After a blazing start, the PA Golf team fell twice on the week, in heartbreaking fashion, ending the players’ dreams of an undefeated season. Despite cancelled matches against both Belmont Hill and St. Mark’s this past week, the Golf team stepped up to opponents on both Friday and Wednesday, New Hampton and Tabor, respectively. Coach Nat Smith took eight golfers to New Hampton on Friday with high hopes of a long shot victory. Coach Smith’s prediction that the team would lose its undefeated title in its second match came true in a 4.5 to 7.5 defeat. Greg Feldmann ’05 and Captain Anthony Pucillo ’03 both lost at the one and two spots. They managed to earn a half point, however, by tying the best ball. The star junior, James Watson ’06, moved up to the three spot, as predicted, and tied his match. The highlight of the day for PA was in the final pairing. James Ford ’03 and Emily Watson ’04 played strong in the seven and eight slots respectively. The group swept all three points. Coach Smith noted, “Our depth is excellent. Ford and Emily took care of business.” Pucillo summarized the match by saying, “Atkinson is not our strongest course, and that fact, when added to the sub-par play of the top six, combined for a poor outing.” The team had a chance to reestablish its winning ways in a match against a notoriously strong Tabor team on Wednesday. Despite the long drive, the beautiful layout of the course and the Cape Cod sea breeze invigorated the team’s hopes. Coach Smith sent Feldmann and Pucillo out in the first pairing, hoping to clench a victory. Feldmann came up short on the last hole and lost his match. Pucillo ended up tying his individual match, but combined with Feldmann, lost the best ball. Tabor’s top two was a dominant force, but the skill level of Tabor dropped off from there. Watson again played strong in the three spot and won both his match and the best ball. Watson’s partner Jayme Mendal ’03 fell to the largest competitor PA will face this spring. The team played well on Wednesday, but lost a close match due to a little bad luck. The solid performance against a difficult Tabor team provided a little confidence for upcoming matches. The team hopes to play well this Saturday against Deerfield, who won’t be as strong as some the opponents the team will face.
