Published October 23, 2019

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

BOXFORD — The 2019 Wakefield high golf team didn’t travel to Far Corner Golf in Boxford on Monday for the sights.

The Warriors went on a mission, looking to not only improve from last year’s 16th place finish at the Div. 2 North State Tournament but to make a run at advancing to the State Finals.

Wakefield finished fourth overall out of 18 of the best teams in Div. 2 North. They were just three strokes away from third place Melrose. The top three teams advance to states.

CAL TRYDER fired a 78 at the D2N tourney tying for 11th overall. With that score, the junior qualified for next week’s Div. 2 State Finals at Taconic Golf Course. (Dan Pawlowski File Photo)

According to Item records, Wakefield’s 4th place +38 with a total score of 326 is the best finish in program history.

“We were really excited at how things turned out,” said Wakefield head coach Chris Keane. “With the stroke play format, the kids just needed to focus on themselves and their scores fell into place. Division 2 is an incredibly talented division and to be three strokes outside of advancing is something to be very proud of.”

The Warriors sent six golfers to the tournament. Juniors Luke Hopkins, Oliver Miller, Jack Ryan and Cal Tryder were making their second appearance at states after Wakefield qualified last year. Senior Luke Roberts and junior Howie Melanson made up the final six.

Tryder finished with Wakefield’s best score. He shot a 78 for a +6. He tied for 11th overall. With that score, Tryder individually qualified for the Div. 2 State Finals to be played at Taconic Golf Course on Oct. 29.

LUKE HOPKINS shot an 81 (+9) at the Div. 2 North sectional on Monday, improving by 10 strokes from his score last season. (Dan Pawlowski File Photo)

Hopkins and Miller both tied for the next best Warrior scores, each shooting an 81 for a +9 and tying for 23rd overall.

With the top four scores accounting for the final tally, Ryan finished up the scoring with an 86 for a +14.

Roberts shot a 90 and Melanson hit a 102.

There were plenty of familiar faces at the top of leaderboard. Winchester finished first overall with a total score of 315 for a +27. Melrose finished 3rd (322, +38) and behind Wakefield (326, +38) was Belmont at five (327, +39), Arlington at nine (339, +51) and Reading at 10 (341, +53). Five of Wakefield’s six losses this season came against those teams. It’s further proof that the Middlesex League is the best around.

“Only one team outside of the Middlesex League finished ahead of us, which is something that speaks to the difficulty of our regular season schedule,” said Keane. “We were 5-6 in Middlesex League play but beat every team besides one outside the ML 12 at the D2 North Tournament.”

OLIVER MILLER tied for 23rd overall with an 81 (+9) at the Div. 2 North tournament. (Dan Pawlowski File Photo)

If one of Wakefield’s goals was to improve, they did that on multiple fronts.

Outplaying league opponents who beat them in the regular season is one form of evidence.

Another is looking at scores from the Warrior four who played in last year’s sectional.

Tryder improved by eight strokes, Hopkins improved by 10 strokes, Miller by eight strokes and Ryan by five.

All four will be back as seniors next year.

For now, Wakefield can finally rest after an historic season.

“I’m happy that the kids got to witness how they stack up against the rest of the state,” said Keane. “They are already hungry for next season.”