George Mason’s varsity golf team saw tremendous growth in their record, 4-3, up from 1-5 last year thanks to the team’s unity and collaboration among new players and returners alike.
“It’s definitely this team aspect I felt was the highlight for this year,” said head coach Chris Carrico.
After losing one third of his roster in graduating seniors last year, Carrico took on a relatively young roster in 2016 with only two seniors- one who was completely new to Mason golf.
The Mustangs closed their season in early October placing third in Conference and finishing 14 strokes from advancing to the Region Tournament. Despite their loss to Clarke County, the golf team saw considerable triumph in individual postseason results.
Three individuals qualified for the Region Tournament this past October, two more than last year.
“It was a lot more fun to have people on the team come to play and it gave us a bigger chance to send a player to states representing the Mustangs,” junior George Gilligan said about his second appearance at the Region Tournament.
Gilligan was joined by teammates junior Will Gaskins and sophomore Nick Wells for the 18 hole
Regional match in Harrisonburg. They faced 72 athletes and were required to place within the top six scores in order to move on to the State Tournament.
Gilligan, with a score of 86, fell 10 points short of the 6th person and was followed by Wells with 88 strokes and Gaskins with 97. Though none of them advanced to the next round, they made the Second-Team-All Conference team for Conference 35.
The amount of freshmen and new golf players on the team meant for a building first part of the season. The team’s six returners were crucial in leading the rest of the team though the first part of the season with swing technique and tips to manage the golf course.
“The whole team really helped me adapt,” said senior and first year golfer Walker Hegadorn. “Teammates like George Gilligan and Will Gaskins taught me some of the ins and outs of the local courses, which was nice.”
The varsity golf team was challenged to play their first match just four days after their first tryout in early August. With the combination of absent athletes due to summer vacation and less experienced players early in the season, the Mustangs struggled to find a rhythm until their first victory over Warren County in mid August.
The team’s peak was agreeably a month later, when they defeated two teams that qualified for the Region Tournament the previous year. Their victory over Clarke County was by one single stroke. The 190-191 game gave the Mustangs momentum moving forward, as it was their last regular match of the season.
Their win over Woodson on the other hand, touched a little closer to home. In addition to topping the 6A school, compared to Mason being 2A, the Mustangs were able to attain their lowest scores yet. With a team score of 164, the individual scores were as follows:
- Sophomore Nick Wells – 39
- Senior Jack Goggin – 40
- Junior George Gilligan – 42
- Junior Will Gaskins – 43
- Junior Claire Trundle – 54
- Junior Will Langan – 62
Carrico isn’t losing nearly as many seniors as he did this year, so with the youth of the team and the range of skills and experience, the GM golf program has high hopes for the years moving forward.
“We definitely achieved our goals for this year and with the large number of returning players, expectations for next year’s team will be really high,” Carrico said.
