Andover Golf concluded its season by winning the Lovell and Witherspoon Cups for the second year in row. The three-leg match play between Andover, Exeter and Governor’s ended with Andover at 10.5 and Exeter at 3.5. Overall, the tournament concluded with Andover 34 strokes ahead of Governor’s and 59 strokes ahead of Exeter. Andover finished its season with an overall record of 8-2, having lost only to Deerfield and Belmont Hill. Although Andover performed poorly in the last leg on Saturday, Andover played well during the first two. Andover went into Saturday’s match with a 29-stroke lead, enough of a lead to cushion the disappointing match play on Saturday. “Our scores were a little bit higher on Saturday than they have been in the past, and we weren’t super happy about that,” said Ellie Blum ’15. “What we needed to do was come in and win the tournament and take back the Lovell and the Witherspoon Cups, and we did that.” Although Andover won 6-1 over Exeter, the team shot higher than it expected to. Kavan Canekeratne ’14 shot an 82, Co-Captain Shin Jae Lee ’13 shot 85, Co-Captain John Perkins ’13 shot 86, Evan Kudlinski ’13 shot 91 and David Todd ’16 shot 92. Blum secured the Lovell cup with an 85. Andover possessed a deep and talented roster all season. Tyler Tsay ’15 stood out as a consistent high scorer in all three legs of the match. Tsay led the quest for the cup on Saturday, scoring an excellent 72, only 1 over par. Tsay won three major awards after the competition of the tournament. He came away with the Mangan Award, a medal for the three day event, the Kazikas Award, for the Andover golfer of the year, and the Moonves Award, a medal for the final round of the third leg. “Tyler Tsay [’15] stood out and led Andover, as he has all season, to help the team secure the Witherspoon and Lovell cups,” said Perkins. “His round of 72 on Saturday was an enormous help to the team which played very poorly on Saturday.” Perkins added, “I haven’t seen anybody play at the level that he did this season during my career on the team, and his accomplishments are even more outstanding given that he is only a [Lower].” Because of Andover’s outstanding lead, and Tsay’s exceptional score, Andover was able to comfortably hold on to the championship cup, while also swiping all the trophies of the event. “Andover was just a much more put together team. Our lineup was really strong. Our stroke play scores were evidence of the level we were playing on, and we were all really proud,” added Blum. “It was nice to see ourselves compared to two teams that we consider our rivals and come out on top.” Andover will be losing three Seniors, including both its Captains. Andover hopes next year’s team will be able to continue the success of this season and hopes to beat Deerfield and Belmont Hill. For next year, Andover retains two Uppers, Canekeratne and Casey Durant ’14, as well as Lowers Blum and Tsay. The team will also be joined by Tsay’s younger sister next year. “I hope that next year’s team will continue to succeed at the level that we did this year,” said Perkins. “Despite only losing to Deerfield and Belmont Hill this season, I think that there is still room to improve for everybody who will be returning, and I hope that the young players can continue the tradition of success that has been built during my career here.”
