{"id":3425,"date":"2017-05-18T15:05:23","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T15:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/?p=3425"},"modified":"2017-05-18T15:42:33","modified_gmt":"2017-05-18T15:42:33","slug":"boys-varsity-golf-team-is-nearly-unstoppable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/2017\/05\/18\/boys-varsity-golf-team-is-nearly-unstoppable\/","title":{"rendered":"Boys Varsity Golf Team is Nearly Unstoppable"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Boys varsity golf coach Michael Fay enjoys a moment on the green during a game against Northfield Mount Hermon School.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Matt Liebowitz<\/em><\/p>\n

In the 13 years Coach Michael\u00a0Fay has been leading the Williston boys varsity golf team, he has not had a team as ready, as confident, and mentally poised to contend for the championship at the upcoming 24-school Kingswood Invitational Tournament as this year\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our chances are the best since I\u2019ve started coaching varsity golf,\u201d said Fay. The team has consistently placed in the top eight in the past 10\u00a0years at the tournament, scheduled for May 25 at Oak Ridge Golf Club in Agawam, Mass.<\/p>\n

Fay has good reason to be confident; the golf team has a dominating 19-1 record. Because only three of the top players are graduating\u2014Jacob Zaranek, Noah DeVos, and Nick Randolph\u2014Fay\u2019s crew is set up to succeed next year as well. It\u2019s a good place to be, and speaks to the array of talent on the young team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never had a team with so much depth,\u201d Fay said. \u201cI could go to [the] 7, 8, and 9th [seated players on the team] and each of these guys has played in a varsity match or two. I think if we could put together two teams from our varsity, we\u2019d have a winning season for both teams. We have that much depth right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

That arsenal of talent includes, in addition to Zaranek, DeVos, and Randolph, juniors Jack Phelan, Junya Ozaki, and Jake Durocher, sophomores Tyler Senecal, Owen Randolph, and Tom Lawry, and 8th<\/sup> grader Jack Fay. This year, the team averages a 78 in 18-hole matches and 39 in 9-hole matches.<\/p>\n

Out of 10 events, five players have earned team medalist honors with lowest score at least once. The 9-hole match average for the top six golfers\u2014Zaranek, Senecal, Randolph, Phelan, Ozaki, and Durocher\u2014ranges between 38 and 41.<\/p>\n

Zaranek and DeVos are the team\u2019s graduating co-captains. Both said that despite the solo nature of the sport, the team members are always rooting for one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an individual game, but we\u2019re definitely a team,\u201d said Jacob Zaranek. \u201cWe definitely have good camaraderie at our practices and the bus rides there. It\u2019s a fun team to be a part of; we\u2019re all good friends, and it\u2019s also fun to win together.\u201d<\/p>\n

A day student from South Deerfield, Jacob admitted that on qualifying days\u2014practices at which the best score determines who will make the roster for the week\u2019s matches\u2014practice does get competitive. \u201cWe want to beat each other, but we also wish the best for each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Noah DeVos echoed his co-captain\u2019s view of the team, and expressed his supreme confidence in the whole team, not just the top scorers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can put absolutely anyone out there, and we\u2019ll still do just as well,\u201d he said. Noah believes the team will continue its\u00a0success next year, after he graduates and heads to Northeastern University. His co-captain, Jacob Zaranek, will likely play at Fairfield University.<\/p>\n

Both seniors play nearly every day over the summer at Crestview Country Club in Agawam, where Jacob\u2019s dad, Michael, is the Head Golf Pro.<\/p>\n

Fay has noticed the ease and relaxation at the core of his team\u2019s competitiveness. \u201cThey\u2019re a lot of fun,\u201d he said. \u201cThey never really show much stress, and all have a great deal of confidence, not arrogance. They want to do their best for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Noah and Jacob credited Coach Fay with instilling in them and their teammates the mental prep to succeed. Fay admits he doesn\u2019t tinker with his players\u2019 swings, instead focusing his energy on course management, rules, and preparation. Though he keeps a low profile, Fay\u2019s belief and support in his team makes a noticeable impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Fay is motivating, and never brings us down,\u201d said Jacob Zaranek. \u201cEven if we shoot a high score, he\u2019s very positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

With only one loss and a high-performing team who all get along and support one another, Fay\u2019s coaching style is clearly working.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s never going to give a rousing pre-game speech; he\u2019s not that type of guy,\u201d Jacob said. \u201cBut he\u2019ll never get down on you. That\u2019s something I think a lot of coaches do, and it affects their players, when you feel you have to perform to get the coach\u2019s respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matt Liebowitz In the 13 years Coach Michael\u00a0Fay has been leading the Williston boys varsity golf team, he has not had a team as ready, as confident, and mentally poised to contend for the championship at the upcoming 24-school Kingswood Invitational Tournament as this year\u2019s squad. \u201cI think our chances are the best since … Continue reading Boys Varsity Golf Team is Nearly Unstoppable<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[382],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-team-profile"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3425"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3432,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3425\/revisions\/3432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}