HARWICH — Make that three in a row for the St. Mary’s golf team, as the Spartans closed out the year with a bang after taking home the Division 3 state championship at Cranberry Valley Golf Course Monday afternoon. St. Mary’s shot a team score of 315, besting No. 2 Weston by three strokes. This makes five total state golf championships for St. Mary’s, as the Spartans also won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” said St. Mary’s coach Jay Fiste. “I knew we had a solid team this year, and we were really built well for tournament play because we’re really strong at the top of our lineup. The guys have been playing really well over the past couple weeks and it showed out there (Monday) on a tough day for golf.”
It was a true team effort for the Spartans, who saw three players shoot 80 or lower on the par-72 course. The top four individual scores made up the team score, and those scores came from Aidan Emmerich (76), Luke Smith (76), Luke Sargent (80) and Pete Pagliuca (83).
“The top of our lineup is very solid, so I knew we’d have a chance,” said Fiste. “But at the same time, you still have to go out there and play well, and the guys all did that.”
The win came on a cool, rainy day down on Cape Cod, and the course played much longer than the 6,482 yards that were on the scorecard.
“It was a wet day out there and the ball really wasn’t traveling very far, so the course was definitely playing much tougher,” said Fiste. “The guys really executed well in the conditions and kept their composure when things got tough.”
Things are looking up for the Spartans going into next season as well. With only two players — Sargent and Rich Pagliuca — graduating from this season’s roster, St. Mary’s will be in prime position to compete for a fourth straight title in 2020.
“Three of the four guys who made up our qualifying score will be back next year and they’ll all be bigger, stronger, better players,” Fiste said. “Luke and Rich have been a big part of our team over the past couple years and they helped us a lot this season so it’ll be tough to lose them, but we’re going to be in a great position to compete for another championship next year.”
