Golf Stuns Andover at Home

Varsity golf ended the year strongly in their final match against Andover and Governor's, coming back to win the stroke play event at home.Coach Bob Bailey commended the team saying that although the season ended with a 6-6-1 record, the players performed well. “They had a never give up attitude,” he said. “They worked hard at practice and had respect for members of the team.”“I think that this year, our golf team was stronger than last year's,” lower Paul Lei said. “We won more matches and shot scores were considerably lower.” Lei was out for most of the season due to tendonitis in both elbows but returned to play in a tournament that was attended by 24 schools, each offering their five best players.Lei performed admirably well. “Unfortunately, be- fore this tournament I was only able to practice twice, and I returned a bit rusty. However, I still shot 79 and was individually 15 out of 115 players. Exeter took 9th place out of 24.”Upper Kyle Alexander agreed that the team per- formed well overall. “We definitely had some shining moments and some moments where we underachieved, but all in all, it was a great season. Our team chemistry was pretty solid throughout, and our away trips were always a good time,“ he said. “Sometimes we had more fun in the car than on the course. We also excelled on the basketball court.Led by "Jeremy Lin" (Michael Kim), myself, Nissim Ray, Jack Bright and sharp shooter Catherine Moore, we could easily beat any other golf team in New England, and we spent all of the rainy days practicing.”Alexander had positive things to say about his senior teammates. “We had great leadership from our seniors. They kept us all in check and all of them showed up with a positive attitude everyday.”Upper Jack Bright agreed. “The team spirit was really strong. It’s just a great group of guys.” Bright has a positive outlook for next year. “Our play continued to improve throughout the year and in addition we have a really solid roster of incoming players. You should see a solid jump in our performance next year.”Lower Cole Gendron earned the Most Improved Player Award. “I was surprised, but I think I improved upon last year,” Gendron said. He added that he, too, was looking forward to the future prospects for the team. “Next season, we’re going to get a lot of good players.”Coach Bailey echoed the sentiments. “Two new preps, Michael Kim and Matthew Kim, were important to the teams play, both improving as the the season progressed. We have several preps coming in next year who will contribute immediately and a new upper who will make an impact. I am very excited about the upcoming season together with several good players returning too.”Coach Bailey gave special recognition to Alexander and a few of his teammates pointing out “Rudy Oku and Nissim Ray were great co-captains and Kyle Alexander was the MVP.”Alexander described his reaction at being named MVP. “I was pretty surprised, I knew I played well for most of the year but there were a couple other deserving candidates.”He feels that his great strength is his competitive nature. “I'm not as skilled as the players I play against, but I can count on myself to compete every round.”

Among his favorite moments for the year was a match at Lake Sunapee Golf Club. “I struggled the first three holes losing the first three and going 3-down in my match. I then strung a couple pars together and remained at three over and three down after five holes. Then I did something I could've never imagined: I got two eagles in a row. The first came on a long par five and the second came on a par four, where I holed out from 175 yards away. I ended up shooting 1 under in my round which was my only round under par the whole year.”Alexander’s other favorite moment for the year occurred when playing with Ryan Heaverland. “Ryan stepped up and hit a perfect shot and aced a hole at practice,” Bright, his partner that day, described.“A hole-in-one is obviously something we all want to do at some point in our careers. Kyle was playing with him and he said it was just a really memorable sight,” Bright said.