut.

“I thought I didn’t make the cut,” Wright said. “I get to miss another day of school. I’m going to look forward to more of the season, and not being done.”

After spending most of his falls growing up playing soccer, he decided to make the leap to golf for his junior year. Monday marked a major improvement since shooting a 92 in last year’s regional.

“A year of a lot of offseason work,” Wright said. “Both my parents are golfers, they pointed me in the right direction. I had a lot of people help me out.”

Rest of the county

Smith Vocational finished in the middle of the pack as well on Monday. The Vikings finished ninth at +69. Nate Lindahl and Pat Dabrowski each shot an 86 to lead the team.

South Hadley’s Riley McMahon was the sole representative from the school. She finished tied for 56th after shooting +26.