LYNN — Golfers from both Lynn English and Lynn Classical have been waiting on the sidelines for the Fall II season for a long time, so it’s only fitting they’ll start the season with a clash at Gannon Golf Course.
The Rams and Bulldogs will tee off the year Wednesday in a tri-meet with new Greater Boston League opponent Everett.
“It’s certainly great to get back,” Classical coach Jack Morrison said. “It’s a crazy year and it’s crazier for us moving to the GBL. We’re in a whole new league and it’s new ground for us for the most part. We’ve never played in the spring either and we have a lot of new players this season.”
English can relate to that. In fact, the new faces start at the top for the Bulldogs with first-year head coach Brett Molea taking over for Jim Tidmarsh. For Molea, a former English graduate himself, the first two days on the course have been about getting acquainted with his team.
“I’m helping coach baseball too, so I’m going to be spending a lot of time getting to know all these kids,” Molea said. “Being four years removed from where they are helps. I can relate to the kids. So far it’s been an awesome experience.”
English is full of young faces this season. Four members of the baseball team will be joining the team this year, and the Bulldogs’ only returning player is Jacob Johansson — who played in the No. 1 spot last year.
“We have a lot of kids coming from a lot of different sports,” Molea said. “It’s nice to pick and grab from different teams. And in Jacob we have someone who knows what it’s like, so that’s valuable. It’s exciting.”
The Rams, on the other hand, have a solid core of familiar faces returning. Brady Warren will be right back at the top for Classical, while senior co-captains Daniel Finnigan and Matt Patrie bring plenty of leadership to the bunch.
“We lost three Northeastern Conference all-stars from last year, so there are definitely some shoes to fill,” Morrison said. “But we’re looking for big things from those three guys. They all bring that leadership. And on the younger side, sophomore PJ Walsh will also get moved a little closer to the top.”
Both English and Classical will be facing off against new opponents throughout the nine-match season, but for now there is a buzz early on knowing they’ll see the same old rivals Wednesday.
“It’s English and Classical, so as a coach you hope you don’t have to charge them up too much,” said Morrison. “It’s already built in. The kids know each other. You do have to light that fire a bit but most of them get it.”
“Classical games in any sport, there’s a friendly aspect to it but you wanna beat those kids,” Molea said. “There’s not much experience for us as golfers, but the whole team is excited to learn. We’ve got a great group of kids.”
And overall, both schools are happy to be the beneficiary of a great crew at Gannon that is once again carving out time for high school golf.
“I really wanted to express gratitude to (Gannon professional) David Silbey and the whole management team at Gannon,” Morrison said. “They jumped through hoops for high school golf, as they always do, to make a place for us. Other high schools are having big-time trouble right now, so we appreciate it.”
