LYNN — The St. Mary’s golf team used its home course to its advantage Wednesday afternoon, shooting its way to a 181-150 win over Marblehead in a non-conference battle at Gannon Golf Club.
“All of our guys played well out there, and I think the course may have given Marblehead some trouble,” said St. Mary’s coach Jay Fiste. “It’s a course that has a lot of blind shots, hills, twists and turns, and it can punish long hitters or people who have never played there. We’ve been able to play really well here over the years, and I don’t think we’ve lost here in quite a while.”
The Spartans were led by Luke Smith, who had a big day and put up 33 points. The brotherly duo of Christian and Aidan Emmerich continued its strong play with 32 points and 29 points, respectively, while Owen Maguire scored 27 points. Luke Sargent (23 points), Nick Cicolini (20 points) and Sean Mathers (17 points) rounded out the scorers for St. Mary’s.
In addition to the on-course advantage, the Spartans had another possible leg up on Marblehead due to the format of the match. While the Magicians are used to playing match play for the most part, St. Mary’s plays a stableford format that requires a bit of a different mindset.
“It’s a format that we play regularly so it’s not foreign to us, but it does make you think your way around the course a little differently than match play does,” Fiste said. “The stableford format is more like stroke play in that you want to score well on each hole, not just beat the guy you’re up against.”
In beating Marblehead, St. Mary’s is starting to see the benefits of its difficult non-conference schedule. With playing teams like St. John’s Prep (twice), BC High, Marblehead and Gloucester in addition to a stacked conference schedule, the Spartans are becoming battle-tested as the state tournament nears.
“We go up against a lot of really solid teams, not to mention some really tough courses where those teams play,” said Fiste. “Getting wins against the Marbleheads and the BC Highs is a big confidence boost for sure, and that’s not even counting our tough conference matches against the Austin Preps and the Bishop Fenwicks and the like.”
Next up for the Spartans (11-2, 10-0 CCL) is Archbishop Williams Thursday at Braintree Municipal Golf Course. It’s an important match not only because St. Mary’s has a chance to keep its unbeaten conference record intact, but also because a win would all but guarantee a conference title for the Spartans.
“It’s definitely something we’d like to get locked up if we can,” Fiste said. “We’ve already qualified for the state tournament, so this is the next goal on the list. We just have to stay focused and keep doing what we’ve been doing and we should be fine.”
Marblehead (6-2) will face Somerville at Indian Ridge Country Club Thursday.
