NORTH READING — St. Mary’s junior star Aidan Emmerich made it his goal to win an individual state championship this year, and while the COVID-19 pandemic and a scheduling conflict will take that opportunity away, he’s still made the most of it.
Behind a stellar 3-under 66 on Tuesday morning, Emmerich captured the Catholic Central League Cup individual title at Hillview Country Club. Emmerich’s score of 66, which sets a new tournament record for scoring, was good enough for a 2-stroke victory over Bishop Feehan’s Chad Correia.
“It was a lot tougher out there than I thought it would be, the wind and cold were really a factor,” said Emmerich. “The only thing I’m really ever worried about when I’m playing in the cold is keeping my hands warm, and I had plenty of handwarmers to be able to do that (Tuesday).”
Emmerich battled cold, blustery conditions to take home the under-par score, keeping the ball in play with a combination of straight drives and strong scrambling. He needed to go low in order to pull out the victory against some tough competition, and he did just that.
“It was tough out there,” said Emmerich. “The course is generally pretty easy, but the wind especially made it a lot more challenging. There were also a lot of kids playing and we had two new schools playing this year, so the field was tougher overall.”
“He’s one of the best, if not the best players in the state,” said St. Mary’s coach Jay Fiste. “There’s no weaknesses in his game. He hits it straight, he’s always around the greens and when the putts are falling, he goes low.”
Emmerich’s score also helped the Spartans capture the CCL Cup team title with a total score of 287, earning a whopping 15-stroke victory over second-place Bishop Stang. In addition to Emmerich’s 66, St. Mary’s got contributing scores from Sean Mathers (2-over 71), Luke Smith (6-over 75) and Peter Pagliuca (6-over 75).
“This group has been really solid for us all season long,” Fiste said of his top four. “They’re seasoned in this format after playing in the state tournament so many times, and they remained calm all round long and just got the job done. They really stepped up for us.”
While Emmerich won’t be competing in the Massachusetts High School Golf Championship this coming Sunday, both Smith and Pagliuca will be competing as individuals at Shaker Hills Country Club.
Also competing in the CCL Cup on Tuesday was the Bishop Fenwick golf team, which finished in fifth place as a team with a score of 316.
Cade Buckley was the top finisher for Fenwick, placing sixth overall with a score of 3-over 72. Also finishing in the top 20 for the Crusaders was Gavin Belt, who finished 12th with a score of 7-over 76.
