Throughout the season, Malden High’s golf team faced many adversities with either personal struggles or struggles as a team. But through this struggle, they came out on top for the first time in over four decades.
A big part of the team’s success came straight from practices. Junior Dante Federico noticed throughout the season just how important it was. “This year we had to be competitive amongst each other in practice, and at the highest level; in doing so we kept our team hungry for the knowledge of the game and the chance to end our drought in the GBL,” Federico said.
The team, instead of practicing single skills in practices, decided to face each other, bringing consistent competition and the need to be consistent as players.
Despite all of the positives, the team still faced struggles. Junior Chris MacDonald talked about their struggles as a team but also his personal struggles during the season. MacDonald brought up how they struggled to close matches and struggled to stay consistent through those matches, but also how when they played harder competition and that they showed heart in those games staying so close.
That heart came and swooped into the team’s final match of the season. In a match against Lynn Classical to win the GBL title the team didn’t know just what the outcome of their season would be until the final hole. MacDonald expressed his feelings about how he and the team felt in that moment saying, “It was one of the greatest feelings ever.”
It wasn’t just beating Lynn Classical, it was also putting a better record out than any other team in the league and it was very close. Malden won with an outstanding record of 8-1-1 while second-place team Lynn English finished with another impressive record of 8-2. But, in the end, it was Malden’s team who showed up to take the title home.
With this being the first GBL title for the Golf team in years knowing that this team sent the seniors off with a bang felt great for the seniors. Senior captain Saul Kruckenberg talked about this season and shared his opinion on it: “I am so glad that this is how we were able to close out my last year in this program. With the amazing family we built as a team, this is such a great way to get sent off.”
But it was also a great feeling for the underclassmen. MacDonald was just as proud of his team for sending their seniors off as well as they did. “Knowing that we sent the seniors off with one of the biggest and best accomplishments we could’ve had for the season is a great feeling simply because we all know they will never forget this season because of how it ended on such a high note,” MacDonald said.
The heart, time, and chemistry this team put on display this season by every individual player really puts into perspective just how much this team deserved it.
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