Captain Jim Ricker ’09 and Roo Hamilton ’09 came up big for Andover Golf last Wednesday, as they both sunk putts of over thirty feet for par to secure an Andover victory against Proctor. Andover dominated Proctor at a soggy Indian Ridge layout, winning by an impressive margin of 8-1. Although the weather was perfect for golf before the golfers teed off, the clouds moved in, providing terrible conditions for golfing. Soon every golfer was drenched, as the rain did not let up for the entirety of the round. The weather caused complications, as each player had trouble keeping a good grip on the club. Andover players managed to fight through the weather, taking the initiative in each of their matches. Teeing off first for Andover were Ben Ho ’11 and James Poss ’10. After making a birdie three on the first hole, Ho and Poss ran away with their matches, winning their best ball match five up with three to go. Ho and Poss then put both of their individual matches away on the seventh hole, an uphill par three of 180 yards, as Poss two putted from forty feet to win. Both of the players made par threes, taking three points to give Andover the lead. Poss said, “The really important thing was to keep the ball in play by hitting it in the fairway. I was able to do this, as well as take advantage of the par threes, which ended up being the crucial holes in my match”. Following closely behind were Ricker and Hamilton, who both got off to good starts. However, their opponents eventually came back, taking the match to the par five ninth hole. Ricker and Hamilton had tricky putts and they both faced tough sliders to win their matches. Hamilton putted first, draining his putt, while Ricker followed and drained a putt of just less than twenty feet. This effort gave Andover the lead, as the duo took three points for the team. Coach Brian Faulk was very satisfied with the team’s performance. He said, “I was very proud of the team’s performance today. I am glad we had some practice playing in tough conditions as we prepare for the Andover Invitational at Newport this Saturday.” After a solid start to the season, Andover will take on seven other teams at the Andover Newport Invitational held at the famed Newport Country Club. Faulk said, “I would be very happy if we could get a score in the seventies and the rest in the eighties. In order to do this, the players need to learn how to avoid big numbers, and to more importantly recover if those numbers do show up on the scorecard.”
