BY JOE PALLADINO
It was title time for Tyler, and no one could do anything about it.
Tyler Goulet made five birdies on the day, played the back nine at Fairview Farm Golf Course in 4 under par and finished his round at 1-under 71 to earn medalist honors at the Berkshire League golf championship on Tuesday.
You don’t see red numbers too often at a high school tournament in general, or at tough Fairview Farm, in particular, but Goulet was all over the lush layout. Just a junior, this was the third time that Goulet earned BL All-Star status.
“I just had to stay calm and take every shot as it came,” Goulet said, “keep my head in the game, and make sure I made every shot.”
On the back, the key shot, he said, was a birdie bomb on 14. His birdie holes were Nos. 3, 11, 14, 15, and 18.
“And I was bogey free on the back, so that was good,” he added.
Good? Just good? Try sensational.
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Fairview Farm is the home course for Mills, we should add, and this Mills team went 16-0 to win the BL regular season title. On Tuesday, the Spartans had a team aggregate score of 315 to win the tourney team title, a new addition to the event. Mills won by 28 shots over Litchfield (343).
Goulet said the trick now is to use this round as a springboard for states.
“I’ve just got to keep playing consistently,” he said, “stay on myself, and just make sure I am doing what I need to do.”
Like, stay in the red.
Of note at the BL tourney was the charge of the freshmen. No. 2 on the day was freshman Mike Hills of Terryville, at 5-over 77, and in third was Mills’ freshman Andrew LeBlanc at 79. And it should be mentioned that joining Hills as a BL All-Star was yet another frosh, Conor Bailey of Gilbert. Bailey shot an 83.
Hills said it was his short game that kept him close to Goulet, until the back nine anyway.
“I made a lot of short putts that had to go in the hole,” he said.
Nathan Leigh of Litchfield shot an 80, and that score, factored in with his regular season numbers, placed him as the No. 2 rated man for the year in the BL behind Goulet. Mill’s Matt Szymanski — yes, it was all about Mills on Tuesday — shot an 81 and Mills’ Mike Boucher an 84, as both also claimed All-Star status.
Rounding out the top 10 were Chandler Boucher of Litchfield with an 85, and at 86 were Wamogo’s Sean Brady, Northwestern’s Connor Campbell and Litchfield’s Donnie Protzmann.
But this was a day about one player, Goulet, and the trio of freshmen who will surely come after him in 2017.
BERKSHIRE LEAGUE GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
at Fairview Farm GC
6,174 yards, par 72
Individual scores: 1. Tyler Goulet, Lewis Mills, 71; 2. Mike Hills, Terryville, 77; 3. Andrew LeBlanc, Lewis Mills, 79; 4. Nathan Leigh, Litchfield, 80; 5. Matt Szymanski, Lewis Mills, 81; 6. Conor Bailey, Gilbert, 83; 7. Mike Boucher, Lewis Mills, 84; 8. Chandler Boucher, Litchfield, 85; 9. Sean Brady, Wamogo, 86; Connor Campbell, Northwestern, 86; Donnie Protzmann, Litchfield, 86. 12. Eamon Crossley, Shepaug, 88; 13. Anthony Eanniello, Nonnewaug, 89; 14. Tucker Kreh, Northwestern, 91; 15. Jey Herman, Nonnewaug, 92; Chris Parsons, Litchfield, 92; 17. Zach Ongley, Housatonic, 95; Bret Stokes, Nonnewaug, 95; 19. Andrew Kane, Northwestern, 96; James Foote, Shepaug, 96; 21. Tom Caruso, Lewis Mills, 97; Tom Simoncelli, Litchfield, 97.
- Andrew Christensen, Gilbert, 98; Jason Porcelli, Nonnewaug, 98; 25. Mike Gudeczaukas, Terryville, 99; 26. Dalton Hubball, Wamogo, 102; Mike Hall, Shepaug 102; Dean Jones, Nonnewaug 102; 29. Corey Picard, Terryville 103; 30. C.J. Schullery, Wamogo, 112; 31. Robbie La Marre, Terryville, 115; 32. Christian Robinson, Terryville, 119.
Team scores: 1. Lewis Mills, 315; 2. Litchfield, 343; 3. Nonnewaug, 374; 4. Terryville, 394
BL All-Stars: Tyler Goulet, Lewis Mills 90.2; Nathan Leigh, Litchfield 99.6; Mike Boucher, Lewis Mills 111.6; Conor Bailey, Gilbert 112.6; Mike Hills, Terryville 112.6; Matt Szymanski, Lewis Mills 113.4.