After hitting his second shot just over the green, Andover Golf Captain Harry Choi ’19 hit a flop shot directly into the hole for an eagle. He went on to shoot a score of 87, helping to lead Andover to beat Northfield Mount Hermon on Saturday 441-451. The team’s record now stands at 1-0.
According to Head Coach Brian Faulk ’00, the wet and windy conditions on Saturday added difficulty to the course. Despite these conditions, Yeetang Kwok ’20 shot a score of 78, and was a large proponent of Andover’s success, according to Choi.
“We could have played a lot better, but Yeetang played the best…He was a big catalyst for our win. He came up clutch,” said Choi.
Kwok added, “I drove well and my long iron was solid. I had a few short game mistakes but stayed steady throughout the round.”
Andover was locked in mentally and focused on what it could control, which played a factor in its victory, according to Choi.
“As a team, I think we need to keep staying mentally strong as the number one thing because in golf, no one is going to have a perfect day… Everyone’s going to hit a bad shot, it’s just about how you bounce back from it. I think we have a very mentally strong team,” said Choi.
Faulk added, “I think they had a really positive attitude…I think that they had a really good attitude and they didn’t get too frustrated.”
According to Choi, the team is looking ahead to its tri-match with Phillips Exeter Academy and Governors.
“Every year we always [have] these tri-matches, which is where we play two other schools…There’s two trophies on the line: one is stroke play, and one is match play. Last year, in the first time in my four years here, we won the match play trophy for the competition and that was a very big deal…We have a lot of returners this year, and we’re all hungry to get that stroke play cup,” said Choi.
Andover will face Tabor this Saturday, Exeter and Governors on Wednesday, and Belmont Hill next Thursday.
