This year’s golf team ended their season with a final record of 2-11. The team consists of seniors Dante Colorito, Jessica Palakovich, sophomores Nolan Colaric, Mason Hedge, Matthew Levenson, Evan Aland, Logan Richards, JoAnn Sharpless, Cade Skuse, Cole Skuse, Noah Spanos, freshman Kameron Skrobacz and coach Tom Hickey. Their first win this season was against Lincoln Park on Sept. 5, with a resulting score of  285 to 293.

“The game was a bit less stressed than usual entering the match because Hickey told us that it was gonna be a level match. While playing we were realizing that they were getting higher strokes than us on certain holes, which is bad in a match. Afterwards, Hickey said that we won, and we were all pretty dang happy. It felt good to know that we beat someone because it was the first actual win that freedom has seen in a while,” Hedge said.

The team’s second win came from a forfeit from Lincoln Park. The team had to forfeit due to them not having enough players for a complete match.

Three members of the golf team, Colorito, Colaric and Richards, competed in the invitational MAC tournament. The top three golfers from each school in the tri-state county area competed against each other. This included schools like Butler, Allegheny and Beaver.

“The MAC tournament was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Our team shot a 310. I scored a 96. Logan Richards shot 99 and Nolan Colaric shot a 115. But what made it special, was playing with kids from all around the tri-county area,” Colorito said.

“The MAC tournament helped us make some new friends and it was a great experience,” Richards said.

The golf team is consisted of all first year golfers except for Colorito and Palakovich. However, throughout the season, the fairly new team has learned new golf techniques and continue to improve their skills.

“I feel the season started slow, which was expected because we were almost all first years, but towards the end we improved and pulled out two wins which was pretty impressive for a new group of golfers playing against very experienced teams. Personally, I felt that I did very well for a beginner and I felt that I improved upon my scores that I was receiving at the beginning of the year. All in all, our team of beginners improved very quickly throughout the year,” Richards said.

Not only has the golf team improved skill wise, but strong, unbreakable bonds were created this year. As the golf team only had two returners, the golfers had to get to know each other better.

“When the season started, the bus ride to the first match was awkward because it was so quiet, but by the end of the year, we were laughing and having a great time, we formed close friendships,” Colaric said.

From these strong bonds, the team thinks positively and is very supportive of each other on and off the course.

“I think the golf teams bond got stronger as the season went on. We really rooted for each other a lot and gave each other tips while playing to help out,” Levenson said.

For future golf seasons, the team wishes to continue to improve and get better. The team also wants to possibly improve the amount of games won compared to this year and previous years.

“Our goals for next year are to get better, at least double our wins from this year, and to be able to compete with every team we face. I think if we do these things we have a great chance to be good,” Levenson said.

The golf team continues to improve and looks forward towards their next season.