Competing at the regional level is nerve-racking for any athlete no matter the sport, but competing without teammates can make the experience even more difficult.
Senior Michael Hennessey was the only golfer from AHS to qualify for the regional tournament that took place Oct. 1 at Twin Lakes Golf Course.
“It was a little weird not having [my teammates] around beforehand, but once I got out on the course I was used to playing without any teammates nearby,” Hennessey said.
Hennessey shot a 95 on the single day of competition.
“I did worse than I expected to, but I was pretty happy with just qualifying for regionals,” Hennessey said.
During the district tournament, Hennessey shot a 159 over the two days. After the first day of competition, Hennessey had shot a personal best of 76, the best for any AHS golfer this season.
“Michael is a gifted athlete and a gifted person,” head coach Richard McCormack said. “He hits the ball a ton,”
Although Hennessey will be graduating next year, there is young talent to fill in the empty spot.
“We have a lot of young players who played and they learned what it takes to be competitive,” McCormack said. “Sophomore Richie Fruchterman was a solid performer for the Atoms over the two days, carding scores of 87 and 86.”
Although the season might be over for the Atoms, that does not mean the golfers are going to put away their clubs until next season.
“We will not be competitive if the returning players stop playing for even a week in the offseason,” McCormack said. “Golf is an out-of-season sport. It takes a full year of hard work to improve marginally.”
