Monomoy, Nauset Girls Golf Thrive Through Team Chemistry

HARWICH – The late sports author John Feinstein once wrote that no sport is as solitary as golf. And yet to the golfers at Monomoy and Nauset, it’s all about their team.

As the end of the regular season nears, Monomoy and Nauset girls golf played back-to-back matchups Monday and Tuesday at each school’s home course. Monomoy won the first match at Cranberry Valley Golf Course 5.5-.5, while Tuesday’s match at the Captains Golf Course in Brewster teed off after press time. 

Both groups are wrapping up successful seasons of league play and heading to sectionals. And golfers from both teams spoke about using their teammates for support.

The win Monday put Monomoy at 10-1 on the year. Part of what goes into that record is good team chemistry, according to senior Emily Layton.

Not only does the team have depth, but Layton said the players get along well and support each other. No matter which teammate she’s golfing with, Layton said she knows she can ask for help with her swing or can say something herself if she sees something with her partner’s.

“It’s just a really good culture of everyone wants everyone else to succeed,” Layton said.

Nauset stood at 6-4 heading back to its home course for the second of the two consecutive matches against Monomoy. Sophomore Sophia Silvestri and freshman Finley Williams lead the top of the Warriors roster.

Williams, as a freshman in the number two spot of the lineup, said the most important thing for her is her mindset.

“I have to stay calm, and the only thing I’m thinking about when I’m playing is the next shot, nothing that just happened, because I can’t change anything that’s already happened,” she said. “I have to just stay calm, think about the next shot and just try to make that one better than the last.”

As playing partners, Silvestri said she and Williams work off of each other well (they share snacks, according to Williams).

The pair first met, in fact, not on the golf course but in Spanish class, Silvestri said.

“From then on, we’ve just been really good buddies for golf,” she said.

Monomoy’s lineup Monday was led by junior Ava Larocco and sophomore Alexis Goode. Team bonding plays a big role in the group’s success, according to Larocco. 

And “team support,” including from Monomoy head coach John Anderson and assistant coach Jeremiah Nickerson, is another reason, according to Goode, who said the team keeps a mindset to “focus on the next goal.”

But the Sharks also practice and play a lot too, according to Larocco and Goode. Rather than stay at the range, the team plays four or five holes of golf every day at practice, Larocco said.

“We’re just out here all the time,” Goode said