BY KEN MORSE
CITIZEN’S NEWS
The Woodland golf team, under new coach Mike Magas, quickly got on the winning side of the ledger, earning a 229-245 victory over Seymour on April 11 at Oxford Greens.
Sophomore Dean Norton made a good showing, leading the Hawks with a solid round of 49. The only senior on the team, Mark Barbarito, who finished in the top 10 at the NVL championship last season, finished with a 55.
Junior Aden Ianniruberto checked in with a round of 60 and sophomore Nick Sciarretto came in with a 65.
“We did okay at Oxford Greens,” said Magas. “Obviously it’s a very challenging course but we saw some good scores nonetheless. Our young sophomore Dean Norton had a real good round.
“It’s early we are still working the kinks out, but we are enjoying the good weather. We are able to get outside and work on our game but it takes consistency in this game and that comes with practice.”
Magas continued: “We have seven kids on the team. Three are brand-new to the sport so it’s going to take some time. The key is to keep working on your game in order to get better.”
The Hawks ran into a much improved Naugatuck squad on April 13 at Hop Brook. The Greyhounds earned a 219-228 win over the Hawks as Woodland fell to 1-1 on the season.
Ianniruberto had the top score for Woodand with a 52. Barbarito came in with a 57, still looking to hit his stride. Sciarretto took a few strokes off his score and landed a 59 while Norton came in at 60.
“We definitely had out work cut out for us,” said Magas. “Naugatuck has been improving the past few years and they are off to a good start this season. This was our first time at Hop Brook this season and after playing at Oxford Greens, which is a bit of a longer course we had an adjustment period. If you don’t know the layout this course can be just as challenging.”
Woodland was scheduled to play at Watertown on April 20. Today, the Hawks are scheduled to play against Torrington at The Torrington Country Club in Goshen.
“We have a couple of tough matches coming up,” said Magas. “We just can’t afford to get down on ourselves and just keep going out there and look to get better with each match and each hole. It’s all about repetition working that hand-eye coordination.”
