After winning the Big Eight Conference Championship at the Occoneechee Golf Club in Hillsborough, the boys’ golf team attended regionals May 2 at the Indian Valley Golf Course in Burlington. Junior Gordon Brann placed high enough to advance to states next`week. The team has been nearly undefeated this year, with no losses and one tie against Chapel Hill High School.
“For Northwood, it was good, because Northwood hasn’t really won a lot of conference championships in the past few years, so it felt really [good] to be on top as far as sports go,” Brann said.
Senior Davis Wells said that the team’s win could be indicative of further success.
“I think since a lot of the seniors are leaving this year, it’s kind of a good way to start off next year,” Wells said. “A lot of the younger kids are doing well, so I think it’s looking good.”
Coach Matthew Hanson detailed the team’s process of preparation for the matches.
“Some of the guys were able to go out and play a practice round, and I think that’s one of the best things they can really do,” Hanson said. “A lot of times, we go to these courses and they’re the home course for some schools so they play them all the time and they know where to hit the ball and where to place it. That’s kind of the biggest thing: trying to get these guys out on the course before big matches.”
Winning the conference championship was especially important to Hanson as a first year coach.
“It felt great,” Hanson said. “I already knew I was stepping into a really well-established team… so that was a huge advantage and opportunity for me as a new coach to kind of pick up from there and carry on that momentum.”
In addition to the team’s success at the championship, Hanson was voted Big Eight Coach of the Year by the other coaches in the conference.
“Unlike some of the other coaches, I guess I communicate really well, whether it’s with my guys or with the other coaches, and there were some of the other coaches that just caused some struggle this year,” Hanson said. “Just even a simple act like that I think goes a really long way, and I think is really respected, so I think that’s one of the big things that helped because even as a new coach, I was able to plug myself in and was not afraid to ask questions or get help or get support from other guys.”
Though the team wasn’t as successful at regionals, Brann, who finished seventh, will be advancing with the rest of the top 10 and competing at states next Monday.
“There were a lot of better teams in regionals than there were in conference,” sophomore Cooper Patterson said. “Gordon made it to states, which is really awesome. We didn’t too well as a team but it was fun just being there.”
Hanson is excited to continue to grow with the team in the future.
“It’s been a really positive start for my coaching in future years, and now it’s just about building on that and just kind of setting goals for next year,” Hanson said. “There are a lot of things we did really well but [also] some things that we can improve.”
– By Sara Heilman
