Holyoke golf is a sometimes a forgotten sports team at Holyoke High, but that didn’t stop them from becoming a dominate force in Western Mass. While other sports teams are basking in the glory under the lights at Roberts Field, the golf team quietly makes statements weekly at Wyckoff Country Club in Holyoke. After being cellar dwellers for years, for the last two seasons the Holyoke golf team has had a huge revival, they have recently turned into one of the top teams in Western Mass.

A quick intro on how golf is played and scored in high school: golf matches are held right after school on local courses with each team having a home course; Holyoke’s being Wyckoff Country Club. Each team chooses a “top 8” from their team and sends them out to play nine holes. The top two from each team play in a foursome, then the next top two from each team and so on. When all the golfers have returned to the clubhouse the top four scores from each team are taken and added up. The team with the lowest four person score wins. A pretty simple concept resulting in some really close matches.

In the fall of 2014, the team had a break out season posting a 13-3 record and going undefeated, 10-0 in their league. During the course of their season they defeated the eventual Western Mass. Champions Minnechaug in a nail biting match, where now Jr. Devan Kane came up huge. Holyoke qualified for the Western Mass tournament for the first time in years. They competed well coming in with a 7^th place finish.

This year, the Holyoke golf team did not disappoint and again had an impressive year – even improving upon last year’s success! The team got a new coach Holyoke teacher, Dave Girouard, and went on to boast a 16-2 overall record and a 10-0 record in their league taking home the league title for a second consecutive year. Holyoke’s two losses coming to perennial power house Minnechaug on the road and to eventual state qualifier Agawam. Holyoke again qualified for the Western Mass. Championship where they battled tough conditions on an unfamiliar course to place 9^th overall.

Coach Dave Girouard spoke highly of his first year as the golf coach when asked about how he felt this season. “Overall I was very very happy with the season,” he said, “16-2 is a very good record. The team continued its strong play in the league, and hopefully the strong success can continue in the future.” Coach Girouard has very optimistic outlook on the future and with many strong players returning next year, he has a very good reason to feel that way

Holyoke has been lead over the past few years by senior Alex Glanville and junior Devan Kane. Glanville and Kane becoming one of the most fearsome one-two punches in Western Mass has been crucial to the Purple Knights success over the last two years.

Glanville’s freshman and sophomore years were rough as the Knights only won a few matches total over the two years. Even with the team underperforming, Alex was able to battle it out and qualify for the state meet as an individual and represented Holyoke with pride. In his junior season, there was optimism around Alex and the team, and he and the team came through with flying colors. Alex had the best scoring average in Western Mass. of 35 strokes per round en route to leading the team to a league title. He was also nominated and won Masslive athlete of the Week! Alex’s senior year too was a success he again helped lead the Knights to a league title and helped new coach Dave Girouard in any way he could.

Alex the second year captain of the team has been the rock of the team for four years summed up his golf carrier and feelings very well. “The golf team has always been my favorite part of high school even when we didn’t have that much success”, said Glanville, “but the last two years we have grown so much and developed into a very good team. Being able to develop the golf team into such a good team and earn two constitutive titles will be something I’ll never forget and will cherish my whole life.” Pretty well said by the young man who will be moving on to bigger things in life next year.

Devan Kane, a junior, will be back next year and will be looking to make large strides to replace Glanville as the number one golfer. Devan doesn’t rack up the accolades and notoriety like Glanville, but instead is subtly very consistent on the course always posting a solid score to help the team. Devan thinks that “next year will be much different, moving forward without some key players, but we have lots of hope and optimism that we will be ready to keep the winning ways going and will try to win another league title next year.”

Jack Neves, another strong junior, looks to step up into the leadership role next year with Devan Kane. Jack had a break out year this year posting many low scores and contributing largely to the Knight success. Jack biggest accomplishment so far is qualifying for the state meet as an induvial this year. He posted an 18 hole score of 83 to come in 6^th place at Western Mass and clinch a spot in the state meet. In the state meet Jack shot a 92, representing Holyoke High in a very fashionable way.

Lastly, Holyoke had two other seniors this year: Jack Moskal and Kara O’Driscoll. Jack joined the golf team his sophomore year and developed into a solid 7^th or 8^th man for the golf team often scoring low and helping the team to victory. Kara joined her junior year, Kara is the only female member of the golf team as Holyoke has no girls’ team, after transferring to Holyoke High she was a strong middle addition to the team often playing in the 4 or 5 spot.

Golf is often an over looked sport in high school, but these athletes deserve to be recognized for their best efforts on the course. They have made Holyoke name become respected in golf and are no longer taken as a laughing matter. While Holyoke is losing key players, the team will not be left in bad hands as team members such as Devan Kane and Jack Neves look to keep the winning ways going on the future. So keep an eye out next fall as the golf team will try to keep the success of the past few years rolling.