Warriors more than doubled last year’s win total

By Chris Villani

A mix of young talent and experienced players helped the Nipmuc golf team win seven matches this year, nearly qualifying for the state tournament and easily eclipsing its three victories in 2023.

Kylie Yoon was Nipmuc's top player this fall. Courtesy photo

 “Our season was great, we had a monster improvement this year,” head coach Matt Merten said. “Some of our players put in extra work in the offseason and made great strides. It’s a tribute to their character and it was very refreshing.”

Nipmuc saw a number of newer players step into bigger roles this fall after graduating a fairly large senior class from last year’s squad. 

Kylie Yoon played out of the number one spot this fall and regularly shot in the low 40s during the nine-hole matches.

“She is super consistent,” Merten said. “She was a real anchor for our team and she has a laid-back personality that was really helpful as a co-captain.”

Max Fernandes was the team’s other captain. Merten praised him and Yoon for helping some of the newer players develop solid practice and playing habits.

The team set scoring goals at the start of the season and kept having to move the bar as they got better.

“We started out looking to have four scores in the 40s, but those numbers got lower and lower as they learned how to manage their games better,” Merten said.

Cooper Chaves, Grady O’Neil, and Drew French were three more consistent contributors.

“Cooper played in the number two spot and he posted some really low scores,” Merten said. “He worked on all aspects of his game regularly. He is only a sophomore, but he caught the golf bug. Once you catch the golf bug, all you want to do is play.”

Merten praised O’Neil for his strong iron play. He said junior Cole McGovern posted some solid scores this fall and sophomores Evan DaSilva and Jack Calvey “really pushed each other” during the season.

One pleasant surprise for Nipmuc was freshman Cody King, who ended up playing in the number four spot in the rotation by the end of the year.

Merten said the chemistry on this year’s team is one of the reasons that it was so successful and finished third in the Dual Valley Conference, trailing only Hopedale and Whitinsville Christian.

“They are a tight-knit group and they kept their eyes on the prize and continued to improve,” the coach said. “They are a great group of kids.”