Scarlet Hawks seniors set positive tone for program

Milford High School’s golf team had an unusual roster makeup this fall with six sophomores and three freshmen joining the squad’s three seniors. But Head Coach Jason Potty said the seniors the Scarlet Hawks did have were standouts and helped set the program up well for future success.

“We improved throughout the season,” Potty said. “And I thought we played some pretty good golf.”

Milford ran into some “buzzsaws” on its schedule, Potty said, but competed hard all year despite only four victories.

“Record wise, it was a bit rough,” the coach said. “When the season starts, we have a goal to make the tournament as a team, and to not accomplish that the year was a bit disappointing.”

Senior captain Lucas Richard and his brother, sophomore Ben Richard, were Milford’s top two players. They both averaged around five over par per nine hole round, with Ben just barely edging out his brother for the low scoring honors. Ben Richard earned a spot in the state tournament as Milford’s representative. Although he did not have his best day, Potty said the experience was invaluable.

“It was a really good tournament experience for him,” Potty said. “He needs to play more tournaments of course, but the more he does it, the better he is going to get.”

Senior Ryan Flis, a state champion in wrestling, also contributed despite being relatively new to the sport.

“I think it’s only his second year golfing, but he is just an athlete, and he figured out how to do it,” Potty said. “He goes out there every single day and grinds it out to try to come up with the best possible score for us.”

The third senior, Matt Boulanger, is another relatively new golfer. But Potty said both he and Flis put together more than their share of strong scores.

Lucas Richard capped off a four-year career this fall. All three seniors were good role models for their younger teammates.

“The leadership we had was fantastic,” Potty said. “The guys did a great job mentoring and providing a good example of what an athlete looks like and how an athlete acts. The other kids got a look at that this year, and that’s a great thing.”