Nauset Finishes Tied For Second At State Golf Championship

WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. – Pick any two towns inside Massachusetts, and it’s possible that no two communities are further apart — from point A to point B — than Eastham on the Outer Cape and Williamstown in the northwest corner of the state.

But that distance, about a 230-mile drive exceeding four hours, is exactly what the Nauset boys golf team had to cover to get to Taconic Golf Club and compete in the MIAA Div. 2 state championship Tuesday, Oct. 28. 

The travel didn’t seem to matter to the Warriors, who finished tied for second among the 14-team field. And individually, senior Max St. Aubin tied for fourth among a field of 105 with a 4-over 75, just three strokes behind the tournament’s solo champion. 

“Overall, great day,” St. Aubin said. “Beautiful day, beautiful course.”

The championship had originally been scheduled for Oct. 20 at Foxborough Country Club, but unrelenting rain that day forced tournament directors to postpone and find a new date and golf course. They ended up in Williamstown, a Berkshire County community bordered by New York to the west and Vermont to the north. 

The switch may have actually worked in Nauset’s favor, even if Williamstown is significantly farther away from Cape Cod than Foxborough. Had the tournament been played that original morning in Foxborough, a couple Nauset golfers would have gone onto the course blind. Instead, the Warriors arrived in Western Massachusetts the day before the competition, allowing the whole team to play a practice round at Taconic. 

And walking the course’s 6,410 yards is far from a bad way to stretch the legs after that kind of trip. The 18 holes are nestled within the green and eponymous Taconic mountain ranges, making for gorgeous, fresh-air New England scenery on one of the last days of October. The forested slopes of the surrounding ranges sat like an amber bowl around the expanse of verdant greens and fairways. From a hilly area in the middle of the course, the buildings of nearby Williams College poked through the trees.

Head coach Brian Hicks, meanwhile, said Taconic’s greens were “diabolical.”

“It was an incredibly difficult course,” he said.

The Warriors stayed overnight in Williamstown at a hotel down the street. That made for a fun experience spending two days together, members of the team said.

On the afternoon of the tournament, a crisp autumnal breeze blew under the sun. Nauset was in the mix for first place throughout and led the competition at multiple points. When the tournament trophies were brought outside from the clubhouse as play started to gradually conclude, Nauset was tied for first with Canton at +38. Then they sat just two back of Canton, the eventual champions, with a pair of holes remaining for both teams. 

Nauset finished 327 (+43), tied for second place with Masconomet (Canton finished at 324, +40). But due to a tiebreaker (fifth-player scores), Masconomet left Western Massachusetts with the runner-up trophy rather than the Warriors. That narrow finish understandably made for a sharper end to what was one of the top performances of the tournament, with Nauset left thinking to a certain extent about what could have been. Still, the result was one they’ll definitely take.

“Going into the postseason, everyone knew we weren't playing our best golf,” St. Aubin said. “Played solid at sectionals in some tough weather, and came out here and finished second. I'm happy about it.”

In addition to St. Aubin’s number, sophomore Oliver Smith shot 80, senior Jake Eldredge shot 84 and senior Matthew Breda shot 88. Seniors Zach Weiner and Logan Miller also shot 91 and 98, respectively. 

“They played great and hung tough,” Hicks said. 

Placing at the top of the championship leaderboard served as the concluding flourish to a group of seniors that amassed a commanding three-year record of 42-4 — “epic,” Hicks said.

“Just a bunch of guys who knew how to win on the golf course,” he said. “They stuck together, played for each other and finished strong.”